Taylortay Heather

I would like to thank the Darlington society for my invitation .The stewards were on the ball all day so I would like to thank them for making my day an easy one. I would also like to thank the exhibitors for taking my decisions so sportingly. However I feel that some exhibits would benefit from a little more food, feeding less does not make them any smaller! One thing that particularly drew my attention was the dirty teeth in some of the younger exhibits, feet need improving by trimming nails. Nails on some were what a Hawk would be proud of! Also scissor cuts do not enhance a coat , we are not a trimmed breed we are a breed where hand stripping is paramount.

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.