Show Placings
Ladies Kennel Association
8th Dec 2023
Judge: Mr Ken Bartlett (Dwilencia)
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Manchester Championship Show
20th Jan 2024
Judge: Mr Richard Allen (Penparc)
Special Beginners - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Wellingborough & District Canine Society Open Show
28th Jan 2024
Judge: Mrs Sue Spafford (Dassett)
Puppy - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Placing Critique
Another smart puppy, lovely feminine head, easily spanned, in good thick coat. Not the length of rib as 1 and less confident on the move
The Midland Border Terrier Club Open Show
4th Feb 2024
Judge: Lesley Armstrong-Rodgers (Atron/Scottsway)
It was a great honour to be invited to judge The Midland Border Terrier Club Open Show and therefore my thanks go to the Committee for the opportunity. I thoroughly enjoyed my day at this friendly well run show. It was advantageous in having such a good sized ring in which to watch the dogs move. Borders need room to get into their stride and show their effortless movement and profile when viewed in side gait.
A special thank you also to Richard and Sharon, my two stewards for keeping things running smoothly. It is always a great help for any judge to be blessed with competent stewards. Finally a big thank you to all the Exhibitors for bringing their dogs under me for my opinion and for accepting my decisions with good grace. As always coats were at differing stages, often reflected in the placings, but coats do come and go, construction does not !. Overall I found temperaments excellent, as well it should be, which bodes well for the breed.
Puppy - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Placing Critique
A really nice Grizzle puppy of 10 months who once settled looked so well balanced. She has a lovely head feminine with a dark eye and correct dentition and big teeth. A straight front with enough bone and neat feet. Spannable with a good thick pelt. Racy well musclelled hindquarters. Looked well on the move once she settled into her stride holding her topline in side gait. Shown in a good full jacket today.
Novice - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
The Sporting Terrier Association of Yorkshire Open Show
18th Feb 2024
Judge: Mrs Sue Spafford (Dassett)
Puppy /
Second Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Placing Critique
Feminine bitch puppy, narrow throughout, in good coat and stands on neat feet.
The Southern Border Terrier Club Open Show
3rd Mar 2024
Judge: Miss Nicola Foster (Thozow)
It was a great honour to be invited to Judge a Border Terrier Club Open show so I would like to thank the Southern Club for this opportunity. It was a day I had been looking forward too, so I would also like to thank the exhibitors for their entries, allowing me to access their dogs and for accepting my decisions. I was most grateful to my stewards Sian McKay & Marina Fleming who kept the ring running efficiently, and also live streamed the challenges and BIS.
Puppy - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Placing Critique
A grizzle and tan, head of good proportions, ears close to cheeks and set level with the skull. A moderate length of neck into a level topline, which she holds on the move. Enough depth of rib, with little tuck up. Correct tail, thick at base and of moderate length; hocks well let down, presented well in a harsh double coat.
Junior - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Placing Critique
Repeat entry (see Puppy Bitch)
Crufts
10th Mar 2024
Judge: Mrs Lesley Gosling (Akinside)
A tremendous entry of 275 Borders ( 25 absentees on the day)to enjoy handling, judging and placing. I must extend my appreciation to my two valiant stewards for their patience and skill in keeping classes moving. Thank you all.
I do believe our breed is changing, but in subtle ways. The lack of opportunities for true terrier work below ground for some Borders has been replaced by agility and other energetic pursuits, but lack of hard muscle tone has produced a ‘softer’ body on some exhibits. Some feet are slacker, pads are more spread and thinner and some fronts are wide. Movement is not always positive and a ‘driving’ action is lacking. Size is fluctuating too. We have a ‘working’ breed - let’s ensure that features defining the breed are not lost, i.e. ‘spannability’; a hard, harsh top coat and soft protective undercoat (not enough of those today); a dark, expressive eye, a broad skull and strong quarters – ‘the engine is at the back!’. Heads generally were good, but some bitch heads veered towards coarseness.
One thing not lost is the Border’s kind temperament – curious, interested and ready for anything.
