Show Placings
City of Birmingham Canine Association
5th Sep 2009
Judge: Mrs Kathy Wilkinson (Otterkin)
An excellent entry awaited me at the City of Birmingham show, not only in numbers, but also in the depth of quality. In many classes, I found myself wishing for more than 5 places to award and sadly, dogs left the ring which I really liked and would have been happy to place on another day. In more than a couple of classes, it was very hard to decide on the 1st 5 in order and many went down the line because of coat texture and thickness, although on another day, in better coat, they would have fared better. As I have not been to many shows this year, it was good to view some dogs for the first time, including my Best of Breed, who I was pleased to ?find?, only to later discover she has already been found on a number of occasions, although not at this level!
I apologise for the lateness of this critique. Besides flying out to an appointment to judge in Italy only a couple of days after the show, we have had some personal and medical issues to deal with regarding the welfare of my elderly mother in law. As I write this, we have still not finalised arrangements for her, but hope to do so soon, so I hope you will understand that sometimes, dog shows do not come first.
On the way to the showground, my car made some terrifying noises when I touched the brake pedal and so, that will explain to anyone wondering, why I had to stop judging for a second or two to find my car keys for the AA man, who kindly fixed it at the hotel car park for us and saved us a long trip home on the back of a low loader.
An eventful weekend, made wonderful by the number of top class Border Terriers present at the show.
Many thanks must go to the very experienced and helpful ring stewards, Mr and Mrs Wright, who had the dogs present and ready for inspection at the start of every class and so enabled me to finish in plenty time for the Terrier Group. Good ring management was important with an entry of 185 dogs, making 193 entries (plus one or two whose entries had not been received and less a couple of NFC). This was the highest number in the Terrier Group today and I would like to thank all the exhibitors for allowing me the pleasure of going over their dogs. The absentee rate of dogs entered was 23.5%.
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Class Critique
A lovely class. Some very hard decisions. On another day, I could easily place the 5th in a 1st position and all the others as well. A REALLY good class. What a blessing for the future of the breed.
Richmond Championship Show
12th Sep 2009
Judge: Mrs Janet Lee (Tythrop)
Sincere apologies to my exhibitors, the committee failed to inform me the proposed order of group judging had changed & the Terrier group was brought forward, the tannoy call was the 1st thing I knew about it. My back spasm during junior dog meant I was reduced to shuffling, sorry.
Most dogs were new to me & temperaments in the ring were good, my winners could do the job they were intended for being free from coarseness & lumber, spannable & narrow, with corresponding good construction & movement.
Several heads were short in skull & blocky, more resembling the balance of an Asian Short Clawed Otter, than an English one, the latter have longer than broad flat skulls, clean cheeks & relatively short muzzles parallel in profile to their skull, Borders should have large teeth with good scissor bite to be effective. Today, square, deep skulls, often with round eyes & very short narrow muzzles with small teeth were in evidence. These too strong square heads tended to have heavy fronts & frames to match.
Many fronts were placed too far forward with pro-sternum behind point of shoulder, which lacked length & layback, the too short & steep upper arms having no support, badly affecting movement, the dogs moved away with their fronts crossing, when only two legs should be visible. As an alternative a few were close behind & swung in front, so again "four legs". Profile movement lacked ?travel?, being up & down short choppy strides rather than smooth & forward going with drive off the hocks.
Although bone wasn't generally too fine nor too heavy some didn't have enough through pasterns into feet, & they lacked the depth of pad to ensure soundness if worked regularly.
My major concern, however, was coats & especially pelts. When I came into the breed Borders were shown in deep double coat, always.Dogs then looked heavier than they were due to these double coats & lots of pelt which the standard says MUST be thick - not because they had big frames with drum tight skins.. Coat density & pelt are directly related, no coat, thus thin skin, but they should still be loose & pliant. Tight, paper thin skins without depth of under or topcoat is not what the standard calls for, nor any use to a working terrier. A great advantage to the dog is a continuous double coat that can be worked or shown all year round.
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Placing Critique
Smaller dark grizzle in good coat & condition, bit shorter boned throughout, so didn’t have quite the length of stride. Not as confident yet as 1st.
Darlington Championship Show
18th Sep 2009
Judge: Mr Frank Kane (Hirontower)
A very good entry in both quantity & quality. I was very pleased with the challenge line ups in both sexes.
