2000-2008
With sadness we report the passing of High Tail Dan, which lost his battle with cancer.
When talking of Dan I must first thank Dean Lord for allowing me to purchase Dan.
The late Lee Cruse originally owned Dan, with Dean guiding him.When Mr. Cruse passed away, Dean assumed ownership.When I was
looking for a dog Jerry Hailey inquired of Dean about prospects and Dean mentioned Dan’s availability. We will be forever grateful to
Dean for allowing us to purchase Dan.
I could not have asked for a better dog than Dan to compete in trials. He took Jerry and me all over the country and when he ran he was
always under consideration. Dan rarely took himself out and was always a front-running dog. He ran with style and was impressive on
point.
Some of Dan’s achievements were winning the Region 5Amateur Championship, the Missouri Open Shooting Dog Championship, runner-
up in the SouthwestMissouri Shooting Dog Championship, and runner-up in theMissouriAll-Age Championship. In some of Dan’s
other performances he came close to the winners, for instance in 2006 at Hoffman, N. C., in the National Open Shooting Dog Championship.
On an afternoon which started sunny and then became cloudy, Dan ran the hour and a half course with ease. Over the course he
had six finds.What a joy to ride the grounds at Hoffman and ride around a corner and find him pointed. Of all his wins I hear as much
about him not winning that National Championship as I do of some of his wins. One caller recently told me he has gone to Hoffman several
times and has never seen birds pointed like that. That is why he was a champion in my mind. Always putting down a good race and
never taking himself out.
When talking of Dan his runs at Grovespring, Mo., come to mind. He ran these grounds as good as any dog. His record speaks for itself.
Dean won the Southwest Missouri Derby with Dan. He was an edge-running dog, which helped him at Grovespring. He would take a
line and finish to the end.
After winning the Region 5 Championship Stan Howton,who had scouted Dan, said: “A monkey with a whistle could run Dan on these
grounds.” I do agree with Stan on that comment because I always felt I was just riding and singing to him and finding him on point. [I
am not sure about the monkey part, though]. He could run as big as you wanted in any stake. He was a big running shooting dog. I will
always remember the Missouri All-Age Championship where Dan ran one of his standard races—always to the front and on course. In
the middle of his brace Dan had not been seen in a few minutes and the gallery was thinking he was lost. Jerry Hailey rode out front very
calmly and continued singing.As he approached the end of the line he raised his hat. Dan had birds. This was typical Dan as we learned.
Never go back and look for him; he was always to the front.
As I think of Dan I will never forget the bond Jerry Hailey and Dan had. Jerry worked with Dan so well and his patience in training paid
off as he guided him on the open shooting dog circuit.
I also wanted to thank the judges who recognized Dan’s ability: Leland Fischer, Steve Gill, Roscoe Stanton. Gailen Cooper, Francis
Clasen, Andy Daugherty, Lynn Oxendine, GaryYoung, Larry Meek and Bill Kribs. These judges named Dan a champion or runner-up.
Thank you for seeing what we saw.
I will be ever grateful to Dan for teaching me what a field trial dog should do—run the course in style, point birds and reach to the extreme
while at the same time keeping in contact with the handler.
Thank you for all the good runs. You will be missed.
— Ken Teague