Becky
(Seilatan's Rebecca Sunshine
Can.CDX, Am.CD, Can./Am.TD, TT)

July 2, 1983 - Mar.20, 1997

In the Spring of 1983 Becky's Mom attended her first CKC licensed Obedience Trial.  She was merely a spectator and was curious to see what "obedient dogs" actually did.  She was entranced, not only by the event itself, but by the beauty and the performance of the pure-bred dogs (some precision-perfect...some amusingly sloppy).  Then and there she decided she must have a dog and they must take obedience classes together so they could attend some of these trials.   She and her husband spent a couple of months trying to decide what breed they wanted and from whom were they going to buy.  They both agreed that the English Springer Spaniel was the most beautiful of the pure-bred dogs, and when they learned more about them they discovered Springers were intelligent, friendly and fun-loving.  It took quite a while to find a breeder they liked.  Some had dogs who were not beautiful, not friendly and not even particularly healthy-looking.  Finally their patience paid off and they found a perfect liver and white female, from a litter only three and a half weeks old.  They didn't actually bring the puppy home until she was 7 1/2 weeks, but they were allowed to visit off and on over the next month to watch the progress of all the puppies.   "Becky" was the answer to their prayers.  Becky was so lovely and loving that they didn't know how they had ever survived without her before she came to share their lives.  They read every book about ESSs and training and raising puppies that they could get their hands on, and Becky must have read the books too, because she learned everything so quickly, from "house-training", to "her toys/not toys", to graduating in First Place in the Puppy Classes at the local kennel club.  They had so much fun training together and Becky loved to show-off how clever she was.  Just after she was 12 months old they went to a Temperament Test and Becky passed with ease, earning her TT.   She earned her Can.CD at age one and then they started taking tracking classes.  Becky was the most precise tracking dog that her Mom hadever seen (and she's seen Schutzhund dogs in action).  Becky really found her calling when it came to tracking, and she just loved it.  Her little tail ticked-tocked like a metronome when she was "on the scent", which was always, and her nose was glued to the track.  Nothing could distract her from her goal, not mice, not rabbits, not even fire-ants biting her nose.  She got her Can.TD at age two, as well as her Am.CD.  At three she had earned her Am.TD and Can.CDX.  They entered a number of trials after that in the Open B class and Becky never had a score less than 194/200 and often it was higher.  They won a number of !st placements and ESS awards.  Becky learned all of the Utility exercises and was particularly good at scent discrimination and hand signals.  They often visited seniors' homes for pet therapy and obedience demonstrations.  Becky was a beauty and had the personality of a royal princess, but the gusto of a good ol' farm dog.  She loved to chase leaves in the Fall and snowballs in the Winter and sleep in the shade in the summer. She and her family shared almost fourteen years together, and her parents treasured every moment (and still do). 
"I miss her so much sometimes, but she is here with me, in my heart, always."