Wyken Pippin

I felt very honoured when I received the invitation to judge at the Open Show and was glad that I could accept this. What an opportunity to see and go over so many Borders in one day. Of course I have seen many Borders during the 40 years that I have lived with them but to see so many together is not possible on the continent. When I received the entry details I really was surprised and felt even more honoured then. The Venue was good but unfortunately it was one of the warmest days and in the hall the temperature rose quite quickly. Nevertheless almost all Borders presented there showed until the very end of the day. The judging went smoothly not in the least because of my exceptionally efficient steward, Peter Roderick, who took care of calling in the next class on time and made sure that there were no mistakes because of the re-entries which I am not used to. Many thanks also to my ring stewards! I was surprised by the high quality presented to me. In some classes it meant that I could not always place otherwise nice exhibits. All Borders behaved themselves wonderfully when being handled, even inexperienced ones. Just one exception to that was a dog that didn't like to be handled on the table, which is not Border like. It occurred to me that it is becoming to be a habit to string the dogs when moving. It worsens their movement in a lot of cases and for me they should be moved with a loosened lead. For some exhibits it made the difference in being placed or not. I found on the whole just a few problems. Just one wrong bite and one tail that was not correct. Feet need attention. Just a few had lovely strong padded catlike feet. As well as front movement which is a real problem in the Border Terrier all over the world. Waving, almost crossing, loose, just a few had a parallel and straight front movement. On the other hand, side movement was in almost all exhibits free and with a long stride. A lot of coats were in between. But I could feel the correct texture being double and harsh. I had a lovely day and want to thank the organisation for their efforts to make me and my sister ? who accompanied me ? feel welcome and of course all the exhibitors for entering and taking my decisions so sportingly. The atmosphere around the ring felt warm, friendly and relaxed.

I greatly enjoyed judging this well-run show, held in such a pleasant venue. My thanks to the Club for their hospitality, to my efficient stewards Bev Jackson and Vicky Docwra, and most especially to the exhibitors for allowing me the privilege of going over their dogs. Overall, there were a good number of quality Borders present. Almost all were spannable, the only male not entire was a neuter, only 1 kinked tail and no severe mouth faults. I was concerned to find several younger exhibits with level bites. Although this is permissible, and therefore dogs were not penalised, I would be worried that some of these mouths will “go” at an early age. Another area of concern is front movement.

It was a great honour and privilege to judge your wonderful breed. Thanks to all, the committee, my stewards and everybody who made my day so wonderful. Thanks to all the exhibitors for their excellent sporting attitude. The hospitality was outstanding and many thanks for the beautiful present. I have been thinking of the overall standard and I have to say your dogs represent a very high quality.