Show Placings
Manchester Championship Show
15th Jan 2009
Judge: Mr David Winsley
Minor Puppy - Dog /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Take It From Here
East Anglia Border Terrier Club Champioship Show
19th Apr 2009
Judge: Mr Simon Jackson (Clipstone)
I was honoured to be invited by the Club to judge this show, which has always held a special place in my heart. My thanks to everyone involved at the Club for a super day, and exhibitors for a high quality entry.
Overall standards were high with a number of classes where exhibits genuinely worthy of placing went without reward, which was a nice position for me in, and an encouraging one for the breed to be in if this is replicated at other events.
I am pleased to say that I found only two incorrect bites. However, I am frustrated at the inability of some exhibitors to appreciate the correct speed of movement of their dogs, which if correct would improve the appearance of the dogs on the move, many dogs were moved too slowly, thereby preventing the dog from driving out.
Incorrect movement cannot be hidden by moving the dog slowly, likewise, correct movement can easily be displayed if the dog is just allowed to move freely, even if this means the exhibitor running with their dog. Do what the dog needs to get the best out of it.
It was a pleasure to judge in such a venue which is light, airy, clean and "exhibitor friendly". Please excuse the slight delay in providing this critique, with the newly resurrected Joint Show following 2 weeks after this, and my involvement in the management of that show, time has been tight.
I was heartened to find youngsters being youngsters, playful, awkward and proper babies, far too often these days we see perfectly turned out and immaculately school puppies which appear almost "models", let the youngster be so, this is a sport that we, and the dogs, are meant to enjoy. Puppies jumping over the dark lines in the carpet is a cute, if a little frustrating for the handler!
I was very impressed with my main winners. My Best in Show I have been aware of for some time and watched her develop with interest. I was excited on close examination of her to find her a superb example of the breed in every aspect, and was delighted to award her her first CC and Best in Show. I am sure she will have an illustrious career.
The Dog on the other hand was a total stranger to me and a highly pleasant surprise. On winning his class he took my eye and stole the Dog CC. It gave me great pleasure to also award him his first CC. My best to him for his future.
Puppy - Dog /
Third Place
Name at show: Take It From Here
West of England Ladies' Kennel Society
25th Apr 2009
Judge: Mrs Siv Jernhake (Sweden)
Puppy - Dog /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Take It From Here
Richmond Championship Show
12th Sep 2009
Judge: Mrs Janet Lee (Tythrop)
Sincere apologies to my exhibitors, the committee failed to inform me the proposed order of group judging had changed & the Terrier group was brought forward, the tannoy call was the 1st thing I knew about it. My back spasm during junior dog meant I was reduced to shuffling, sorry.
Most dogs were new to me & temperaments in the ring were good, my winners could do the job they were intended for being free from coarseness & lumber, spannable & narrow, with corresponding good construction & movement.
Several heads were short in skull & blocky, more resembling the balance of an Asian Short Clawed Otter, than an English one, the latter have longer than broad flat skulls, clean cheeks & relatively short muzzles parallel in profile to their skull, Borders should have large teeth with good scissor bite to be effective. Today, square, deep skulls, often with round eyes & very short narrow muzzles with small teeth were in evidence. These too strong square heads tended to have heavy fronts & frames to match.
Many fronts were placed too far forward with pro-sternum behind point of shoulder, which lacked length & layback, the too short & steep upper arms having no support, badly affecting movement, the dogs moved away with their fronts crossing, when only two legs should be visible. As an alternative a few were close behind & swung in front, so again "four legs". Profile movement lacked ?travel?, being up & down short choppy strides rather than smooth & forward going with drive off the hocks.
Although bone wasn't generally too fine nor too heavy some didn't have enough through pasterns into feet, & they lacked the depth of pad to ensure soundness if worked regularly.
My major concern, however, was coats & especially pelts. When I came into the breed Borders were shown in deep double coat, always.Dogs then looked heavier than they were due to these double coats & lots of pelt which the standard says MUST be thick - not because they had big frames with drum tight skins.. Coat density & pelt are directly related, no coat, thus thin skin, but they should still be loose & pliant. Tight, paper thin skins without depth of under or topcoat is not what the standard calls for, nor any use to a working terrier. A great advantage to the dog is a continuous double coat that can be worked or shown all year round.
