Show Placings
Scottish Border Terrier Club Championship Show
10th Nov 2012
Judge: Professor A S Milton (Baillieswells)
It was a real pleasure to be invited to judge this show. Having been a member of the Club since its beginning, it was great to come back to Selkirk, to what I have always regarded as my ‘home’ club. There was the usual happy atmosphere, and everything was so well run.
As to the exhibits, I was impressed with the overall quality of the coats, so many with really harsh substantial topcoats and warm undercoats. Several exhibitors seemed to have had difficulty with the hairs around the neck. I know that they grow in different directions, but it is possible with hard work to get an even look. Borders should not be shown with a ruff. Many tails had not been stripped properly, not being tidy and not flowing from the end of the back. Some even had feathering on the underside. I wish exhibitors would not push the tail upright so that it is vertical to the spine.
They are not Airedales, and it spoils the topline. Front movement was very varied, but cow hocks were almost absent. Teeth were good. Far too many, in my opinion, were too big, and I had difficulty in spanning them. (Though looking back in the literature, this has been a complaint since the beginning of the breed!)
RDCC
Name at show: Secret Attraction
Yearling - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Secret Attraction
Placing Critique
A real sturdy looking dog with plenty of drive. Good front and hind leg angulation. Keen expression. Coat needs more attention, but well deserved the DRCC. Discovered that this was his first show, hope he continues to appear in the show ring.
Post Graduate - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Secret Attraction
Carlisle & District Canine Society
6th Jan 2013
Judge: Mr J Thomas (Daluce)
Post Graduate /
Reserve
Name at show: Secret Attraction
Boston & District Canine Society Championship Show
13th Jan 2013
Judge: Mrs Janice Johnson
My thanks firstly go to Boston & District Canine Society Committee for giving me this opportunity to judge the breed again, for looking after me on the day and providing my excellent stewards who gave me great support throughout the day with their efficiency and unobtrusive discretion.
Secondly the exhibitors, who travelled many miles for my judgment, thank you all for taking my decisions sportingly. Thank goodness we didnâ??t have the following weekend when we were all had over 6 inches of snow!
I was extremely pleased with my main winners who all deserved their placings and I was delighted when I received the news that my BOB winner had gone G2 in Terrier Group under Ernie Darby and my best puppy had gone G1 in the Terrier Group under Peter Clifton.
I had some really good examples of the breed to go over and it is a pleasure when you find an exhibit in a class that really meets all your requirements. Movement in the younger classes was inconsistent some may settle others will not. I had a number of very nice quality borders who I know will go on to greater things and some promising puppies, I will watch their futures with interest. Coats on the whole were good with most of the exhibits having thick pelts.
Yearling - Dog /
Third Place
Name at show: Secret Attraction
Crufts
7th Mar 2013
Judge: Mrs Jayne Gillam (Orenberg)
I was indeed a great pleasure to judge at Crufts, in fact I loved every minute of it, and it really completed the Crufts experience for me having won the Dog CC and Best of Breed a couple of times, a bitch CC and Best Puppy there as an exhibitor in the past. I must thank all the exhibitors for their tremendous support with a record entry of 274 dogs making 307 entries, it was truly an international occasion as Crufts seems to be these days, with dogs and handlers representing I think, ten countries giving me a really good sample of winning dogs from around the world.
You often read in critiques that judges say they didn't have enough cards to go round, and with the class sizes I had, this was certainly the case, and the only downside of the day for me was that some very tough descisions had to be made with many, many really good dogs leaving the ring without a card. Overall it was an interesting entry with a large variety of sizes and types, but then the standard allows for that as we have quite a wide weight range, no height reference and only the fact that they should be spannable to guide us.I never get too hung up on differing types or kennel types,as I can appreciate them all, providing they fit the standard.
When judging I am looking for a dog fit for function, well constructed, not exagerrated in any way, fits the breed standard, and is capable of doing the job it was originally bred for.I was very pleased with my winners, my Best of Breed winner had it all, well constructed, in fabulous hard, fit condition, moved as though he could follow a horse all day and had a wonderful attitude in the show ring.
I was thrilled to see him put in a faultless performance in the Group ring and winTerrier Group 4. My thanks go to Frank and Roger my very capable stewards who kept everything running smoothly, enabling me to get through the large entry in good time.
Graduate - Dog /
Third Place
Name at show: Secret Attraction
Placing Critique
Lovely headed grizzle and tan, short strong muzzle, keen expression and super neat ears. Not a great deal of coat in today but was spannable and moved well.
Yorkshire, Lancashire & Cheshire Border Terrier Club Open Show
23rd Mar 2013
Judge: Mrs Jane Morton-Shaw (Fehmarn)
I would like to thank the club and committee for inviting me to judge at this show. It was unfortunate for the club, exhibitors and myself that the adverse weather conditions dictated a large proportion of absentees. My thanks to everyone who made the effort to attend.
