Earthtaw Apple

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.

The entry was 142 dogs making 149 entries with 20 absentees and I thank those who entered for doing so and for the sporting way in which my decisions were accepted. Thanks too to my Stewards whose quiet efficiency meant that the judging was completed in four hours. I gather that there was comment in some quarters about how much I moved the dogs and I make no apology for that. I moved each dog individually twice and in each class around the ring sometimes on two occasions and sometime three. In these days when so many Borders are stacked to look as the exhibitor wants them to look, my view is that the only way to see the real outline of the dogs is to move them around a few times and see their natural lines, not the outline set up by the handler. Additionally I know as an exhibitor, that in these large classes the dogs get very bored standing around waiting and they welcome the opportunity to move around the ring. For those of us who still like to 'free-stand' our dogs, that does make a difference and it is only when you see them either 'free standing' or moving in profile, that you can get a true picture of outline. But that's probably rather an old fashioned view these days The dogs were clean and well presented but with a number which were shown with absolutely no topcoat. Far too many have too little coat of the type demanded by the breed standard which asks for it to be Harsh and dense with close undercoat. Size was not bad generally speaking - with fewer excessively over sized dogs than I have sometimes seen before. I was very pleased indeed by the final line up for the dog CC which I thought was particularly consistent for type and quality and the top bitches too were, in my opinion, excellent. Front movement generally still gives great cause for concern and shoulders are not great but there were also quite a few where hind movement was poor too. There were enough good movers to make the top winners strong in that area. I was also able to find enough exhibits with good heads but I have to say that there were rather too many with big heads and rather large, round looking eyes and too much stop. Overall I very much enjoyed judging the breed on this occasion and I was encouraged by the number of good exhibits, particularly in the puppy classes. That makes me optimistic for the breed's future. Best Breeder : Girlings' a very typical group with good heads and well proportioned all through.

I would like to thank the exhibitors for a lovely entry. Some quality exhibits to go over in both dogs and bitches and I was pleased with my winners. Temperament was excellent throughout. Such a shame we couldn?t be outdoors.

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.