Junior - Dog /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Take It From Here
Southern Border Terrier Club Members Limited Show
7th Mar 2010
Judge: Mr Neil Straw (Shaolin)
To receive an invitation to judge a Breed Club show is a privilege, therefore I thank the Officers and Committee of the Southern Border Terrier Club for the honour to judge their Member's Limited Show. Thank you to my stewards who kept things running smoothly, but most of all I would like to thank the exhibitor's for a wonderful entry and allowing me to judge your dogs, it was an appointment I had been looking forward to and I thoroughly enjoyed my day. The entry was 165 dogs (18 NFC) making 195 entries, 32 absent with 115 dogs on the ground. It was a quality entry with some tough decisions; I was very pleased with my line up in both sexes.
Some general observations - dentition throughout was very good, with correct size teeth, presentation was of a high standard, however, one area that gave me some concern was front movement, some exhibits that I liked disappointed in this area which reflected in some of my decisions.
Novice - Dog /
Reserve
Name at show: Take It From Here
East Anglia BTC Championship Show
18th Apr 2010
Judge: Mrs Trak Fryer (Irton)
I would like to thank the exhibitors for a lovely quality entry, the Club and committee for the appointment and my stewards Simon and Bev Jackson for their efficient help throughout the day. I was generally pleased with the overall quality, heads were good, pelts generally good and movement OK with many very typical exhibits on show. I was disappointed to find a number of poor mouths in the dog entry and to find a few exhibits presented down to the minute but totally lacking muscle, something that I find unacceptable in a dog with the Borders outlook on life.
Yearling - Dog /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Take It From Here
Class Critique
An excellent class headed by three absolutely lovely dogs.
Post Graduate - Dog /
Reserve
Name at show: Take It From Here
Class Critique
A disappointing class in comparison to the last one.
WELKS
25th Apr 2010
Judge: Miss S A Leslie (Risdene)
I started the day with veteran dog followed by some excellent juvenile dog classes which were very enticing. Throughout the day size was sometimes a little difficult to come to terms with when exhibits at the top of the scale were the more shapely and sound but as long as they were spannable they still featured if they had the attributes breed and conformation-wise to do the job they were bred for. Generally I determined that there was no need for a diatribe from yours truly as I found my lovely entry on the whole brought forward much of what I was looking for and I thank exhibitors for that. Just remember while I love a proper double coat I still like a tidy coat! Heads were definitely improved with very few of the stoppy, round eyed exhibits I do not find typical. There were a few strangely grubby ones and some would have benefited from some tlc round their eyes to guard against stray hairs causing irritation. Be that as it may there were some smashing classes with dogs not making the cut that on another day would figure in the reckoning.
Yearling - Dog /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Take It From Here
Post Graduate - Dog /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Take It From Here
Southern Counties
5th Jun 2010
Judge: Tinna Grubbe (Denmark)
Graduate - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Take It From Here
Placing Critique
Nice size, would prefer a little stronger foreface, correct bite, nice length of body, could have stronger bones, moves well.
Post Graduate - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Take It From Here
Bournemouth Championship Show
14th Aug 2010
Judge: Mr D W Shields (Wilholme)
Graduate - Dog /
Reserve
Name at show: Take It From Here
Post Graduate - Dog /
Reserve
Name at show: Take It From Here
Richmond Championship Show
11th Sep 2010
Judge: Miss Michelle Barnett (Brockfox)
My thanks to The Richmond Societies officers and committee for the warm welcome and the super lunch provided. Gratitude also to my stewards who organised the ring most capably. Thanks also to the exhibitors for their entries at a time in history when finances are truly stretched in this difficult and uncertain financial climate. To judge is always a privilege and on this occasion it was particularly appreciated. Overall I was very impressed with the exhibits, and when judging we are required to find the dog that most fulfils the breed standard and with the increasing variety of types present in the breed it made for some thought provoking decisions. Sadly the continuing trend to show all year round with few exhibits remaining at home to grow a decent double jacket proved that once again there were fewer exhibits shown in the requisite depth of jacket. Therefore I had to face the difficult task of placing some exhibits higher than I would as a rule. As justifiably construction and type being the foremost factor in placings, as coats naturally will come and go. But where as in lots of other breeds the coat can be considered a glamorous adornment please remember that in the Border (terriers in general) it is their essential protection whilst carrying out their job of work. On a positive note I was pleased to see today's entry lacking of the dogs presented in the recent improper fashion of clippering, razor and scissoring which as the true diehards of the breed know is totally unacceptable and exhibitors are to be strongly discouraged in this undesirable practice.