I’m pleased to say that temperaments were good and that no ‘sparks’ flew!! My only plea to handlers is that they show their dogs on a slacker lead! Dogs that are strung up are unable to move freely, and it is neither pleasant for the dog nor for anyone to watch.
Apart from two level bites, mouths were good and most were in good coat. Most were also spannable.
Post Graduate - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Secret Attraction
Placing Critique
An easy to span grizzle. His coat was not quite in. A lighter set dog than second. Lovely neat triangular ears which were well placed. Good bend of stifle and angulation. Moved OK.
The Border Terrier Club Championship Show
30th Mar 2013
Judge: Mrs. Doreen Rushby (Dormic)
The Border Terrier Club held a Championship show at Low Hesket on 30 March 2013. I felt very honoured to judge at this show and my thanks go to the Committee and Exhibitors for such an enjoyable day.
Mid Limit - Dog /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Secret Attraction
The Border Terrier Club Open Show
22nd Feb 2014
Judge: Mrs Karen Stockley (Foxfactor)
My thanks to the Officers and Committee for giving me the opportunity to undertake my first Breed Club judging appointment and my stewards Ken Mackenzie and Margaret Warren for their assistance in the ring.
My enjoyable day started with the picturesque drive to the venue, in the sunshine, a rarity lately! Grateful thanks also to the competitors for an entry of 111 (5 NFC) making 141 entries affording me the opportunity to go over some lovely dogs and sportingly accepting my choices.
The majority were in good coat and condition, a couple difficult to span, due more to being a little plump rather than in construction. All males were entire (a few would have benefited from a hygienic wipe for better presentation !), no kinked tails, one incorrect mouth and a couple of 'acceptable' level bites and some teeth really needed cleaning. I was surprised by the amount of untidy feet and overlong claws considering how claws can ultimately affect posture, balance and movement. I was pleased with both my line ups and had some close decisions to make.
Limit - Dog /
Reserve
Name at show: Secret Attraction
The Border Terrier Club Championship Show
29th Mar 2014
Judge: Mrs Jane Parker (Conundrum)
I would like to thank the BTC club, for giving me a second chance to judge this, the most prestigious of the breed clubs championship shows. I was judge elect in 2010, but caught the awful Noro virus the night before I was due to judge and spent the next two days flat out.
The new venue that the committee has found, has to be lauded. It is large, airy, light, the flooring is excellent. The car park looked huge. From a judges point of view I could see all the dogs clearly at any time. Congratulations on a super venue.
My two stewards, Chris Davis and Liz Barratt were so very organised and kept me informed and on time throughout the day, with good humour lots of smiles and attention to detail. With such a lovely entry numbers wise, it was a long day. Thank you both.
Living in Canada now, it was a real pleasure to judge dogs that I had mostly not seen. Obviously some of the older ones were mere youngsters before I left and it was nice to see how they had progressed through the years. I found no missing testicles, mouths on the whole were good, with only a few missing teeth or one or two misaligned. Heads were in general better overall than when I left, with more who carried a moderately broad backskull and also a lot more with very good underjaw, something one had to look hard to find a few years ago. Coats were on the whole, good, there were a very few however, who had greasy and dirty coats, this I feel is completely unnecessary. A few arrived without their coats, this is just unfortunate as dogs do not know about our ambitions in regard to shows, and if the coat needs to come out then so be it! Feet in some instances were weak, with some flat footed and others harefooted, this breed needs to have really good tight feet, small with thick pads and be well knuckled, poor feet make the whole outline of the dog look wrong. The worst fault I found, as usual were fronts, all the usual suspects were there, wide fronts, narrow fronts, flicking wrists etc. I do begin to wonder if we will ever get this completely right, but if we are breeders looking to the future, we must be hard on this most prevalent fault, and do not use these dogs and bitches in our breeding programmes. Bitches had the most quality through the entry, again, this is usual, however the dogs that were good, were very very good, and the best, were exceptional. Size does need to be watched, this is a somewhat cyclical thing, but there were some big dogs and bitches in the ring. The first and most important words in our standard...â€Essentially a working terrierâ€...if it cannot be spanned, it is too big. In general I feel the breed in the country of origin is in pretty good shape, the top percentage of the dogs I judged were quite lovely and had breed type to spare. In my critique you will no doubt notice expressions I use again and again. I find certain things are ubiquitous (but none the less hugely important to breed type) and have my pet ways of describing them, I hope you forgive my industrial repetition in some regards.
Mid Limit - Dog /
Second Place
Name at show: Secret Attraction
Placing Critique
Masculine dog carrying a good head. He was not in the best of jackets today, but has a good pelt. A tad too deep through his chest making him have more of a cut up underneath than I would like. He moved out well both ways.
Blackpool & District Canine Society Championship Show
20th Jun 2014
Judge: Mr Peter Bakewell
Post Graduate - Dog /
Reserve
Name at show: Secret Attraction