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Midland Counties Championship Show
22nd Oct 2009
Judge: Professor A S Milton (Baillieswells)
The first sentence of the Standard reads, General Appearance: Essentially a working terrier. Bearing this in mind, I was most impressed with the quality of the coats. The great majority had really tough outer coats, and nice loose pelts. Though some of the blue & tans were showing white hairs (ticking), which is the hallmark of the blue & tan, there were some black all over which is incorrect. Pads were on the whole good with well shaped feet. Ears should be neither too thin nor too thick, and should hang correctly. Not always the case today. There were several atypical heads, with a few over long noses, and several being overlarge. Only one suspect mouth. Some with narrow muzzles had rather crowded incisors. In the past I have been very critical of movement, for if a Border cannot move properly it is not put together properly. Today there was both good and bad movement. There were problems with front movement, where many exhibits were moving too close. Strange to say there were very few wide in the front. Previously, from the ringside, I had thought there were too many Borders with overlong tails. There were some today, but a lot of this was due to the tail not being groomed properly. Tails should not be scissored, but over long hairs at the end should be judiciously removed. In every class there were always two and generally three exhibits which shone out. In some case it was difficult to pick out the remaining places. ( I was slightly perturbed when picking up my documents from the secretary’s office, that though I had a “Judging Book”, I was not in fact a judge but an “Adjudicator”, or so my badge said. Have we taken leave of our senses?
Puppy - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Southern Border Terrier Club Members Limited Show
7th Mar 2010
Judge: Mr Neil Straw (Shaolin)
To receive an invitation to judge a Breed Club show is a privilege, therefore I thank the Officers and Committee of the Southern Border Terrier Club for the honour to judge their Member's Limited Show. Thank you to my stewards who kept things running smoothly, but most of all I would like to thank the exhibitor's for a wonderful entry and allowing me to judge your dogs, it was an appointment I had been looking forward to and I thoroughly enjoyed my day. The entry was 165 dogs (18 NFC) making 195 entries, 32 absent with 115 dogs on the ground. It was a quality entry with some tough decisions; I was very pleased with my line up in both sexes.
Some general observations - dentition throughout was very good, with correct size teeth, presentation was of a high standard, however, one area that gave me some concern was front movement, some exhibits that I liked disappointed in this area which reflected in some of my decisions.
Junior - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Crufts
12th Mar 2010
Judge: Mrs L.A. Crawley
Special Puppy - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Placing Critique
feminine puppy built much on the same lines as 1, excels in neck and topline typical in head, good body and ribs, needs to reach more from the shoulder rather than just the pastern, lovely coat and temperament.
National Terrier
3rd Apr 2010
Judge: Mrs Valerie Furness (Quatford)
A big thank you to the National Terrier Club for inviting me to judge this prestigious show and thank you to my stewards especially Fred who as always put everybody and everything in order and kept the judging on the move and flowing.
I was looking for a true Border and was pleased with all my placings to-day, all of good quality. What I did notice was a lot of quantity but not a lot of quality. Front and hind movement looks to be getting worse, some exhibits were so lacking in bone that the front legs would make good knitting needles and some were actually doing knit one, pearl one when moving back towards me. I could see front pads on some as they were moving away. Hind movement was either too close or too wide, over-angulation needs to be watched. Top lines on the whole were good but there were some strange under-lines. A lot of exhibits were so short in muzzle that this made for very tight dentition, small feet were few and far between and tails in some were far too long, where have all the “carrots” gone. I only found three incorrect mouths and two abnormal tails. Some exhibits would benefit from more handling/ring-craft experience as their poor performance affected placings.
I think the Breed Standard would make good reading for some exhibitors.
On a positive note, temperaments overall where very good.
Junior - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Bath Campionship Show
28th May 2010
Judge: Mrs Melanie Lewis
Thank you to the exhibitors for an extremely nice entry and for the sporting manner in which my decisions were accepted. A warm sunny day with a welcome breeze made conditions ideal. A bonus was the neatly mown grass in the ring which was ideal to assess movement. I was fortunate to have two extremely efficient Stewards who ensured the smooth running of the ring, enabling me to finish my task in good time, despite a delay in the start of judging.
On the whole I was pleased with the exhibits presented to me which were clean, although many lacked the correct double jacket that the standard asks for. Front movement is still a concern as indeed was the variation in the size of some of the exhibits. Heads generally were good although some exhibits were rather heavy in ear. Temperament’s were excellent, just one or two not too keen on being handled on the table. Two exhibits had teeth missing and I found a couple with incorrect dentition.
Feet can tell you a lot about a dog and its lifestyle. The standard asks for feet to be small with firm pads. Flat feet not helped by long nails are most undesirable and indeed would be a drawback if the dog was carrying out the task for which he was originally bred. Scissor marks unfortunately were very much in evidence on some exhibits which spoilt their overall appearance.
Junior - Bitch /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Southern Counties
5th Jun 2010
Judge: Tinna Grubbe (Denmark)
Junior - Bitch /
Reserve
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
East of England Championship Dog Show
10th Jul 2010
Judge:
Thanks to exhibitors for the entry, which thankfully, was undercover on such a very hot day.
