February 10th 2001 was 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 was in college and as usual Nikita wanted to play whenever I would sit down to study, so I decided to get her a playmate.

I walked into the apartment and there in the living room were eleven puppies staring at me. I sat down on the floor and started talking to the puppies, all but one backed away from me. That pup walked up to me with his 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 left for 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 name"s, I gave him the name "Radar," after the Mash sit com 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 pieces were old lecture notes. I could not punish him because I did not catch him in the act of notebook destruction however, after that incident I made sure they were out of reach.

Radar was a very happy dog. Whenever I would arrive home from classes or, my job, he would wait by the front door and as I walked up to the door he would jump up and down then run in a circle and barking with excitement in anticipation of my arrival. In his later years he would greet me by walking around me in circles and pushing my arm up so that he could walk under it. Radar would do this four times before wanting too go out.

Radar loved Nikita as did I. He was constantly wanting to play with Nikita however, if Nikita did not want to play she would bare he r teeth at him, then Radar would lay down in front of Nikita's couch and lift his paw, then whine to get Nikita's attention and again she would bare her teeth or give up and climb down from the couch to play with him. In their play sometimes Nikita would get a little rough then, Radar would hide under my legs as I sat on my recliner that is, until he became to large to hide under my legs, his head would stick out even though he thought he was hiding.

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 one or more children walking in the opposite direction Radar would whine at them and sometimes the child or group of children 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 passed away, Radar would eat very little and at bed time 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 however, it did not happen.

Whenever I would ask Radar "would you like to go to the Park for a walk?" he would become so 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!" he would then come up to me and sit down in front of me to have his collar put on for our walk. When we went out 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 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. The Kroger grocery store chain had bought out the Scott's grocery chain and Kroger went with the janitorial service they were using. We lost our jobs as a result.

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 were living with my father. My father admitted to me that he had hit Radar, even though he had no right to, just because Radar had barked at him. My reply was, "if I ever see you hit Radar I will defend him!" "I do not care that you are eighty-two years old, I will defend him!" Not once did Radar ever attempt to bite him.

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 Radar's skin. I had to seek help with my rent from the Wayne Township Trustee's office because of my low income. This living in the nineteenth century trustee considers it 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.

Radars favorite treat was a Busy Bone. I had purchased one for his twelfth birthday on the twenty-third day of December 2012 however, when I offered it to him, he smacked his mouth and started to take the treat but, then turned away. I offered the busy bone to him a second time and, once again turned away. I then place the treat in a plastic baggie. 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 on his birthday!

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 qwe 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 and in his last sixteen days of life lost twelve 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 very lonely and cold in this apartment now. I have not been this alone since before Nikita came into my life. I miss Radar so very much!