Whittonglebe Snitter Sioux

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.

Thanks go to the Northern Border Terrier Club for inviting me judge their 53rd Championship Show, and to the exhibitors for giving me the opportunity to go over the good entry of Borders. Thanks also to my stewards Nicki Cummins, Julie Leckenby and Sarah Eccles who really did a fantastic job and kept everything running smoothly, I enjoyed my day immensely. It was an extremely hot day and I was thankful we were inside the hall, the committee made sure doors were opened to ensure a through draft which made for a pleasant environment for the task in hand. No dogs appeared stressed by the heat when they were being shown, although some dogs did seem less than enthusiastic in the ring. I found some really good profile movement, but good movement fore and aft was in the minority, and in some classes non-existent. Overall some very good coats and pelts and good presentation, some really good tails too, just a few long thin tails. Although found three kinked tails on this occasion, teeth seemed cleaner and only a few feet spoilt by overly long nails.

I would first like to thank the Officers and Committee of Leeds City & District Canine Association Championship Show for inviting me to judge at their show, and for the hospitality shown to me on the day. However, most of all, thank you to all the exhibitors for providing me with such a quality entry to assess on this, my first appointment in the breed at this level. I had the privilege of going over so many quality dogs that difficult decisions often had to be made. As always, coats were at different stages, sometimes reflected in the placings, but coats come and go, construction does not. I did not discern any kinked tails and no bad temperaments were apparent. The adequately sized ring however was quite difficult for the exhibitors to circumnavigate, with varying gradients, going uphill away from the judge, coming back downhill but with another gradient across the ring to cope with as well. There were several bumps and hollows in the ring as well, in places which made standing your exhibit to best effect not quite so easy. Many astute exhibitors realising this changed their handling technique to cater for this, some did not