Decoy for a Dognapper

Decoy for a Dognapper is the fifth episode of the first season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!.

Premise
When Mystery Inc. hear about a series of dognappings, they investigate. But when Scooby is dognapped mistaken for another dog, the gang tracks him to a secret hide-out in the desert where they face an Indian witchdoctor and a ghostly Indian on horseback.

Synopsis
While out for a walk, Scooby sees a prize poodle kidnapped and races to find the rest of the gang, who listen to the radio broadcast an update on a rash of dognappings. They visit one of the victims, Buck Masters, who thinks that the dognappings are related to an upcoming dog show. The gang decide to play the hunch, substituting Scooby as a decoy for Champion, a prizewinning Great Dane belonging to another show competitor. The ploy works, and Scooby is grabbed by the dognappers. Shaggy gives chase on a motor scooter but loses the dognappers' truck when he is menaced by a ghostly Indian on horseback. Meanwhile, the dognapper's ringleader, the Ghost of Geronimo, recognizes that Scooby is not Miller's Great Dane and has his henchman put Scooby on a rail car and send him down the mountain.

The rest of the gang, following the tracking beacon on Scooby's collar, catches up with Shaggy, and they then all watch as Scooby goes racing down the railroad track. Shaggy leaps onto the railcar, brakes it, and rushes it back to safety just ahead of the midnight express. Scooby leads them back to where he had been taken, an abandoned Indian village high up in a cliff. No sooner do they arrive than the witchdoctor appears and warns them off. But the gang separates and press on. Fred and Daphne once again meet the witchdoctor, and Daphne vanishes when Fred goes to investigate the stone idol in front of which the witchdoctor had been standing. Meanwhile, Scooby also becomes separated from Shaggy and Velma; following a passage, he finds Daphne (who's been tied up) and the imprisoned dogs. The two of them round up the rest of the gang, free the dogs, and use them to chase and tree the witchdoctor, who they unmask as Buck Masters. It had been Masters' plan to kidnap all the dogs who might have beaten his own dog in the competition and then release his dog in time to win.

Villains

 * Ghost of Geronimo/Buck Masters
 * Indian on horseback/Buck Master's henchman

Suspects

 * None

Locations

 * Indian village
 * Buck Master's office
 * Beach Boulevard

Notes/trivia

 * Disguises: Champion dog and owner.
 * Food: Frankfurters; Sandwiches
 * Scooby Snacks: 2
 * The Indian Ghost appears in the theme song.
 * During the railroad trestle scene, in close-ups of the Midnight Express train, parts of the Santa Fe railway logo can be seen on the locomotive.

Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches

 * Shortly after the bats, as the gang enters the old Indian village, Daphne and Fred are about to go into a room (right before they see the witchdoctor and Daphne falls through a trapdoor). Look closely and one part, one of the lavender strips on Daphne's skirt is missing.
 * Fred's figure is gone after they chase after the dog napper.

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

 * After Shaggy escaped the bats, Scooby greeted him with a hello, but Shaggy replied, "Hi, Rooby."

Home media

 * Scooby-Doo's Original Mysteries VHS released June 4, 2002.
 * Scooby-Doo's Original Mysteries DVD released March 14 2000.
 * Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons DVD set released March 16, 2004.
 * Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: Volume 2 - Bump in the Night DVD released May 5, 2009.
 * Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series DVD set released November 9, 2010.

Quotes
"You blasted kids! Why didn't you mind your own business?!"

"Actually, catching dog thieves is our business, Mr. Masters. After all, Scooby-Doo is a dog, and we love him very much."

"Aaawwww."


 * - Buck Masters, Fred and Scooby.