and saw a hare running off. I was so surprised that I missed when I shot at the hare. Scout must have seen this hare take a few hops. Hares will sometimes take a few hops stop for a bit and then try to sneak off. Saighton's Scout Spitfire and Scout were developed at Presaddfed in different ways. Scout was always worked to develop as a trial prospect for America. Spitfire was frequently worked under circumstances that I was not willing to work a young trial prospect. Spitfire gained her working knowledge over a number of shooting seasons. I shouldn't think there are many spaniels that had the amount of working experience that Spitfire had. Scout was only with me for one shooting season. A typical Saighton's bitch, Spitfire was not a big spaniel by any means. Scout was a good-sized spaniel with a good amount of leg under him, typical of many Saighton's dogs. Having said that, I remember when I was working Scout one day by myself. It was somewhere that I had worked Spitfire many times. His markings were similar to Spitfire's and his movement was almost identical to hers. It was like watching a dog version of Spitfire. Although Scout always reminded me of Spitfire in his level-headedness and intelligence, this was the first time his physical characteristics reminded me so much of Spitfire. He was a bigger version of her. I had always hoped Spitfire would produce a dog like herself and I figured Scout was about as close as I would ever get, without actually cloning Spitfire. Although I had become quite accustomed to training dogs and sending them on to new owners, I was really dreading the day I was going to send Scout to Jess. He was very special to me and I felt different about him than virtually all the dogs I had trained at the kennels. Hazel would suggest that we should keep him, as we may never get another dog like him again. I was very tempted, but knew Scout deserved a chance to make his name in American trials. I thought he was ideally suited for the American trials and he was ideal for Jess. Even if he never won a National title, I felt Jess and Scout would get along really well and Jess would appreciate him. I will never forget the look Scout gave me after I put him in his shipping crate and I was walking away. Scout made it clear to me that he felt I had betrayed him terribly. It sent chills down my spine. I never saw a dog give me a look like that when shipping them. I breathed a sigh of relief when I got the first report from Jess on Scout's Americanisation. Things seemed to be progressing steadily forward. What did surprise me was when Jess said that he found Scout to be very sensitive. He said some of the pros would find him too sensitive. I never found him that way. The Saighton line did tend to be quite sensitive, but I thought he was one of the tougher temperaments I had amongst the Saighton dogs I had trained. I can only guess that Scout found leaving where he was born and the journey to Colorado somewhat traumatic, and had Page 6 | Spaniel Journal | Previous Page | Next Page |