Craigshield Nutmeg

My thanks to the Border Union Agricultural Society for their kind invitation to judge their Golden Anniversary Championship show and also for the lovely gift. Thanks also to my two stewards, who kept the ring running smoothly throughout the day which meant we managed to finish just after 3pm in time for the group. I had a fantastic entry and would like to thank all exhibitors for the opportunity to go over their dogs and for the sporting manner in which my decisions were accepted. I did try to keep the judging in the large outdoor ring, but the weather didn’t really play ball on the day and we ended up in the smaller indoor ring in the tent. The large pole in the middle of the indoor ring wasn’t particularly helpful either, but I believe we managed OK, and there was sufficient room for me to assess the movement of all exhibits. As you would expect, coats were at various stages but on the whole most were acceptable. All dogs were entire, there were no kinked tails and only one or two untidy mouths. Border Union is one of my favourite shows and with some quality dogs to judge, I thoroughly enjoyed my day.

I was so excited to be invited to give tickets for the first time so a big thank you to Driffield Committee for the invite but especially to the exhibitors for my fabulous entry I found some really lovely dogs to go over and in some classes I wished I had more awards to give out , I was very pleased with my final line ups Temperaments all day were very good. I didn't see one cross word between the dogs , Coats as always were varying and in some classes it was a consideration. The open and limit classes were of the highest quality and very enjoyable to judge I thoroughly enjoyed my day and such a privilege to be able to go over all of your dogs , thank you

My thanks to the Driffield Championship Show Committee for the opportunity to go over a quality entry and a real thank you to the exhibitors for entering and coping with the unusual arrangements. I know many expect to see a line up all of a type but you can only put up what is entered and you can’t deny a quality dog that is within the standard over a poorer exhibit of a type you personally prefer. After the show I was re-introduced light heartedly (I hope) to a dog described by the exhibitor as “the one I didn’t like”, which I suspect is the interpretation many exhibitors of beaten dogs have. As a general rule I believe it’s much more likely that a beaten dog is in fact a liked dog but that on the day there may have been others that were liked more! Over the years there have been many different concerns about where the breed is heading but I’m pleased to say that some of these look to have been put to bed. I saw lots of good mouths with big strong teeth and only two level bites. Loose thick pelts were a plenty and I’m delighted to see the return of good full coats shown with pride. There were no kinked tails but a good carrot tail is now as rare has hens teeth with flag poles more the norm. Some puppies are coming in large and leggy and many entries were borderline for spanning. Close rear movement and loose fronts were a blight on some otherwise good dogs. However, with the exception of a couple of classes, most exhibits were of real quality and I’m sure many exhibitors were left wondering why they never got placed. The answer is that you probably deserved one but I only had 5 to give and in some cases the 5th could equally well have been first. Limit bitch was absolutely full of quality and in Open bitch they were all well worthy of a CC with little to choose between them. So overall I’m pleased with our efforts to produce quality exhibits but ditch the flag poles and enjoy the champions that you all take home.