First Place in Open - Bitch, Judge: Mr Graham Pickering (Picer)
Thank you to Driffield Agricultural Society for inviting me to judge Border Terriers at their Championship Show. I had a good entry of 169 from 162 dogs and had a large number of quality exhibits to go over. It was a shame that the weather, being extremely windy, meant that because of health and safety reasons I had to judge indoors. This meant that at first the ring was not as spacious as I would have liked and the noise from the wind in the marquee at times disturbed some of the younger exhibits. In addition, the length of the grass and the unevenness of the surface were problematic for some of the exhibitors.
I was extremely pleased with my final line ups and there were many classes where deserving dogs went unplaced due to the quality of the entry. Overall coats, were very good and temperament was excellent. However, I did find two examples of the odd tooth out of place and a number of dogs which could have been tidier particularly around feet and tail.
In my winners I was looking for a correct size Border with a harsh double coat, well muscled, correct bone and looking like it could do a good days work. I found those qualities in my winners.
A line up of real quality, all worthy winners and could change places on another occasion.
A real eye catcher as she walked around the ring, she looked in really good condition and she didn’t disappoint when I went over her on the table. She is of excellent make up and shape with a super otter head of the correct proportions, with a really keen expression and good ear placement. Correct scissor bite with white teeth set and a strong under jaw. She has good smooth shoulders which move into an excellent front. Her demeanour showed real confidence and she was up on her toes, quality that I do like to see in Borders. Easy to span, she has good rib and strong loin, her tail set is good and this gives the viewer a picture of real balance. Presented in a good double jacket and in profile she looks a picture. She moved around the ring like a dream. In the final line up, she pushed really hard and gave me a very difficult decision. RBCC today but could change places on another occasion.