Radar love

Man's best friend really does forgive-and forget-a lot. At least that's what Dr. Steve Walstad, owner of Animal Clinic in Joplin, Mo., may have thought when he drove by his hospital and saw a dog, Radar, lying in front of the door.

Dr. Walstad had recently neutered Radar, and the dog had spent a few weeks at the clinic afterward while his owner was out of town. Once back home, however, Radar jumped the fence and walked a mile back to the clinic, despite never having been to the facility on foot. Dr. Walstad stopped and let Radar inside, who promptly ran to the cage he'd stayed in and made himself at home. After the dog accepted a little food and water and a hug, Dr. Walstad says he was convinced that Radar was as happy as could be.

Dr. Walstad learned that Radar's owner had been looking for a new home for him anyway, after she'd found the dog caught in her fence seven months earlier. So Dr. Walstad and his staff took him in as a clinic pet-for just a couple of days. As soon as the local paper ran Radar's picture, two young local boys came to the animal clinic to announce they'd lost the dog seven months before. Radar had gotten loose and had'?t come home. Dr. Walstad got a great story, the boys got their dog back, and Radar was lucky enough to have found three homes in seven months.