Bandicoot Hello Dolly with Regaltwist

I thought the quality of the dogs has improved since the last time I judged. They were on a par with the bitches in depth

I would like to thank the club for inviting me to judge their open show and what an enjoyable day I had, also for the lovely present and flowers, and to my two stewards who were very efficient and kept the ring running smoothly. I had a very good entry of dogs thanks to the exhibitors with some good quality dogs to go over although rear movement on some could be better but I was very pleased with my top winners.

I would like to thank my stewards for all their hard work on the day, and to the committee for inviting me to judge there show. Also to the exhibitors who brought their dogs under me. I was pleased with my winners and placed dogs. I found that some had short muzzle coupled with round eyes which does not give a border expression.

*Dog Critique* My thanks to the Committee for inviting me to judge the Championship Show for the second time, the first being 10 years ago, and thanks to my Stewards for their efficiency. The entry of 103 with only 9 absentees was pleasing. Some judges concentrate on heads, others on shape of eyes, or on small dark ears, some on presentation, others on neat accurate movement. As for me – I judge on a whether a dog is “fit for function” as a working terrier plus whether it looks like a Border Terrier and no other type of terrier. A good proportion of the entry had major faults of construction which would render them, not useless, but inefficient at the job Border Terriers are designed to perform. For instance, short rib cages do not allow for lung room for the stamina a terrier needs to run all day, and these short rib cages (often sprung) were very much in evidence in the entry. Some were accompanied by long loins which might give the impression to the ringside that the dog had good length. Secondly, upright shoulders, often with steep upper arms are a major design fault. A well laid shoulder with well angulated upper arm which brings the elbow under the body is not just a pleasure to look at – these act as shock absorbers when the dog is running so that his joints are not jarred, leading to wear and tear, thus shortening his effective life as a working terrier. Finally, wide fronts, often associated with the previous construction – a Border should be able to creep into any space occupied by a fox, and these, despite their chunky appearance have very little body under that fur. Coats were mixed as to be expected – and there were some really good pelts, only a couple with paper thin pelts. Undercoat was often missing on the back, but present on the sides. A handful of bad mouths, perhaps some all rounders might accept these but I could not. Few really outstanding otter heads which stay in one’s memory for years, but most were adequate. My critique will not contain descriptions of the dogs, but will give an indication of why they were placed as they were. If your dog was not as high in the placings as you had hoped, take a good objective look at him, and you might find out why. *Bitch Critique* A big thank you to the MBTC committee for asking me to judge the Ch. Show it was a great honour. Thank you also to my stewards Ray & Sharon for making the classes run so smoothly. A nice entry of 144 bitches. I enjoyed the day; it was lovely to judge the bitches. The depth of quality in most of the classes was very pleasing. However, the fronts are still a problem within the breed & need to be addressed in future litters. Some quality bitches went cardless, unfortunately there is only 5 cards & many went without being placed. I was so delighted that my fellow judge Marie, agreed that my BCC & BRCC, should win the top honours, Best in Show and RBIS.

It was a great pleasure to judge my own club’s championship show. The venue is excellent, and I was able to experience this from the judge’s side of the table. The show was run very smoothly, and I was particular grateful to Beverley Jackson who, as chief steward, saw that everything was in the right place at the right time. I was pleased with my class winners, though some of the lower placing were a little problematic. As one would expect at this time of the year, with a few exceptions, coats were excellent. I seem to go on about movement every time I judge. I was pleased to note that wide fronts were fewer than before, however we seem to be going in the opposite direction,, with front paws nearly touching on the move. In my opinion the top-line should either be level or slightly sloping downwards to the hind legs. There were several exhibits in which the slope was the other way, with the top of the hind legs above the front legs. This is a wrong. There were several tails that were far too long. There was only one really bad mouth, the dog in question should not in my opinion be shown, and a couple with an incisor out of alignment. And that raises a question. The first line of the standard states ‘Essentially a working terrier’. Does a minor tooth misalignment affect the ability of the dog to work? Any judge can see a fault in the mouth and penalize it, and yet miss other faults which can indeed affect the working ability. Similarly how important are missing teeth? Many a Border has one or more of the first premolars missing or not properly erupted. The standard makes no mention of teeth other than in the context of a scissor bite. At least we are not obsessed with counting teeth as are the Germans.