Howard and Scooby. Scooby and Howard. If you could see these two doing what they do, you’d want to join their club too.

Howard as you know is the King of the Animals. His philanthropy is legendary in Oregon and beyond. For pets and people and more. From coast to coast and across oceans. He’s typically the first to give and he gives with both money and love. There is not another like him. Ever!

And Scooby, as you know, is the Beagle King. Almost 21 years old, he is my Gandhi. My Dalai Lama. He is a timeless old soul. I love him with all my heart and I know you do too. And I thank you for that.

Because a dog as good as Scooby really belongs to all of us. As they say, it takes a village. A Scooby Village.

Now back to Howard and Scooby. I think of myself as pretty special to the animals. They frequently seek me out and sit by my side, happy to get pets and neck scratchies and belly rubs. Scooby enjoys all of those things and he gets them from me often. And yes, he gets lots of treats too 🙂

But the moment Scooby sees Howard, he dumps me. It’s like I’m invisible. And it’s the same thing when Howard sees Scooby. Howard dumps me too.

They only have eyes for each other. No joke. It’s true. Howard is the real Dog Whisperer. I’ve seen it myself.

Scooby loves to visit Howard at his office. We open the door and Scooby runs full speed back to where Howard normally sits. He then leaps through the air hopeful to land in Howard’s lap. Yes. Scooby leaps.

And if Howard is not prepared, Scooby sometimes knocks Howard backwards and they both end up laughing.

But yesterday was different. Scooby burst in the door and ran to where Howard should be. But Howard wasn’t there. Instead he was standing behind the front counter. Scooby did not see him and Howard did not see Scooby.

Picture Scooby standing motionless, unable to find the man he loves. He looked incredibly sad. Because the man that was supposed to be there, the man with the lap he was going to leap into, was not there.

Then picture this.

At virtually the same moment Scooby saw Howard and Howard saw Scooby. They ran toward each other, ending up on the floor in a ball of cuddles.

Here’s this man worth kajillions down on the floor talking to Scooby. The stock market didn’t matter. Only Scooby mattered. A reminder that it is not dollars that makes us truly rich.

And within seconds Scooby was kissing Howard and Howard was kissing Scooby. Howard just drops everything to talk to Scooby, asking him how his day was and if life is good.

And then he always tells Scooby to let him know if I’m not giving him enough treats. And then Howard looks at me and tells me to give Scooby more treats. So I do.

And a split second later Howard started the belly rubs. In that moment the stressful world stopped. Replaced with a gentle yet powerful moment filled with meaning.

There was love. Love between two good and kind souls that do all they can to bring joy to others. And here they were, bringing joy to each other.

If only someone could harness the special energy in that moment.

If I could create the next reality show, it would simply be Scooby and Howard goofing off. I’d watch it all day.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. Howard and Scooby Forever. thepongofund.org