For those who knew him, Saber, the longtime partner of Fleta Kirk, and one of the founding members of MARK-9, passed away three weeks short of his 16th birthday. During his long career, MARK-9 averaged between 25 and 35 calls a year and Saber missed only a few of them. He was a member of MARK-9, an original member of TXTF1, and a member of 1SRG. Saber was inducted into the Oklahoma Veterinary Animal Hall of Fame and was AKC's Ace Award winner for Search and Rescue in 2004. He searched in Moore, OK after the tornado, in Fort Worth after that tornado, in Del Rio after the flooding, in east Texas after the Columbia space shuttle tragedy and in countless other equally important though lesser-known searches throughout North Texas. And he was recognized by police departments and schools for the work he did in children's education. Saber was cross-trained through the Delta Society as a visitation dog and was a frequent sight at nursing and assisted living homes.

Fleta writes: "When I first started in search and rescue, I was under the impression that I would be training Saber. He quickly realized how inept I was and told me in his own way, Let me show you how we're going to do this. Then we started developing a children's education program, writing in Saber's role. Again he told me, Let me show you how we're going to do this. During his almost 10-year career, I can't count the number of times Saber had to show me "how we're going to do this." And the humbling thing is most of the time, if one of us was wrong, it wasn't Saber. Late one Saturday night, I saw that look in his eyes and knew that Monday I would have to talk to the vet. Sunday, one last time, Saber said, Let me show you how we're going to do this. Saber died at home, and died as he lived—in a quiet manner passing from this life without fanfare but with Collie dignity."