Puppy - Bitch /
Reserve
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
National Terrier Club
6th Apr 2024
Judge: Miss Elspeth Jackson (Clipstone)
Thanks to the National Terrier Club for their invitation to judge at this prestigious show and to the exhibitors who did me the honour of judging their dogs. I was lucky to have two efficient stewards who kept things running smoothly, thank you Laura and Dave.
The entry showed a good depth of quality. In many classes the places were hotly contested with decisions needing to be made on the narrowest of margins. I was very pleased to find that there were some good coats on thick pelts and the nice thick short tails which set off a good border so well.
Puppy - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Placing Critique
Narrow bitch built on racy lines. Good for size she has a moderate neck, good shoulders and is of good length allowing for her narrow ribs to be well laid back. Shown in good order with a good double jacket. Not as settled on the move as first.
Junior - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Placing Critique
See 2nd PB
East Anglia Border Terrier Club Championship Show
20th Apr 2024
Judge: Mrs Elizabeth Barrett (Howthwaite)
Thank you to the committee of the East Anglia Border Terrier Club for the honour of inviting me to judge your Championship show and for your great hospitality on the day. It was hit-and-miss as to whether or not I would be judging inside or out, and I’m pleased that the committee took the decision to hold it outdoors. It is far nicer for the dogs to be outside, even with the biting wind, and we are not to forget that they are designed to be outside in that type of weather, which reiterates the importance of a good coat. I hope everyone at ringside managed to keep the chill away, myself having Cumbrian bloodlines, found it rather pleasant. Thank you to my stewards Tracey, Dave and Mike who worked tirelessly to keep the ring moving. My biggest thanks are to the exhibitors who gave me an excellent entry and took all my decisions in a sporting manner. I know it is always said there are too many good dogs for the number of cards and that was especially true of the limit and open classes. I was spoiled for choice in a number of classes and had to split hairs on a number of occasions. Dog’s are never static and can have good days and bad days just the same as us, and condition and coats can change dramatically. Some dogs were out of top coat or had no harshness to their coat on the day which cost them on this occasion. Repeating myself from my last judging appointment, I made mention that true movement isn’t necessarily conducive to good movement if no ground is covered at the same time, ideally of course we want both but I would rather see a dog with a good outline in profile than one very accurate that’s going nowhere. Good construction should be a given, I know not much mention is made to that in our breed standard, but to constitute soundness to follow a horse, the construction must be balanced and correct with no exaggeration. Thankfully, there were not many exaggerations on the day. One or two were big ribbed and not quite spannable, and surprisingly they were not necessarily the ones that looked up to size. Overall, I was very pleased with the quality of the dogs presented.
Puppy - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Placing Critique
Grizzle and tan, a year old today. Lighter framed and not quite as mature looking as 1. Feminine head with dark eye and lovely neat well set ears. Excellent neck and shoulders. Not too heavy in bone. Excellent topline and short well set tail. Ribbed well back and narrow throughout. Racy hindquarters. Shown in a good harsh topcoat. Unfortunately she wasn’t cooperating with her handler on the move today, but the few strides I saw were ground covering and free.
Junior - Bitch /
Reserve
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Class Critique
Although not a numerically strong class, all four could change places another day.
West of England Ladies Kennel Society
26th Apr 2024
Judge: Mandy Holmes (Bimandi)
Many Thanks to WELKS for asking me to judge at their show, it was an honour, also thank you so much to everyone that entered under me, I had some great dogs to go over. Congratulation to all my winners. Thanks also go to my very competent stewards for keeping my ring running smoothly.
All the males were entire. Apart from 3 level bites all mouths were correct and teeth of good size. Temperaments were all sound except one or two that really didn’t like being in the noisy hall and were a little bit subdued. It’s hard to judge true movement on a slippery concrete floor and in some classes the placings could have changed if we had been outside on grass.
