In Loving Memory of Radar my Best Buddy
by Gary Helm ke.........................................
In Loving Memory of Radar my Best Buddy
February 10th 2001 is the day that Radar came to live with Nikita and I. On that day I went to a small apartment where they were giving away puppies. I wanted to get a playmate for Nikita. I was in college and as usual Nikita wanted to play, especially during my study time.
I walked into the apartment and there in the living room were 11 puppies staring at me. I sat down on the floor, and started talking to the puppies, all but one pup backed away from me. That pup walked up to me with tail wagging, then I picked him up and ask him "would you like to go home with me?" again he wagged his tail, then we went home. One month later, while observing him I came up with an appropriate name. I did not want to give him any of the usual names, I gave him the name "Radar," after the mash sitcom character.
When Radar was three months old he found my lecture notes and chewed up some of the pages. Fortunately those pages that were ripped into little tiny piece's, were old lecture notes. I could not punish him because I did not catch him chewing them up. I made sure that he could not get at them after that incident.
Radar was a very happy dog. Whenever I would arrive home from classes or, my job, he would wait by the door and as I walked up to the door he would stand in front of the door and jump up and down then run in a circle with joy in anticipation of my arrival. In his later years he would greet me as I came in and then walk around me in circles pushing my arm up so that he could walk under it. He would do this four times before wanting to go out.
Radar loved Nikita as did I. He was constantly wanting to play however, if Nikita did not want to play, she would show her teeth at him, then Radar would lay down on the floor in front of the couch and lift his paw then, whine to get Nikita's attention and again she might show her teeth or, give up and climb down from the couch and play with him. In their play sometimes Nikita would get a little rough and Radar would hide under my legs as I sat on my recliner that is, until he became too large to hide, even though he thought he was hiding his head would stick out from under my legs.
Nikita liked children and shortly after coming to live with us Radar like a small child followed Nikita's example when around children. Whenever Radar and I would go out for a walk and come upon a child walking in the opposite direction Radar would whine at the child and sometimes the child would stop and ask if they could pet Radar, I would reply "yes you can, Radar likes children!"
When Nikita passed away Radar and I missed her so very much, fortunately we had each other to comfort. For a month after Nikita died, Radar would eat very little and at bedtime Radar would pace back and forth until 3:00 am before falling asleep however, he did not sleep soundly.
After graduating from college I had hoped that Radar and I could move out of Fort Wayne and, Indiana to start a new life, a better life but, of course it didn't happen.
Whenever I would ask Radar "would you like to go to the park for a walk?" he would become so very excited that he would come up to me and push his head under my right leg, then turn around and do it again. I would then say "come on Radar let's get ready to go!" and he would come up to me and sit down in front of me to have his collar put on for our walk. When we would go for walks in the park sometimes we would come across other dogs, Radar would always want to greet them sometimes however, he could not. My Best Buddy was friendly to everyone.
Because we would only have company once or, twice a year, Radar would bark at anyone who came to visit, as he was not used to having other people around. Radar and I had to live with my father after my mother passed away, because I had lost my job with the janitorial service that had a contract with Scott's grocery. After Kroger bought the Scott's grocery chain, Kroger went with the janitorial service they were using and we lost our jobs. Because of me Radar had to put up with a lot of misery through the last seven years of his life. Two of those years with my father. My father admitted to me that he had hit Radar, even though he had no right to. My reply was, "if I ever see you hit my dog I will defend him, I do not care that you are 82 years old," I will defend him!" Not once did Radar attempt to bite my father. Radar and I had to quickly move from my father's house after he passed away, we moved into the first place that I found. There was mold in this place and after four months a species of yeast started showing up on his skin. I had to seek help with my rent from the Wayne Township Trustee because of my low income.
This Trustee considers it to be a waste of resources to take your dog or, cat to a doctor when they need one. "They are living creatures after all, not inanimate objects." Radar had to suffer for four years until we moved into an apartment in the Fall of 2011. Eight months later the yeast disappeared and, two months before he passed away his hair grew back.
Radar's favorite treat was a Busy Bone. I had purchased one for his 12th birthday, December 23rd 2012 but, when I offered it to him he smacked his mouth and started to take the treat but, then turned away. I offered the treat to him a second time and, once again he turned away. I placed the Busy Bone in a plastic storage bag. I wish that Radar would have accepted the treat instead of turning away as, it upset me to see him turn away from his favorite treat.
The morning of January 5th 2013 at 9:45 am I ask Radar, "do you want to go bye-bye Radar?" This question usually meant that we were going to a park for a walk however this time it did not! On January 5th at 10:40 am Radar's life came to an end. He had been very ill for several days. He would barely eat or drink any water and in his last 16 days of life he lost 12 pounds. I wish that I could have kept his ashes, in that way if I ever do leave Indiana he would still be with me.
Now with Radar gone I have no one to comfort me. It is so very lonely and cold in my apartment now. I have not been this alone since just before Nikita came into my life. I miss Radar so very much!

Comments would be appreciated by the author, Gary Helm ke
 
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