I was surprised at the size of the Minor Puppy dogs, which were up to size at such a tender age. I was disappointed at the lack of foot and claw care on some exhibits ? feet not properly trimmed and claws much too long for a working breed or any breed shown at a Championship show. Shaved bellies are becoming more evident - why? It's obvious and unattractive. There were too many single coated exhibits, and not enough clean ones. I was pleased with my winners.
Junior - Bitch /
Reserve
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Paignton & District FA
2nd Aug 2010
Judge: Mrs Carol Lumbard
Post Graduate - Bitch /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Southern BTC Limited Show
6th Mar 2011
Judge: Miss Lisa Jenkins (Badgerbeck)
Firstly, please accept my apology for the lateness of this critique, unfortunately I had problems with my PC which crashed and lost my first , almost complete report, leaving me with no option but to start again. Thank you for an excellent entry. I was very pleased to find that most of the exhibits were of a workable size & spannable, had big teeth with good strong muzzles/jaws, all males entire, only 2 very minor tail kinks, and temperaments were excellent. On the down side I had few in good deep double coat and a really thick pelt was hard to find, the true otter head seams to be being replaced by a squarer skull giving more of a teddy bear look not helped by over long moustaches/beards and big bushy eyebrows. Ribs were frequently too short & deep resulting in whippety underlines. Front movement is still a problem due to a lack of balance between front and hind angulation with dogs either having good hindquarters but short steep upper arms or they were correct in front but over angulated behind, this resulted in them either throwing their fronts about coming or dropping their withers in profile in an attempt to balance their stride. There were a handful with crowded incisors or missing a first or second premolar.
Limit - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
WELKS
29th Apr 2011
Judge: Mrs Margaret Sneddon
Many thanks to my stewards who had everything running smoothly in a calm and good-humoured manner, it makes judging such a pleasure. I had a good entry of 132 dogs with a lower than usual absentee rate of 14%, which was good for a Friday in the present economic climate and I was very pleased to be able to judge outside, although I understand some of the exhibitors found it rather chilly. Quality was rather varied but some of the classes were closely contested and I was delighted with my top winners. Front construction is still a problem with some and coats were rather varied but that could be due to the unseasonal weather which we have had recently. I was also pleased to see a number of the dogs moving freely, with reach in front and good drive from the hindquarters, Border Terriers could not work as they were intended to do without this asset.
Post Graduate - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Placing Critique
smaller grizzle bitch with a good head and dark eyes. Good conformation throughout, moved well and has a good coat and thick pelt.
Scottish Kennel Club
20th May 2011
Judge: Mr. David Hunt (Ottaswell)
Thanks go to the committee of the Scottish Kennel Club for inviting me to judge for the first time north of the border, Special thanks to my stewards on the day Messrs Goudie & Jackson for organising the ring so efficiently and ensuring everything ran smoothly during my judging. Good stewards are a welcome bonus for any judge. Despite the disappointing weather, thanks also to the exhibitors who attended and for giving me the second highest breed entry of the whole show.
With a large ring and mown grass, I was able to see the dogs move accurately. In general I thought the bitches were stronger than the dogs, but was pleased with all my class winners, and thought my CC winners a credit to the breed. Size was generally good with only a couple being difficult to span. As always coats were at various stages but I was surprised to find 2 very undershot bites in mid range classes.
Post Graduate - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Placing Critique
Smaller type, shorter in leg and longer cast but all there. Head in proportion and nice flat skull. Best of necks and well angulated shoulder. Lovely rib shape, correct coat and short tail. Moved out well from the rear but not quite the topline of the winner.
East of England
10th Jul 2011
Judge: Mrs Kate Irving
The entry of 141 was a pleasing one for these days and I thank exhibitors for their entries. By and large I was pleased by the coats of many exhibits and though some were rather short of coat, coat texture was generally speaking quite pleasing. Presentation however left a good deal to be desired in many instances Hindquarters were good in the main. But once again my view was that fronts in the breed require much more attention than they are being given by either breeders or judges. It seems to me that we have in the breed various front faults, mostly I think coming from poor shoulders. There are flicking fronts, loaded fronts, high stepping fronts, horseshoe fronts, bowed fronts and so on and not enough of the dogs have fronts which fit the standard. In the main I was satisfied that there were many more typical heads and expressions than on some previous occasions when I have judged
DCC and Best of Breed went to ORANGEBOX FIRECRACKER (MR M & MRS T ANSCOMBE) a dog with a very pleasing head and expression, good skull and correct eye and ears to complete the picture. He has a good neck and typical outline and is well proportioned with a good tailset. He is OK for size and was shown today in plenty of coat. Moved out really well and scored for showmanship. He has a good deal of quality and type about him.