Novice - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Bournemouth Championship Show
12th Aug 2024
Judge: Mrs Wendy Mooney (Chesterton)
Thank you to my stewards, Hayley and Malcolm and to all the exhibitors who endured the heat and accepted my decisions sportingly, on what must have been one of the hottest days of the year. Overall the quality of the entry was good with some lovely dogs. Mouths, tails and size were generally good. Coats varied (as they always do) in both quality and the stage of growth. There were a number of pelts that could have been thicker and loose which was disappointing as this is mentioned in the standard and important from a working point of view. I was surprised and disappointed to see evidence of scissorwork on some coats and grooming was not always done to the dog’s best advantage – this does not affect the ability to work but this is a dog show and presentation therefore does count to a degree when placing the dogs. Compared to the last time I judged, I felt that size had improved and in most cases the dogs today were closer to the standard.
Junior - Bitch /
Reserve
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Welsh Kennel Club Championship Show
16th Aug 2024
Judge: Mr Stuart Plane
Junior - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Placing Critique
I thought this bitch was so nice to go over, she has an attractive head, lovely eye, true front leading to good ribs which span well, loose pelt, well set tail, I found her a touch longer than the winner
Novice - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Joint Border Terrier Club's Championship Show
31st Aug 2024
Judge: Mr Graham Pickering (Picer)
Thank you to The Scottish Border Terrier Club for asking me to judge the Joint Show. It’s been a long time coming as I was invited to judge in 2019 and COVID 19 got in the way! I would like to thank the exhibitors who managed to attend the show after the problems caused by Storm Lilian at Driffield. I also appreciate that the absentees were higher as a result of many people having prior appointments on the day that the show was rearranged. The City of Birmingham Society where very accommodating, we had a lovely ring with plenty of space.
However, I had a super entry, and I had lots to choose from in the dogs that were able to show under me. Thank you to everyone – I really appreciate being asked to give an opinion on other people’s dogs, it’s a real honour. I would also give a special note of thanks to my steward Bill Shorthose who single handedly managed the ring and made sure everyone was in the right place at the right time. Particularly with the challenges of a partnership show and the clashes that this can cause across two rings. Thank you to all the exhibitors who managed to negotiate two shows with good heart.
When judging, I look for dogs with good heads, plenty of strength under the eye, very little stop and a good strong jaw – essentially a’ Head like that of an Otter’. I also like to see straight fronts, correct shoulder placements and tidy small feet. I found these characteristics in all of my top winners. Generally, mouths were good, although there were a couple of dogs with a tooth out of place. Movement was ok in generally, but as breed we do need to keep an eye on front movement as there were some dogs who did not move as well as they should walking towards me. All the males were entire. I was very pleased with all my placings and when choosing my top winners, I had some difficult decisions to make and so were some dogs that were very unlucky on the day.
Junior - Bitch /
Reserve
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
Novice - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
City of Birmingham Championship Show
31st Aug 2024
Judge: Mrs Clare Sansom (Tarkaswell)
I would like to thank the officers and committee of the City of Birmingham Canine Association Championship Dog Show for the invitation to judge at this level for the first time.
With storm Lillian resulting in the abandonment of Driffield, the JBTC were also able to hold their show in an adjacent ring. Hall 3 at the Royal Kennel Club building was light, spacious and an ideal venue. A certain amount of flexibility was required when classes clashed, and I am very grateful to my experienced stewards Chris Woolner and Caroline Wise for their hard work. They were calm, efficient and kept the ring running smoothly. With their help we finished in time to ensure that all those who had won major awards could get to their groups.
My sincere thanks to all the exhibitors for giving me such a quality entry and accepting my decisions in a sporting manner. We had very few absentees and I often had difficult decisions to make. In several classes, I would have liked some additional prize cards to award.
Coats did have an influence on the results, with those presented at their best, in a harsh, dense double jacket with thick pelt, being rewarded. A few exhibits would have benefitted from having their feet tidied to have achieved a neater picture. I found two kinked tails, two with incorrect dentition and all male dogs were entire.
I was delighted with my principal winners, who all fulfilled my interpretation of the breed standard on the day. It was a privilege to judge such an entry, and the lovely atmosphere, with applause and cheers for the winners, made it extra special.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day.
Special Beginners - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Wreakevalley Flighty Miss
