*Riiiiiiiingggg*
The whole gang had been sitting in the living room, watching TV when a cell phone rang. All heads swiveled to look at where it was coming from. They ended up all looking at Daphne, who took a second to realized it was her cell. Her eyes lit up at the significance of the unfamiliar ringtone, and Daphne was up and out of her seat. She disappeared into Velma's room, muffling the conversation with the door. The rest of the gang looked at each other. Fred smiled, giving Velma a nod. The woman saw the nod, but it took a few seconds for her to realize what it was. Her eyes grew wide the moment she put the clues together and then looked at Shaggy eagerly. He looked confused as Velma and Fred smiled at him. At least until Fred pointed at Scooby, then Velma's room. Then he finally got it. The only one who didn't was Scooby, which was the point. Daphne, getting a phone call? It was such a common occurrence that the Dane didn't even blink at it. So the Dane dismissed the call and went back to watching the TV show. If it was something important, Daphne would let them know.
The conversation didn't last long, as Daphne emerged from the room soon after. With her phone put away, she leaned over and shut off the TV to get everyone's attention. Though no one but the Dane had been watching the TV at the time. Scooby grumbled a bit, since the show was getting good, but he turned his attention to the red head in front of the TV.
"Alright everyone, we are going to have some guests coming to stay for a little bit. Fred, can you and Velma go pick them up at the airport? They will be flying on US Airways, flight 2421 coming from Charlottesville. Don't worry, you'll know them when you see them."
Giving a nod, Fred got up and went for his keys and his shoes. Velma had been loafing around the house, so she disappeared into her room to change, though it only took a few seconds before she emerged ready. With a wave, the two were out the door and on their way. With them gone, Daphne turned to Shaggy and Scooby.
"You two are now going to help me. We have to clean out the guest room. Come on, we have work to do before they arrive."
Leading the way, Daphne started to head towards the stairs. Knowing they would not be able to get out of it, Shaggy hung his head and motioned for Scooby to follow him.
"Raggy Raggy... R'ho do rou rink r'is r'oming?"
Shaggy shrugged, hiding the truth from his furry counterpart.
"Like' I don't know Scoob. Maybe it's a friend or something."
"R'ok" Satisfied, Scooby followed Shaggy upstairs to the guest room they had on the second floor. Though it was usually used for storage, which is why they had to clean before who ever arrived.
It was some time later when Velma and Fred came back, visitors in tow. Bounding down the stairs, a dusty Scooby was first to pounce into the living room. He left a trail of dust in his wake.
"R'eddy! Relma! Relcome r'ome!" The Dane greeted, washing his friends with slobbery dog kisses. As Scooby was occupied with Fred, a third head appeared cautiously from behind them. Two eyes stared out from behind the shadows of a brimmed brown cap. Noticing the movement, Scooby darted his head to take in the new person. But it only took a few seconds to know that he didn't pose any threat.
"R'elvin!"
Pushing past Fred and Velma, the large dog thrust himself at the poor, unsuspecting boy. With an 'oof', Melvin found himself on the floor and being bathed by the huge weight upon his chest. The boy knew better then to fight against such a big dog, and just took the tongue bath.
"Scooby! Get off him!" Daphne had finally made her way down to the first floor and found her guest pinned under Scooby's large frame. Wandering over in a hurry, she took grip on Scooby's collar and yanked the excited Dane off the boy. Fighting against the struggling mass in her hands, she tried to talk to the boy on the ground. "...Are you ok Melvin?"
Pushing himself to a sitting position, Melvin took a free hand to run through his hair, adjust his glasses and finally pluck his discarded hat from off the floor. With a help from Fred, the youth was lifted to his feet once again. Just in case, Daphne was holding on to the Dane, he was still wagging his butt in happiness and excited to see the boy again.
"Hey Shaggy... ugh. Can you come take this ball of energy off of me? He's wiggling too much. And we don't need our guest taking another tackle. At least not until Diner." Daphne said over her shoulder at the lankey man who was still by the hallway entrance. At request, he wandered over and took Scooby from Daphne, wrestling his pal further into the living room so that the others could get past the front steps. But Scooby wasn't calming down so easily.
"R'here's R'appy?"
It all made sense now. With his nephew not in sight, Scooby was trying to strain against Shaggy to see where the pup was. The last time he had seen either of them, was Thanksgiving of last year. Turning around, Daphne noticed that Scrappy wasn't in the house yet. Looking at the three in front of her, she knew something was up. It seemed like they had something hid up their collective sleeves.
"Scooby, follow us." Velma waved to the Dane to follow her. Opening up the front door, she led the group outside. With his curiosity perked, Scooby calmed down enough to walk after everyone. They group moved to the van, which was parted more towards the front of the driveway. The vehicle seemed to be moving, showing signs that something was bounding around inside. Moving to the back of the van, Fred and Velma got on either door, not wanting to be in the way once the doors opened. Eyes widening, Daphne understood why Fred shook his head off to one side. Grabbing Shaggy and Melvin by their collars, she hauled the two guys out of the way. Leaving only Scooby in front of the Van doors.
"Scooby... Meet your new, temporary Dog!"
"R'og? Rimmie Rimmie!" Scooby was excited, finally getting a dog. His mind pushed back all other thoughts. He clapped his paws together in happiness, totally ignoring the word 'temporary'. All he wanted was his dog. And with a nod, Fred and Velma were more then happy to give it to him. Pulling on the doors, they opened it up and set loose what was waiting eagerly inside!
