Former officer fondly recalls canine partner
One bad guy got six months in jail for assaulting Bar.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Seeing those alert dark eyes and black ears in the cruiser's rearview mirror is just one image of Bar that sticks in Scott White's mind and puts a lump in his throat.
"I saved all the Vindicator stories written about him, all the letters school kids wrote," White said, choking back tears as he leafed through the laminated memories. "I saved the sympathy cards, too."
Bar, Youngstown Police Department's first dog, would have been 10 on Saturday. Last Friday, the 90-pound German shepherd who had degenerative myelopathy, was put to sleep. White called it the hardest thing he's ever had to do.
He said Bar's disease is similar to MS in humans.
Bar, who joined YPD in 1997, had to stop working about two years ago when White, a detective sergeant assigned to the vice squad, was injured and placed on light duty. White, who requires more surgeries, retired on disability two months ago.
White sent out e-mails to those who knew Bar, to tell them of the passing of a "true gentleman and warrior." White said most folks forgot his name but they always remembered Bar's.
In a return e-mail, Austintown Police Department Sgt. Tom Collins said Bar set the standard for what other dogs should be. Collins' police dog is Hurie.
More memories
"I look at these and it brings back so many memories," White said as he thumbed through the newspaper stories and letters. "Bar was gentle with everyone -- except thugs."
White laughed as he read through a stack of letters from Bennett Elementary School fifth-graders. They were written after Bar visited the school to show off his skills in 1999.
"I always say dogs are better and smarter than cats," one pupil wrote. "Tell Bar I said 'Hi,' " wrote another.
Kids who toured city hall one day got to meet Bar. Afterward, one wrote: "The part I enjoyed most was Officer White and his friendly companion Bar. Mayor [George] McKelvey was very nice, too."
Bar, a ferocious-looking shepherd with the thunderous bark, always left a lasting impression, especially with those he hunted down.
White recalled the time that he and Bar responded to a burglary-in-progress call at the former Masters Tuxedo on West Federal Street. Bar zoomed through the vacant and dark building and then alerted the officer to an washer.
White and Detective Sgt. Michael Lambert crept up to the washer and spotted the feet of a man hiding. White said that the man, after he was handcuffed, said Bar wouldn't have done anything, adding, "He liked me."
White said Lambert shot back, "Yeah, he'd like you -- with a side of fries."
Tough training
Bar was trained to sniff out narcotics and work patrol duty, which included tracking.
"Bar loved his job. It kills me to think of him being gone," White said, brushing tears from his eyes. "Remember the old Ames Store, it's now Big Lots, Bar fell from the second story during a training exercise. He had to get staples and stitches on his chin, knees and feet."
Bar also took some lumps from suspects. In 2000, a visiting municipal judge sentenced a man to six months in jail for punching Bar in the head when the fearless dog apprehended the man wanted on a drug warrant.
Most bad guys gave up when told Bar would be sent in to find them. Those who didn't wish they had.
White recalled Bar finding a man hiding in a bedroom closet hidden behind a chest of drawers.
"Bar barked so close, the guy ended up with dog slobber all over his face," White said, grinning. "The guy said he was sure we wouldn't let Bar go after him -- ha!"
The there was the time two suspects ran to a car and sped off. Lt. William Powell, then commander of the vice squad, radioed the location to other officers.
"All you could hear over the radio was Bar whining in the background," White said, smiling at the memory. "He wanted to work but it was a vehicle pursuit."
Bar in pictures
White has stacks of photos of Bar, the most recent taken as the ailing dog stood in the snow, his hind legs askew from the crippling disease. The photo was taken a few days before he was euthanized.
"He'd struggle to get up," White said. "He couldn't control his feet. Then, at the end, he had spasms. I couldn't stop crying."
Photos from happier times show Bar and White, each in their own harness, rappelling from a wall at K-9 SWAT training in Dayton.
There's one of Bar biting FBI Special Agent Mike Cizmar at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., during a training session. White said he conned Cizmar into "taking the bite" by teasing him about being a Marine.
The photo depicts Cizmar, his face beet red, down on one knee, and Bar sinking his teeth into the agent's heavily padded forearm. The camera also caught White, holding onto Bar's leash, laughing.
White still has three German shepherds roaming his ranch-style home -- Cala, 4, and two of her offspring, Ally, 2, and Storm, 14 weeks. As with Bar, the dogs take commands in Slovak.
"Cala really misses Bar, she looks for him constantly," White said. "I do, too. He was so much more than a pet. I couldn't have asked for a better partner."