The Empty Space Behind the Seat...A Eulogy

I'm getting ready for my next journey, but with a heavy heart. I lost Pacer last week, and it's been a tough time. She was my friend and companion for 15-1/2 years, and it seems so strange to not have her following me around. She had a wonderful, long life, but I only wish it could have been longer. I don't want to talk about her passing, though; I want to talk about her life.

I would have seen Pacer being born if not for the record-breaking blizzard of 1991. It started on Halloween and by the time the puppies started coming, the roads were impassable. So I sat at home getting regular phone updates about the births from the mother's owner. The next day, my daughter borrowed her husband's 4-wheel-drive vehicle and we braved the roads. For the next seven weeks, until Pacer was ready to come home with me, I saw her at least once a week. I bought a large stuffed Border Collie toy and took pix of Pacer next to it, starting when she was about as big as the toy's front leg and continuing until she passed it up in size.

As she developed, it became apparent that she was going to be the fast, driven flyball dog I had hoped for. Her drive was a little much at the beginning, when the ball in the other dogs' mouths seemed much more attractive to her than her own. There was a point when I was ready to give up, afraid that she'd chase the wrong dog and get hurt. Oh, I am SO glad I stayed with it!


At two years old, when she was still a little inconsistent but very fast, she won the "Fastest Dog in Texas" award at the Houston Astrodome International Flyball Tournament. At the same tournament the next year, she recorded the first sub-4 second run for an Animal Inn dog. Years earlier, her father, Cider, had recorded the first sub-5 second run. A great legacy to her dad!


Pacer continued her stellar athletic career, both in flyball and agility. Obedience wasn't quite so successful, as her concentration strayed whenever someone in the next ring threw a dumbbell. She never actually jumped over the gate, but man, was it close a couple times! Her behavior outside the obedience ring, however, would have won blue ribbons. She was the most responsive dog I could have hoped for. Twice, I called her off a rabbit she was chasing. Once, she was heading for a cliff up by Lake Superior, scaring the heck out of me, but turned on a dime and came back as soon as I called.


Pacer and I traveled to flyball tournaments throughout the US and Canada. When I started RVing (because of the dogs, by the way), Pacer discovered the joys of beach-walking. She has walked the beaches of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and countless lakes and rivers. I'm sure I'll never walk another beach without visions of her loping along, tongue hanging out, and tail wagging furiously. Our travels took us to 41 states and 4 provinces.

For all her wonderful athletic accomplishments, the greatest trait she had was her unquestioning, never-wavering devotion to me. I was so loved and so fortunate to have had her with me for as many years as I did. Sleep well, my Pacer.

Herdobe's Set the Pace
November 2, 1991 - April 21, 2007