Tyneotter Autumnal Fire

Many Thanks to the Society for inviting me to judge at their Golden Jubilee Open Show. Thank you to my two stewards who kept things running smoothly and also my grateful thanks to all the exhibitors who came under me and gave me a lovely entry. Most of the exhibits were presented in a good clean condition, but a few could have done with a little finer tuning on their presentation. Just one level bite. I find the true otter head is disappearing and movement left a lot to be desired, fronts were knitting and rears were moving close behind. Apart from that, I had an enjoyable day, thank you all.

It was an honour to be invited to judge this, our parent club’s show. My thanks to the committee who ran such a lovely event with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. My judge’s gift is much appreciated and will be a treasured momento of the day. My superstar stewards, Janice Johnson and Liz Barrett, worked hard and unobtrusively whilst keeping the classes moving smoothly over a long day – well done ladies. Many thanks of course to the exhibitors who made the journey on a major bank holiday weekend giving a large and quality entry of 190 dogs making 229 entries plus 10 NFC. I had some lovely sound and typical Borders to go over and, had I had them, I would have had no qualms in awarding 4 dog tickets and 5 bitch tickets. Unfortunately there are always downsides in a big entry and today size was an issue with some overly large exhibits who were not spannable and very heavily built. There were a number of youngsters which were obviously unused to having their mouths examined and more practice in a calm atmosphere would help to make them comfortable and avoid stress for them and their handlers. Ears need watching as some were quite large and spoiled the head. Sadly, as in the past I must complain about long tails. Tails are an integral aspect of the overall picture of a typical Border outline and long is simply wrong. Our breed standard is spartan compared to many others but for tails the description is clear and begins with, “Moderately short; fairly thick at base, then tapering.” Hopefully the issue will be addressed before the untypical becomes the norm. On a positive note … Feet were overall small and thickly padded although some would benefit from trimming and shorter nails. There was a good number of lovely otter-like heads of correct proportions with well placed dark eyes and a keen expression. As is usual these days coat presentation was generally good and today there were plenty of dense coats of correct texture and thick skins. Do I think the quality shown in this entry bodes well for the breed? Yes.