| The Pace Chronicles |
| Pace stirred up so much trouble right from the begininning, everything from failing miserably at a doggy obediance course to consuming a family pet bird. She was the example of the 'bad dog' and was requested that she not return to that particular dog obediance school. When she was about one year old, possesion of Pace was returned to me. Seems as if my ex girlfriend had enough of the little rebel. I soon found out what she had been dealing with. Pace acquired many other names in the time being, some of which were: Little Meathead, Shit head, etc. There was no way to contain or restrain her. She was an escape artist, no fence could contain her. She'd always find a way out. I gave up trying to dog-proof the back yard. Pace displayed extensive nocturnal behavior by leaving in the middle of the night, often after bedtime, but always returning before dawn. In her early years, Pace would go on midnight runs and return home with 'one' shoe. The accumulation of shoes (none of which matched) became a problem. After asking all the nearby neighbors if they were missing 'a shoe' (none of them had), it became apparent that Pace was traveling beyond a one block radius. I knew that on many mornings, there would be someone, somewhere in the neighborhood wondering "what happened to my other shoe?" Not only would she bring home 'a shoe', she'd also litter the front yard with garbage, usually fast food wrappers from another score in the neighborhood. The shoe thefts continued for about two years. In the two years of time, I(we, Pace & I) filled two large boxes with a very interesting collection of shoes. When she got bored with shoes, she resorted to stealing groceries. The confusing part of this was - from where? I'm talking about groceries from a store or perhaps from someones home. As usual, she'd take off on her midnight run, and always be home before dawn. I would wake up the next morning and walk into the living room and find Pace sitting or lying on the floor near her contraband - most likely to protect it from being consumed by either Daisy or Sara. She'd never eat her prize, and these were always brand new and unopened grocery items. Oh, she'd still litter the yard with garbage. Seems she acquired a taste for McDonalds, Taco Bell, Del Taco, Kentucky Fried Chicken. And quite often, she'd leave dishware in the front yard, usually a bowl and sometimes a plate from wherever. Occaisionally a good piece of Tupperware that I'd be able to use. The groceries? Bread, or sometimes half loaves of bread, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, a full bag of Sarks coffee beans (decaffinated), Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip cookies, unopened bags of candy (big bags), a tupperware container full of banana chips, more bread, bags of pancake mix, bags of hot cocoa mix, boxes of Hamburger Helper, more bread, boxes of 'Suddenly Salad' and a one gallon size ziplock bag full of sliced ham - now what dog would bring home a bag of sliced ham and not tear into the bag and munch? Not only that, the following night she brought home a big ziplock bag with the ham bone. This has been going on for years! - as of the date of this journal entry, January 11th of 2001, Pace is eleven years old and is still bringing groceries home. Perhaps 'her' most prized acquisition was probably the Chips Ahoy chocolate cookies. I was abruptly awakened in the wee hours one morning by Pace jumping on the bed and snuggling up with me. With her, she had a nearly full bag of Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip cookies. Look dad! Look what I brought you! The candy,, of which numerous 'unopened' bags of candy were just before Holloween. For a couple of Holloweens I didn't have to buy candy for the trick or treaters, bonus for me, I was really broke at the time and was still able to give the Trick or Treaters candy - courtesy of Pace. I later found the banana chips came from Bill's place across the street. "That's where them banana chips disappeared to!" he said. Seems that he would sometimes leave the side door to the garage open and has a shelf of mostly canned goods. He went on to tell me that he occaisionally steps outside late at night for a smoke. One night while outside, with his cat 'Tangy' laying nearby, he watched Pace come trotting across the street and literally step right over Tangy. Pace would to Tangy's food bowl, pick it up and go running back across the street - cat food a flyin', and then lay down in our front yard to casually eat what was left in the bowl. Explains the many bowls left in the front yard over the years. Mick & Marilyn from a few houses away came over once for dinner, recognized an orange tupperware bowl I was using to serve salad from and said, "Hey, I think that's ours! Where'd you get that?" Of course I found it in the front yard among some garbage a few weeks prior. We all enjoyed a laugh about how I acquired some of my kitchenware. Okay, so I have a thief in the family. She also has some personality traits that should to be mentioned. In defiance Pace hated being disciplined, she'll always let out a defying bark or growl, and she'll always have the last word. She'd give a sideways look at me, and somehow I knew she was thinking bad doggy words about me. Sad Times and a New Member My big girl 'Daisy' died on the 5th of November, 1998. Pace & I were devastated. Daisy was like her big sister and playmate. Daisy couldn't take off on midnight runs with Pace, mostly because at 110 pounds, she couldn't squeeze through the little openings in the fence like Pace, nor find a way to hop over it. Besides, she preferred to stick close to home and be the supreme guardian that she was. I figured the only way to get us out of the horrible rut would be to adopt another puppy. At the SPCA, I found Cody. A five month old adorable black lab. I adopted Cody a day before he was to be euthanized and brought him home the day after Christmas. |
