Benattivo Rockrose

It was a great privilege to be invited to judge the Southern Border Terrier Club Limited Show, My thanks to the Officers and Committee. Thank you to the exhibitors for giving me such an excellent entry of 184 from 171 dogs. Sincere thanks also to my Stewards for the efficient way they conducted their duties.

My thanks to my two excellent stewards who kept exhibits moving along, making my task easier, and to the Yorks, Lancs and Cheshire Club for inviting me to judge. Coats were generally very good with undercoats evident and few showed signs of scissoring and shaving. I was pleased that all the puppy dogs were of a sensible size for their ages and almost all exhibits were spannable; however, shoulder construction problems remain an issue, with short upper arms and poor shoulder angulation resulting in wide, or tied fronts, spoiling otherwise quality exhibits. I noticed that some were roaching over the loin, creating bouncing back ends on the move with the loss of level toplines, and many had a distinct lack of stifle bend, resulting in a lack of driving action on the move. Consider feet - a few needed claws trimming (or more road work). Some heads were untypical and snipey; there were a number of suspect mouths and one undershot puppy, but I was impressed with the overall condition of the entry in general and the winners were a credit to their owner/breeders. The well filled Limit bitch class was outstanding and it was a pity not to have more awards to present. My thanks to everyone for accepting my decisions so sportingly and congratulations to the top winners, whose dogs were so deserving of their wins. Here’s a plea - please use bait sparingly, and not while your dogs are on the judging table. It’s a pity that a number of exhibitors are slaves to baiting their dogs on the table, making the dogs move around and become unsteady, while making it difficult for judges to access mouths and assess facial features. Baiting also affects movement round the ring, with exhibits “crabbing”, watching for the treats.

My thanks go to the exhibitors who showed their dogs under me. I was very pleased with my entry, both numerically and depth of quality of the exhibits. The ring was large, even and the grass cut very short. I had two very able stewards and the predicted rain stayed away. What more could I ask for ?. On the whole the presentation was good although some dogs lacked condition. Temperaments were good. Coats were variable. I found one kinked tail, one wrong mouth but more than a few small teeth.

Movement was difficult to assess under these circumstances, but most dogs seemed to cope remarkably well despite knee high mud & a water logged ring – living proof of the hardiness of the breed! Despite the appalling weather I enjoyed my day with the Borders very much & was impressed with the overall quality of the dogs & the keen sportsmanship of the exhibitors.

My sincere thanks to Manchester Dog Show Society for the invitation to award C Câ??s to the breed for the first time. The welcome was warm and I thoroughly enjoyed my day. I would also like to praise my stewards Anne Speak and Rob Taylor who kept the ring running smoothly. Thank you to all who entered and those who braved adverse weather conditions to get there. I was extremely pleased with my main winners who were all in great condition and fine examples of the breed. Of concern were a number of exhibits with round eyes and too much stop also some long and flat feet though some of these could be improved by trimming and nail clipping. Coats as ever were at all stages. I feel judges need to pay attention to correct double coats as a border could survive many things we pay particular attention to in the show ring but not five minutes doing his original job of work in the depths of winter without his correct jacket.