How chasing a cat earned rescue dog top award

It is a tale as old as time - dogs chasing cats. But for one very good girl it has led to a national award.

Scout, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, was found abandoned, desperately underweight and suffering from severe skin problems in Leek, Staffordshire, during the first Covid-19 lockdown.

She was taken in by Marilyn Gilchrist, who trains dogs to track scents, and within a few years put her skills to use - helping Gilchrist's friend track down her missing cat, Ripley, who had been lost for more than a fortnight.

In recognition of her trailing abilities, Scout has now been awarded the Service Dogs UK and National Foundation for Retired Service Animals dog medal of honour.

"There was just something about her that felt like she was ours and she was meant to be with us," Gilchrist said of her new canine companion.

"I turned up at the kennels and saw this tiny little dog. She didn't look as young as she was, because she was so dirty and in such a [bad] condition."

"I took her home, and within 24 hours my husband declared that we were keeping her."

She had initially taken Scout home for temporary fostering, but was soon persuaded to adopt her permanently.

Gilchrist runs a business training dogs to use their noses to follow scent trails, and it was not long before she and Scout put the training to good use to track a missing feline.

"It's not something that we generally do but a friend asked if we'd take Scout out because she has an expert level in terms of looking for a scent trail," she said.

Scout was given a good sniff of the cat's bedding, and then took them "over a wall, through a garden, over a railway line and over a canal," and eventually to an alleyway.

Gilchrist told the cat's owner to focus their own searches in this area - and Ripley was subsequently found there and safely brought home.

"While he was a bit bedraggled, he was very healthy and came home," Gilchrist said.

Scout, meanwhile, was suitably rewarded with extra treats and a new toy.

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