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| Pace is no ordinary dog. She had no name until she was about four months old. This little girl was found at the freeway off-ramp of Hwy 50 and Bradshaw Road in early January of 1990. She was abandoned at just a few weeks old. When I found her, she was wet, freezing and barely alive. She was so small I craddled her under my chin against my neck with a towel and took her straight to a vet hospital where we were able nourish and save her. Since I already had Daisy and Sara, and was sharing a rental home with a friend, who also had a dog, we had no room for yet another puppy. After a long vet visit, I placed this sleepy little puppy in a box with some blankets and took her to an ex girlfriends house. She had mentioned wanting a dog - she got 'Pace'. How'd she get her name? About the time Pace grew old enough to start running around, her resistance to authority and mischevious behavior prompted a quote from the Pace Picante Sauce commercial. . . "Get a rope!" |
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| Cody did a wonderful job antagonizing Pace and keeping us distracted from our loss. However, on January 5th, 1999, my lab, Sara died, exactly 2 months after the passing of Daisy. The loss of Daisy's protective guardian nature followed by the loss of a wonderful fun loving lab made for a very rough time emotionally. Cody had a way about him that kept our spirits up and us on our toes. As a young pup, he managed to destroy anything he could get a hold of and managed to antagonize Pace to no end. Pace was no doubt, quicker and smarter. But a couple of times while on the run, Cody would catch up with her, and clamp down on her tail while chasing her and just really piss her off. Pace would often use the pool as barrier protection. They would run around and around the pool, Pace would keep Cody on the opposite side. Eventually she'd find an opportunity to escape the back yard for some privacy from the puppy menace. Pace still took off on her midnight runs but started leaving the contraband outide or at the front door, knowing that Cody wouldn't be able to get to it. She now had a full time job evading and escaping from Cody. |
| As Cody grew up and settled down a bit, Pace was able to bring her contraband inside and protect it. Cody never figured out how she managed to escape the confines of the back yard. Watching Pace outsmart Cody was often amusing, quite often, it was a display of canine evade and escape tactics. I'd give them a couple of doggy cookies in the morning. Pace was never really cared much for doggy cookies, but Cody practically lives for them. Cody would hound her to no end into giving up her cookie. Even though not really interested in the cookie, she would sometimes eat it, real slow ( because she knew it bug the crap out of Cody) and sometimes she would just push it around with her nose and snarl at him when he got to close. Once in awhile, she'd pick up her cookie and trot all throughout the house with it, Cody following close behind, hoping and wanting the cookie and wanting to antagonize Pace. Using the cookie as bait and a distraction, she'd bolt towards the doggy door, and just before jumping through, she'd drop the cookie on the floor. Cody, now confused by the desire to chase and consume couldn't do both. Pausing long enough to frantically gobble up the cookie in order to continue the chase, by the time he finished eating, Pace had escaped the back yard and was proudly trotting through one of the neighbors yard. This tactic worked for quite awhile. Cody eventually figured he could just pick up the cookie and continue the chase. However, eventually the taste of the cookie in his mouth would get the best of him and he'd give up the chase. |
| Near the beginning of year 2000, we had a new addition to our family. At the time, my lovely girlfriend and her dog Dudley moved in to share our home. Pace wasn't to thrilled with a new dog in the house. It took a while for her to warm up to Conni, but took even longer for her to accept Dudley. Eventually, she basically tolerated Dudley's presence. Dudley and Cody were best buddies, they also both knew to give Pace a wide birth. If they'd step to close she'd give them an authoritative growl or sometimes just a look of "don't mess with me." Dudley, being very emotional had a hard time understanding this 'bitch like' behavior. Thus we sometimes called her 'Bitchulla' , our version of the canine Godzilla. All the while still taking off on her midnight runs. Conni too, was amazed about her acquisitions. Two nights in a row, Pace brought home one gallon buckets of ice cream. Turns out the neighbor put them outside for a short time to allow them to soften a litlle because they were 'hard' frozen. Each time he went out to get the ice cream, it had disappeared. He thought for sure he was losing his mind. |