It's hard to crown a king when it comes to animated dogs. Snoopy has to make the top ten for sure. And then there's Pluto, Clifford, Goofy, and of course, Underdog. They're all fine examples of cartoon canines, but Scooby Doo tops my list of top dogs.

His "ruh-roh" voice, his absolute passion for Scooby snacks, and his uncanny ability to accidentally solve ghostly crimes made for some of the best Saturday mornings I can remember. Sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of sugary cereal and laughing milk out of my nose...you can't trade memories like that for anything.

It's hard to believe that Scooby is 48 years old. That's 336 in dog years! What might be easier to believe is I still watch the show whenever it's on. I happened to catch one of my favorite episodes last weekend. Titled "Decoy for a Dognapper", it was one of the first episodes of the first season. Scooby poses as a decoy for a nefarious dognapper and is kidnapped himself! But the dognappers soon find out that Scooby is a decoy and set him free.

Then comes the very best part (and the reason this is a favorite episode): Scooby gets recaptured and finds Daphne tied to a post in a dungeon surrounded by his caged dognapped companions. Daphne says, "Scooby! Untie me!" But Scooby doesn't...not until she promises to free his friends, too.

Finally, the whole menagerie - human and canine - catch the evil dognapper and bring him to justice.

After that, well, Scooby Snacks, of course!