Glenbucket Duty Free

I was delighted to accept the invitation to judge at the May show postponed to October. Under Scottish government rules it meant those of us inside had to wear masks & I thank the majority of exhibitors for complying with this legislation. Thank you to my lone steward who was able to keep the classes coming in and ready for me, it wasn't an easy task with our neighbouring ring hosting the breeds October show but thankfully we didn't get too many clashes. I always feel immensely privileged to be able to judge your dogs and I hope exhibitors felt that I gave each of you ample time to set up your dogs on the table to show them at their best. The entry was varied and I felt my top winners were outstanding. As always coats were presented at various stages and bites were generally very good. A number with long flat & untidy feet and a few dogs I just couldn't span even with my large hands!

Many thanks go to the exhibitors and my two stewards who kept going throughout a rather damp session during the judging of the bitch classes. One of the essentials of a working terrier is being able to withstand a little rain but there were a few exhibits with thin skins and short of coat. I found that some lacked muscle, particularly behind, which affected the driving movement necessary for the breed’s function. My other main concern was the lack of width in the jaws of some, detracting from the desired, ‘like that of an otter’, head shape. This is a most identifying feature of the breed and needs to be carefully adhered to.

I feel honoured to have been elected by the members to have judged their clubs 75 year show, and can I thank Alan and Graham for keeping things running so smoothly for me, and can I especially thank the committee for lunch that they provided and also Mr J Whalton for looking after me and my wife, I am not going to rant on about this and that but where have all the heads and tail sets gone ?

It was an honour to judge my favourite show. Many thanks must go to all who made it run so smoothly. Special thanks go to Janice Johnson and Judy Carr for their stewarding. So helpful. Had some lovely dogs to go over. Temperaments were good. Just a couple of grumbles. A few shown with no coat and placings reflected this. Bites were good. Some teeth larger than others. Front movement in particular let some down. I did find more than a few which were difficult to span. Needs watching.

Massive Thank You to The Officers & Committee for inviting me to judge your Championship Show today. This club I was a member of in the formative years and have fond memories of the very first Championship Show where I was an exhibitor. It is good to see a club go from strength to strength and the committee worked very hard to put on this event in what has been difficult times to plan ahead. Thank you everyone who entered today and I was honoured with an entry of 150 Dogs, 192 Entries & 0 NFCs. Like every show absentees were inevitable but I hope those present today took my decisions sportingly. A few general observations on todays entry which are my thoughts and because I care so much for this lovely breed. Driving to the venue today was a perfect way to view the countryside where this breed was developed and all could see the rough terrain they would need to work in. It is essential you judge a breed with the work they were bred to do foremost in your mind and learn why they are built the way they were and why the breed standard exists. It is a dog show and we now want to see them clean, healthy and well presented but I was sad to see today several exhibits with very clear evidence of scissor work on the coats and not just on tidying feet etc. Please stop this trend NOW. Several were scissored from hip to hock, no need to do this & does nothing to enhance the dog. Good otter heads were not in abundance today and I witnessed a lot of fly away ears. We have always witnessed the odd one but today quite a number could be seen when the dog was in action & not always on youngsters either. Coats as always were in various stages today but you must judge the dog on the day and find evidence of the correct texture and undercoat which is vital to stop the working dog getting wet through to the skin. Mouths were very good today as where tails which have thankfully improved greatly. Some exhibits in my opinion had lovely conformation however where far too big and long in leg. I though ribs were good with only a few that would be unable to be spanned with the average size hands. I did find today the bitches were more uniform for size so just need to work on the males not becoming big, leggy & heavy.