Fehmarn River Ranger

What a privilege to be invited by the Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire Border Terrier Club to judge their Diamond Jubilee Championship show, marking 60 years since the Club was first incorporated. The event was tinged with sadness that their long time Secretary, Mrs Cynthia Knight, could not be here to witness this special occasion. A minutes silence in her memory was called at the beginning of the show. I like to think she would have been looking down on the Club and the show with satisfaction with the way her team have continued to run the Club, always remembering the great influence and impact she and her husband Gordon ("Tag") had on their Club. Also being remembered at the show, were recent sad losses to the breed of Eva Heslop and Kathy Fell and to terriers in general, the redoubtable Maureen Micklethwaite. Congratulations to the Acting Secretary, Tina and her husband and Chairman, Kevin Green and the rest of the team on a well run show and thanks to my ring stewards, Graham Richardson and Sharon Pickering for keeping everything running smoothly. A show is not held for the benefit of a judge or a society; it is held for the dogs to be assessed and their owners and exhibitors to have a good day out, win or lose. I therefore hope that everyone enjoyed their day. Very pleased with the entry of 211 dogs making 242 entries, both in terms of numbers and in depth of quality of the entry. Class entry numbers shown are give or take some catalogue changes during the day, which are reflected in my numbers below. Absentees in new dogs gave an absentee rate of 34%. Given that I have previously had to talk about dogs being kept too thin, it was good that there were only one or two dogs who could have done with more weight on them (one especially where I could feel the pin bones protruding), but most of those shown today were in good body weight and condition. While it is a real thrill, it is also a sadness to me to be judging well filled classes of quality dogs or bitches, knowing that some of those I really like have to go card-less, just because of the excellence of the entry. Many times, in quite a few classes, hard decisions had to be made. Spanning is to me, one of the most important things after breed type (after all, you can span other breeds of terrier and I was looking for a Border!), but even the best typy dogs cannot win if I am unable to span them. A Border that cannot get to ground and back out, is not "essentially a working terrier". There were so many good ones today who were easily spanned, who also had excellent heads and moved so well and who came to hand well when lifted from the floor. Although some I had loved from ringside, were difficult to span and so paid the price, it is surprising that others, who might have looked on the large side from ringside in earlier days, were surprisingly easy to span. Nothing beats getting hands on. Judging by today's quality entry, I can safely say that the breed is in a good place. I understand that during the day, a Diamond Jubilee Celebration cake, arranged by Pat and Brian Baxter, was cut into and offered to exhibitors, with a glass of fizz to toast the Club. Special gifts were awarded to each exhibitor/member (one per household) of a glass paperweight bearing the Club's name and notation to celebrate the Club's Diamond Jubilee. I was also pleased to receive one of the paperweights as the judge, along with a nice bottle, thank you! It was a long day, with a 10am start. In future, the Club may decide to think about an earlier start and while the 2 classes held in the interval were a good idea, I thought, and well received, it did mean that I was not able to ask for the 20 minute or 1/2 hour break I would have preferred, but in the end, while waiting for those classes to be judged, I believe the break lasted around an hour and a quarter (we finished Puppy bitch at 1.25pm but could not get back into the ring to start Junior Bitch until 2.40pm), which put the show's ending back to much later than it might have been. Perhaps if Clubs decide to put on those extra classes, they would best be done either at an Open show, or at a Championship show where the venue is big enough for a separate ring. There was an entry of 26 for the judge of the 2 separate classes. What if it had been 50? Having said that, I offer my congratulations to the society for being innovative and forward thinking on this, but I just think it needs tweaking. A long day, but a very enjoyable one; thanks again to all who entered under me at this special Diamond Jubilee Show of the Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire Border Terrier Club and thank you to the Club for their hospitality and the lovely gifts. Thanks again to all exhibitors for a super entry for this special celebration show.

Many thanks to my two efficient stewards who kept the proceedings running smoothly. On the day I was surprised to find 4 level mouths, although a level mouth is acceptable in the standard, a scissor bite is preferable. Some exhibits could have been shown in a fitter condition and have their long nails clipped.

My sincere thanks go to the society for the superb welcome and hospitality at this premium show, my proficient stewards and last but most importantly the exhibits and their exhibitors for their entries and sporting attitude. It was so nice to hear the ringside applause bestowed upon fellow exhibitors and as a judge it really does make for a pleasurable days judging After my considerable absence ringside, my findings today were overall as always seems to be the case was the varieties in type, And some of the entry sadly on the day was far too big and by this i mean not necessarily in length of leg ( which the correct term is tall ) but in depth of chest and heavy shoulders , Fundamentally not the supple lithe bodies which is vital in an earth dog ,and an essential breed characteristic that we must strive to breed for. Please assess your dogs objectively and ask yourself of your own dogs "is this really the build of an earth dog" ? Mouths were on the whole correct but some very tight bites were apparent and teeth out of aliment I also found heavy almost houndy ears are also creeping in . Always wanting to finish on a high note, once again temperaments as to be expected were excellent and all males were entire. As always when judging I was looking for a correct sized spannable tweedy border who comes to hand well, with the requisite ottery head shown in correct double jacket and thick pliable pelt, thus providing them the protection required of a working dog coupled with a lithe body with hard muscle tone and fitness to enable them to endure a day in the field And in completing my appointment I was thrilled with my final line ups and ultimately such exemplary representatives of the breed to award the final top honours too.

It was a honour to be asked to judge National Terrier Club Championship Show, awarding CC for the second time. A great entry. I thoroughly enjoyed my day, I was very pleased with my main winners. The overall quality was good. I saw some dogs who could have more drive in the movement and better front. I send my warmest thanks to the committee and my ring stewards for taking so good care of me and making me feel so welcome.

My sincere thanks go to the officers and committee of Border Union for this appointment, this is such a well run, friendly show, with outstanding hospitality! My thanks also to my two Stewards on the day, Ella Linton, and Alan Small. Thank you too to all those who entered under me, and came, and accepted my decisions with good grace. I was pleased with my winners. I do wish though that dogs were shown on a loose lead, and stacked freely. Big ears are becoming prevalent, not as in the standard. Presentation and condition played a large part in my decisions.

Many thanks to the Officers and the committee for kindly inviting me to Judge at the show and my most capable stewards for their efficiency in the ring. My sincere thanks also to the exhibitors for their entries and support. The classes were filled with some lovely breed quality dogs and bitches and on completing my appointment I was delighted to see my final line up(s) presenting me with such a hard task in my final decision of who to award the ultimate top honours too! That always makes for a satisfying end to a judges day. So can i take this opportunity to thank you for allowing me the privilege of judging your Border terriers Two nice classes of pups which bodes well for the future

I would like to thank the Committee for inviting me to judge at this Show. It was my first visit to Kelso and I was most impressed with the hospitality and organisation there. My two excellent stewards, Gordon and Donald, kept me on the straight and narrow and contributed to a lovely atmosphere in and around the ring. I did not make my usual visit to the SBTC championship show the weekend before as I wanted to see all the dogs afresh, and I am glad I did as many of the exhibits were new to me. In general, mouths were good, with dentition only slightly awry in one instance. I found no kinked tails and all dogs were entire. It was a very hot and sunny day and this affected some dogs, who perhaps lacked their normal animation and were moving lethargically. As usual, there was a wide variation in coats, with some totally lacking top coat, and this naturally had an effect on the placings. I would like to thank the exhibitors for the large entry and for the sporting way in which my decisions were taken throughout my judging stint.