"Dah dah dah da dah Da! Scrappy Power!" Shooting out like a rocket; the once puppy, now large Dane himself came out of the door and barreled into Scooby. The two tumbled backwards, bouncing across the lawn. Moving swiftly, Melvin came up to the dog pile and gripped something. Pulling on the leash that was attached to Scrappy, he gave a command.
"Heel Scrappy, Heel!" Scrappy turned from greeting and licking his uncle, to his master. The words took a bit to process before Scrappy heard what his master had said.
"Oh, right. Yes!" Pushing off Scooby, he moved to his masters side. Plopping his butt down, he tried to keep still. Though all he really wanted to do was hang out with his uncle. Confused though happy, Scooby rolled off the floor and into a sitting position. Bringing up a back foot, he leaned over and gave his own ear a deep scratch as he tried to figure out what was going on. Never before had Scrappy been on a leash when he was with Melvin, so why was he now?
"Scooby, we are here as a temp dog service. To show you what owning a real dog would be like. Please come over here and take the leash, because by law, a pet dog needs to be on a leash. Unfortunately, this section falls under Sec. 955.26 of the Ohio leash laws, concerning an area of Quarantine for rabies. So all dogs must be on a leash."
"Rabies?" Scooby looked concerned, aiming his question to the rest of the gang.
"Remember when you got that shot a while ago? That was to prevent rabies. There was something about some raccoons a while back and this area still isn't clear. So it's not a problem as long as the dog is on a leash. You helped save the mayor's daughter that one time, so he's turning a blind eye to you, but other dogs have to obey the law." Doing public service did have its perks, but the law was the law.
Sighing, Scooby would obey the law. Padding up, he reached up and took the offered leash from Melvin. But as soon as the leash was passed to Scooby, Scrappy was up and all over his Uncle.
"Rappy, Rappy, R'alm rown." Trying to talk to his rambunctious nephew, he wasn't having any luck. The younger dog just bound up and down, wiggling his tail and butt and trying to jump up on Scooby. Scooby had to raise himself up on his back paws in order to not get knocked over.
"I guess we will start now. Scooby, we are going to have to teach you to communicate like people would to normal dogs. Not all dogs talk like you and Scrappy. And they might not understand what you want from them, even if tell them words in dog speak as well. If you are going to be an owner of a dog, you will need to learn some non-verbal... er... Not speaking cues. Things that help get the message across to the dog."
Melvin was trying to be a good teacher, though he only recently had been training Scrappy this way. Ever since the Dinosaur museum, Melvin had been trying to be a better owner for Scrappy, which helped distract the younger Dane s wanderlust. He still recalled all the fun times he had with the gang, but he was now sometimes talking about the fun things they had done together. It was a start, at least. And right now Scrappy was acting very well, just like a new dog. Melvin was so proud.
Scooby looked lost. Didn't all dogs talk? Sure, not just in people, but he could talk to dogs before. And why was Scrappy acting so oddly.
"Uncle Scooby, think of me as another dog. Not your nephew. I'm acting like another dog might act when coming to a new home. You want a dog, right?" Breaking his acting, he tried to reason with his uncle. Barking wasn't going to work, so some words were needed. Though it did make some sense to Scooby, so he turned to Melvin.
"R'ow rhat?" Scooby asked, ready to start, if this would help him get his dog. Melvin smiled, thankful this wasn't going to be as hard as he thought.
Crossing his arms, Mevin tried to think of where to start. He was trying to think of what happened when his brother first got Scrappy, but that was a long time ago and probably wasn't the best example. That and the Doo family were not normal dogs in the first place. So he was going to have to assume a few things.
"Well, would you guys get a new puppy? Or adopt an older dog?"
Looking at the rest of the gang, Melvin posed the question. He would have asked Scooby, but this kind of question was more for the whole household to decide. Puppies were a lot of work to train, but sometimes a older dog had a lot of things that needed to be un-learned before they would behave how you wanted too. Melvin knew that last part all to well. Looking at each other, Shaggy was the first to respond.
"Adopt. Like' no question. There are too many good dogs that could use a home, and an older dog might not get the kind of chance a cute puppy might in a shelter. So if we were to get another dog, I want to save one that might not get as many chances." He said with a firm head nod. The others shook their heads in agreement. Older dogs needed love as well, a puppy would have better luck getting adopted.
"Ok," Turning back to Scooby, he felt that this would be a bit easier to Scrappy to handle. Since technically he was an older dog learning some new tricks as well. "So think of Scrappy as your new dog. He's gone through a lot being in a shelter, and now is going to be going to your house for the first time. Different dogs are going to react differently." Catching Scrappy's glance, Melvin motioned to the door.
"Scrappy, I want you think about those times Mom put you in those vet places overnight. Think about those little stalls you get placed in where no one will play with you and you only get to run around for a little bit at a time. Act like you have been stuck in one of those for a while and now you're being brought to a new home."
Being giving his cues, Scrappy huddled against the ground thinking about those little cages he had to be put in. They were cold walls, and the people who worked there didn't pay him much mind, most of the time. It was boring and a sad place, most dogs didn't like going there. But he always liked being free of that place, and able to run about. Compared to those evil prisons(at least to a hyperactive puppy), this was a paradise. Keeping that in mind, he looked up and nodded to Melvin. He was ready for his Oscar award!
"Alright Scooby. It's time to bring home your new dog." Looking at the rest of the gang, he shrugged. "Let's see how this goes, I guess..."
