How is this for an amazing adventure: a runaway dog is home after seven months in which he managed to find TWO new homes, get neutered, and get renamed.
Happy — also known as Radar during his seven month adventure — ran away from his Illinois farm home in April. He had been with his family for more than two years, after human mom Misty Bowman picked him out from a friend’s litter. Human dad Rob named the dog Happy because he looked like he was always smiling.
When Happy left for his wild vacation, the Bowmans looked all over for him. They drove around the farm, put up ads, and went door to door asking neighbors if they had seen the dog. After the search was fruitless, they assumed he had been hit by a car.
Happy was actually taken in by another family who named him Radar for his ability to get around. His interim family had Radar neutered. (Hooray for responsible pet ownership!) But the interim family wasn’t sure they would be able to keep Radar in the end. While the family was on vacation, Radar used his talent for finding things to find his way back to the vet’s office! The vet decided — with the family’s blessing — to keep Radar around as an office pet.
A local newspaper featured a story about veterinarian Steve Walstad and his new office resident — and that’s where the Bowman family finally found their missing Happy.
The Bowmans offered to let the vet keep his new friend, before they broke the news to their children. Walstad graciously returned Happy to his first family.
Misty Bowman said that when she brought Happy back to the farm, he started to get excited as they got close to the house. She took that as a sign that he was indeed happy to be home again.