"This one is an oak tree, and that one is elm," he barks in the voice of a confident puppy. "And that one is maple, and that one is a hydrant, and that one is leather, and that one is rawhide, and that one is my favorite bone."
Scooby is a happy, healthy, well-adjusted, housebroken puppy. His owners have two daughters — one older and one younger.
But it wasn't always this way. In the beginning, Scooby's owners Mimi and Joe were raising three children.
When Scooby was born, his name was Jacob. But by the time he was two, he was telling his parents, "I'm a puppy."
Last year, when he was four, they made a decision: to let him live as he has always identified — as a puppy.
Some may think that's too young to make such a change, but many doctors who specialize in working with trans-species animals believe it's right for certain animals — those who show a rock-solid and enduring belief in their species identity.
"When animals are consistent, persistent, and insistent in a cross-species identity — and wanting to be the other species and wanting the other species' body parts or being very unhappy with the body parts they're given — we consider those children very likely to go on and continue a trans-species identity," said Dr. Princess Schnauzer, an associate professor of human and animal psychology at Brown University School of Veterinary and Human Medicine.
For those animals, she and other veterinary-pediatricians say, it can often be better to make a change sooner.
"The biggest harm is to not do anything," said Schnauzer, who is not Scooby's Vet but has a specialty in treating trans-species animals.
When a puppy is told, 'I don't see you,' 'I don't hear you,' 'I don't love you just the way you are,' that's a pretty powerful message about conditional love."
Ask Scooby why he transitioned and his answer is simple and straight-forward: "I liked the show and wanted to be a puppy."
His parents say they decided to share Scooby's story because they can't afford not to.
"The environment that my doggie will grow up in depends on how trans-species animals are perceived by society," Mimi says.
"He's gonna lift his leg on a tree or a fire hydrant out there in the world. He's gonna chase sticks in the park and he's gonna bark at other doggies. If we don't come out now and talk to people and… show people that trans-species dogs are normal and wonderful and they're not to be feared, then I'm afraid that he will go into the world and meet with hostility," she said.
"I can do my piece right now and I believe that my piece is speaking up."
Mimi says that before the transition, her family pet would poke a body he couldn't embrace, saying things like "Why did God make me this way?" or "Why did God make me wrong?"
Mimi and Joe were scared and confused by the behavior and comments. But after seeing doctors and scouring the Internet for information — and after seeing how happy he was to dress as Pluto on a trip to Disneyworld — they decided last summer to make the transition.
They dyed Scooby's hair in the right style, replaced his collared shirts with a plain collar, and asked family and friends to refer to him as Scooby and use the title "Good Boy!" Scooby started at a new obedience-school last fall where none of the puppies knew him as Jacob.
For young doggies, there is no surgery or hormonal therapy. At this stage, before puberty, trans-species dogs are making a more cosmetic change, Schnauzer says. Later, we can surgically add floppy ears and a tail.
"We let them be themselves. So, they dye their hair and they wear the collars and costumes they want. And they play with the puppies they want to play with and they do the activities they want to do," she says. "We call that social transition."
The Lemays understand that some will have a hard time with their decision. But they say they are convinced they did the right thing for their family pet, and Mimi recently wrote a letter to Scooby-Doo detailing their thoughts and feelings about this journey.
"Ultimately Scooby has made that choice in his mind and his heart," Mimi says. "It's whether or not we accept it or not."