"I think it's starting to sink in," says his handler, Midvale police officer Jared Richardson. "The first couple of days I left him home were hard on both of us."

Richardson slipped out of the house that first day. Vader, sensing the K-9 police car was gone from the driveway, spent the rest of the day frantically searching for his partner.

"You can't question his heart," Richardson says. "He really loved his job."

That much was evident in 2004 when the dog suffered "bloat," an intestinal disorder common in purebreds, and had to have 80 percent of his digestive system removed. He was back on job a few weeks later.

"Normally, you euthanize the dog when that happens," says Midvale Assistant Police Chief Tony Mason. "But since it was Vader we thought, 'Let's just wait and see .' "

In his five years on the force, Vader responded to more than 1,400 calls. He's chased suspects into attics, fallen through ceiling tiles and inhaled insulation. On one of his last captures, he was shot at as he moved in on the perpetrator.

In the summer of 2002, Vader became a hero when he captured the man who kidnapped an 11-year-old girl from her Midvale bedroom. The man was in the process of brutally beating the girl when police arrived on the scene.

When the man took off running, Vader pursued him over two fences before cornering him so police could take him into custody.

"Who knows how many more people this depraved individual would have harmed if the dog and officer Richardson had not come along?" says Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini. "He has lived up to his imposing name on many incidences. And, yet, I've seen him in social situations with his handler and he's just as friendly as can be."

That's the Vader who lives at the Richardson home, where the dog shares time, space and attention with Richardson and his wife, Amber, their two kids, two cats and a cocker spaniel.

"He's just a part of our family," Amber says. "In fact, he and Jared were partners before we were married and now we have our family pictures taken with him."

Midvale police took a chance on Vader when they brought him over from the Czech Republic. As a result, he responds to combination of commands in English, German - and a few in Czechoslovakian.

"We call it Germanish," Richardson says.

Richardson dubbed the dog Vader because it has unusual coloring for a German shepherd and reminded him of "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader.

Now that Vader's illness is catching up with him, the Richardsons are determined to make whatever time he has left happy.

Even though he loved his time as a dog handler on the police force, Richardson says he won't apply to work with another K-9 unit until Vader passes on.

"It would be too hard on him," he says. "I couldn't bring another dog into this house and have him see me get dressed up in my uniform every day and go off to work with another dog."

The city has purchased another dog, but the mayor still takes the time inquire about Vader's health.

"We can't say enough about Jared Richardson and the work he has done with our K-9 units," Seghini says. "But I think it's great that they are such great friends. I can just picture them kicking up their feet, watching TV and hanging out like any other friends."