Tales of Cats & Dogs

Tales of Cats & Dogs

The Real Radar’s Story

During his college years, our son, Nick, worked security at a nightclub in Phoenix AZ. One night, when he was on duty at the club’s door, a large white German Shepherd came trotting out of the alley behind the building.

Nick took him home and named him Radar because of his large ears. Radar had some characteristics that indicated he may have been trained as a guard dog. He would sit at Nick’s heel and growl if someone he didn’t know or trust came too close to Nick.

Radar was a fairly old dog when Nick found him, but even in his advanced age, Radar was a smart and clever dog. One of his favorite tricks was to open the refrigerator door because he knew that’s where the opened dog food was stored.

Radar also knew how to beg to be taken for a walk. On one visit to Nick’s apartment, I gave in and took Radar by the leash out the door and toward a local park. After a few steps it became clear that I was not as strong as the dog. I couldn’t stop him or even slow him down. I yelled at my husband, Thomas, for help. He called to Nick’s roommate, who ran after me and got Radar under control. Radar seemed to enjoy the adventure, and Thomas had to stifle a laugh.

As he aged, Radar had health problems, including what Nick suspected was a stroke because his facial muscles pulled to one side. We never knew Radar’s exact age, but Nick’s veterinarian said that he lived to a remarkably old age for white German Shepherds.

How the Real Houdini Got His Name

We adopted Houdini from a friend, who was a technical writer colleague of mine in Pittsburgh. She was a dedicated animal rescuer and rescued cats, dogs, and horses.

She asked me if we wanted another cat. At first, I said “No.” We had two cats, and I thought that was enough. When our older cat died, she asked me again. This time I said “Yes.”

Houdini earned his name because he pulled a trick on my friend. Before going to work one day, she opened a window so her cats could sit in the window and dream of escaping to the great outdoors. When she came home, her many cats were nowhere to be seen. Some clever cat had kicked out the screen. Of course, the cats took advantage of this wonderful opportunity and ran free.

She went around the neighborhood and explained to neighbors what had happened. She was able to collect the cats, except for one tiger stripped female. A neighbor told her that he had seen a cat of that description roaming around.

She was lucky and caught the cat. After she got the cat safely back in the house, she checked it over to make sure there were no injuries or other concerns. Well, this tiger stripped cat was a male! She didn’t have the heart to tell the neighbor that she had nabbed the wrong cat. She kept him and named him Houdini!

Houdini was Yoyo’s best friend. Yoyo was the model for the OrangeFoot Publishing Co. logo. After we adopted Houdini from my technical writer friend, she told me that Yoyo was simply lost without Houdini and would we consider adopting Yoyo, too.

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