BCC went was won by BANDICOOT JAZZ (MR G E & MRS V L K DOCWRA) a bitch with an excellent head and a lovely typical expression. She is up to size and was shown in pretty full coat today. She moved very well in front and behind. She shows very well indeed and presented an excellent picture all round. She too has a great deal of breed type and quality and has good body lines and scope.
Best Puppy went to the dog OLDERHILL AFORTUNADO (MRS S WILSON) a very typey dog which excels in head and has a really good eye and expression. He is very good in topline and tailset. I thought that he was good in shoulder and presented a good typical picture all round.
Post Graduate - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Placing Critique
pleasing head and good eye and expression. Correct topline and tail. Shown in excellent coat and condition and moved out OK.
Leeds Championship Show
24th Jul 2011
Judge: Mrs Beverley Barber
Thank you for your lovely entry at this fine venue. Thanks also to my efficient and helpful stewards without which we wouldn’t have a show! My main aim when judging is to find a dog that fits as near the breed standard as is possible ,but must have overall good dog conformation. It must be balanced standing and also, most definitely, when it is on the move. This is a hard task because the perfect dog in any breed has yet to be found. When judging on this occasion I did manage to find dogs that had good front angulation, allowing the necessary reach to cover the ground, coupled with adequate rear angulation to give drive to the assembly and so presented a good picture on the move with no change to the dog’s appearance. I had very few short stepping, short backed dogs with such poor construction that the rear becomes noticeably higher than the shoulder when they are on the move. Heads, as always, were very varied, some mouths were out of line, there were some missing premolars which if this perpetuates will alter the head shape. Feet were mostly thick and neat, coats varied and undercoats were in the main a little sparse, but in view of the winter we have just had they have probably spent a long time shedding them. All the dogs I judged today I could span, although chest shape was not always correct. Thank you to all exhibitors for allowing me the privilege of judging your dogs, which I enjoyed immensely.
Post Graduate - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Placing Critique
Liked this bitch. Pleasing body shape having good front and rear angulation. Good length to loin. Head was correctly shaped but could do with it being a little stronger. Moved out well.
Boston Championship Show
8th Jan 2012
Judge: Mrs Wendy Mooney (Chesterton)
I appreciate that at this time of year with both dark mornings and early sunsets travelling and showing your Borders might not seem like the most enjoyable way to spend your weekend. So a sincere thank you to all those exhibitors who attended my first Championship Show appointment. We were the only terrier breed to have CC’s on offer and I had a lovely entry of 122 dogs. The venue and ring allocated were both excellent. No draughts or noisy blow-heaters. It was actually very civilised. Thank you to my steward who was efficient and supportive throughout. It made my task so much easier.
I was surprised to find that many exhibits, whilst prima facie, moved soundly, lacked the drive that is so important if they are to do a real day’s work. I was also a little disappointed that many Borders had tight pelts, which sometimes were thick but lacked that looseness that could get them, quite literally, out of a tight hole!
I was delighted with my overall winners and, I thank all those who graciously accepted my decisions.
Post Graduate - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Placing Critique
Small neat bitch who moved and showed well. Her coat was just about lasting but probably past its best but clearly is of good harsh texture. Good reach of neck and narrow in body. Nice in profile.
Manchester Championship Dog Show
19th Jan 2012
Judge: Mrs F A Somerfield
Limit - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Placing Critique
very typical & moved out well, 1 was that little firmer in hindquarters, typical head, good neck, nice bone, good coat
Class Critique
Hotly contested class.
Midland Border Terrier Club Open Show
12th Feb 2012
Judge: Mrs P. Clark (Gameway)
I would like to thank the Officers and Committee for inviting me to judge this show. I had a lovely day and a special thank you to all the exhibitors who braved the dreadful driving conditions.
Thank you for the lovely gift which I shall treasure and the very good lunch! A big thank you to Chris Wallace and Jem Thomas who were my very able stewards.
Limit - Bitch /
Reserve
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Midland Border Terrier Club Open Show
10th Feb 2013
Judge: Mr M. Hollingsbee (Otterwood)
I would like to thank the Officers and Committee of the Club for their kind invitation to judge this show, my third opportunity at a breed club show.
My heartfelt thanks to my two stewards, Kathy Newsome and Jem Thomas who, by their calm organizing ability ensured that the show ran smoothly and finished in good time for the exhibitors to beat the inclement weather.
Finally the exhibitors for braving the threatened snow storm and allowing me to go over their dogs.
I only found one bad mouth. The quality of coats varied as would be expected in the run up to Crufts. Of concern to me is that a few of the exhibits were much too large for the standard. To be able to go to ground it is essential that the breed does not get oversized. Overall the quality of the exhibits was good and decisions in some of the classes were very close.
Limit - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Hartswelin Tip Top
Placing Critique
a good coated grizzle bitch, good reach of neck, not the strongest of heads but a nice Border expression, good front and moved well
