Radar's Visit

Oh my goodness! I'd completely forgotten about this post. I started it back on August 31st, right after it happened so it's a wee bit old. Sorry!

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You guys already know how in-love I am with Radar, the only dog not adopted out after the end of last year. Well, this past weekend Foothill experienced a power outage due to some construction work being done on campus. That meant that while a backup generator would supply (some) air conditioning to the animals living in our lab, poor Radar would be at the mercy of the two tiny windows in the dog barn. So, of course, I worked my magic and got Robert to agree to let me bring Radar home for the weekend.

Unfortunately, the visit got off to a bit of a bumpy start; I did a poor job introducing Radar to Garfunkel and right off the bat there was a lot of barking and growling. Then there was some lunging. Now, that is all my completely my fault because I didn't do a proper, graduated introduction. That was little comfort to Robert, however, who was pretty adamant that things were not going to work out and that we needed to take Radar back to Foothill ASAP. I really didn't want to admit defeat, however, and after much pleading and cajoling I got Robert to agree to let us take Radar and Garfunkel for a long walk around the complex to get better acquainted. MUCH to my relief, my plan seemed to work - the boys started off the walk completely disinterested in one another (but at least they weren't fighting!) and by the end of the 75-minute walk they were sniffing each other and playing nicely. We brought the boys into the house and let them play the patio a bit and they continued to do well. Robert was persuaded to let Radar spend the night and Radar continued to impress. Luckily, we still had Garfunkel's old crate from when he was a puppy (and it is huuuuge so Radar fit just fine) and Radar went in and slept through the night with no complaints. In fact, he did so well that he was allowed to stay the entire weekend! :o) Radar had no accidents in the house, was happy to hang on the couch or go for walks with Funk and he didn't chew up a single thing. He hit a bit of a speed bump when we tried to walk him around Lake Elizabeth; Radar has lived his whole life in a kennel and gets verrrrrry excited at the sight of other dogs. If you don't know his temperament, he can seem a little intimidating when he starts shrieking at other dogs so walks around the neighborhood were made instead and he did A-OK on those. I was absolutely tickled pink that the boys wound up getting along so well and that Radar had a chance to get away from his run and spend some time in a real home. It goes without saying that I was in tears when I had to take him back to school at the end of the weekend.

Radar is, unfortunately, still with us at Foothill. He's being clicker-trained by one of the seniors and all of us are just amazed at how far he has come. He is SUCH a good boy - he loves people, dogs, and playing and if I had the space I would've snapped him up two seconds after he got to school. He is definitely a high-energy dog but he loves to please his people so if you know anyone who might be interested, PLEASE think of Radar. He would be a wonderful addition to anyone's home!!!





(Where was Linguini during all of this, you ask? Well, while Radar was very intrigued by Linguini, having never seen any kitties before, Gweenz was less than enthused at Radar's arrival. He spent the entire weekend (save nights when he was moved to the office) mewling in our bedroom. He was the only one in the house happy to see Radar's behind go through the front door!)