The correct and only way to present a Border terrier is by hand stripping thus achieving the beautiful natural tweedy look synonymous with our breed.
And I quote an extract from an old Border terrier yearbook ?Exhibitors and judges should be reminded that it is not in keeping with the sporting traditions of the breed to have the coat trimmed. The coat should be of a natural weather resisting character. Old dead coat may be stripped off by hand when necessary. The use of a razor or a strip comb embodying a razor in the preparation of dogs for show is strongly objected to?
Dogs that I had previously admired unfortunately paid the penalty today as on closer inspection they did not come to hand so well .Some due to weight, which can be easily remedied with an alteration of diet, exercise and plenty of regular road work. Others sadly due to wide fronts and heavy shoulders, subsequently when running the rule over them they were too coarse and cloddy. Therefore not displaying the lithe supple bodies required in an earth dog ,this is a breed characteristic which of course has to be bred for. Borders are a breed that enjoys longevity, health and well being and this was particularly evident in my DCC and DRCC winners today being a 7 year old and 9 yr old respectively. Perhaps this being true testimony that these males have been bred for the correct narrow body lines that will inevitably stand the test of time.
Temperaments as to be expected were excellent. Overall a most enjoyable day, I was delighted with both my final line ups and to find admirable representatives of the breed for top honours.
Post Graduate - Dog /
Third Place
Name at show: Take It From Here
Southern Border Terrier Club Open Show with Critique
19th Sep 2010
Judge: Miss Gemma Alpe
Firstly I must thank SBTC for giving me the honour of judging my first Breed Club show. I thoroughly enjoyed my day and had some first class dogs to judge. I found no bad mouths and only one with a slightly suspect kink and movement on the whole was pretty good. The one thing that bothered me was that we seem to be losing our way a little with those lovely fronts that to me are a big part of our breed, and a number of dogs are toeing out both on the stand and on the move. I was pleased with my winners, they mostly fitted my interpretation of the breed standard, but I was delighted with my top winners, all of whom are a credit to the breed and I thank their owners for giving me the opportunity to judge them.
Post Graduate - Dog /
Reserve
Name at show: Take It From Here
Limit - Dog /
Reserve
Name at show: Take It From Here
East Anglia BTC Open Show
14th Nov 2010
Judge: Mr Eddie Houston (Earthwise)
I greatly enjoyed judging this well-run show, held in such a pleasant venue. My thanks to the Club for their hospitality, to my efficient stewards Bev Jackson and Vicky Docwra, and most especially to the exhibitors for allowing me the privilege of going over their dogs.
Overall, there were a good number of quality Borders present. Almost all were spannable, the only male not entire was a neuter, only 1 kinked tail and no severe mouth faults. I was concerned to find several younger exhibits with level bites. Although this is permissible, and therefore dogs were not penalised, I would be worried that some of these mouths will “go” at an early age. Another area of concern is front movement.
Post Graduate - Dog /
Reserve
Name at show: Take It From Here
Southern BTC Limited Show
6th Mar 2011
Judge: Miss Lisa Jenkins (Badgerbeck)
Firstly, please accept my apology for the lateness of this critique, unfortunately I had problems with my PC which crashed and lost my first , almost complete report, leaving me with no option but to start again. Thank you for an excellent entry. I was very pleased to find that most of the exhibits were of a workable size & spannable, had big teeth with good strong muzzles/jaws, all males entire, only 2 very minor tail kinks, and temperaments were excellent. On the down side I had few in good deep double coat and a really thick pelt was hard to find, the true otter head seams to be being replaced by a squarer skull giving more of a teddy bear look not helped by over long moustaches/beards and big bushy eyebrows. Ribs were frequently too short & deep resulting in whippety underlines. Front movement is still a problem due to a lack of balance between front and hind angulation with dogs either having good hindquarters but short steep upper arms or they were correct in front but over angulated behind, this resulted in them either throwing their fronts about coming or dropping their withers in profile in an attempt to balance their stride. There were a handful with crowded incisors or missing a first or second premolar.
Graduate - Dog /
Third Place
Name at show: Take It From Here
Southern Counties
4th Jun 2011
Judge: Mr J Gilpin (Otterbobs)
Post Graduate - Dog /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Take It From Here
