Show Placings
Paignton & District Fanciers Association
3rd Aug 2009
Judge: Mrs Nancy Hogg (Raeburnfoot)
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.
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Oatberry Rheme
Bournemouth Championship Show
10th Aug 2009
Judge: Mrs Margaret Sneddon (Kersfell)
Thank you to my very efficient stewards. I think we have a real problem with the front construction and movement in the breed; there were far too many exhibits with short, steep upper arms, often resulting in a build up of bulky muscle on the outer line of the shoulder and the movement in front on many was very poor. The Border is ?essentially a working terrier and this type of construction will seriously compromise its ability to work.
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Oatberry Rheme
Placing Critique
nice youngster with a harsh coat and thick pelt, good legs and feet; good head, moved well.
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.
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Oatberry Rheme
Placing Critique
Confident & forward going red grizzle of 8m.Good ears eye & mouth. Narrow front & spannable rib, firm backline, good tailset. Moved with a long stride off her hocks.
Southern Border Terrier Club Open Show
20th Sep 2009
Judge: Mrs Elly Weijenborg-Weggemans (Netherlands)
I felt very honoured when I received the invitation to judge at the Open Show and was glad that I could accept this. What an opportunity to see and go over so many Borders in one day. Of course I have seen many Borders during the 40 years that I have lived with them but to see so many together is not possible on the continent. When I received the entry details I really was surprised and felt even more honoured then.
The Venue was good but unfortunately it was one of the warmest days and in the hall the temperature rose quite quickly. Nevertheless almost all Borders presented there showed until the very end of the day.
The judging went smoothly not in the least because of my exceptionally efficient steward, Peter Roderick, who took care of calling in the next class on time and made sure that there were no mistakes because of the re-entries which I am not used to. Many thanks also to my ring stewards!
I was surprised by the high quality presented to me. In some classes it meant that I could not always place otherwise nice exhibits. All Borders behaved themselves wonderfully when being handled, even inexperienced ones. Just one exception to that was a dog that didn't like to be handled on the table, which is not Border like.
It occurred to me that it is becoming to be a habit to string the dogs when moving. It worsens their movement in a lot of cases and for me they should be moved with a loosened lead. For some exhibits it made the difference in being placed or not. I found on the whole just a few problems. Just one wrong bite and one tail that was not correct. Feet need attention. Just a few had lovely strong padded catlike feet. As well as front movement which is a real problem in the Border Terrier all over the world. Waving, almost crossing, loose, just a few had a parallel and straight front movement. On the other hand, side movement was in almost all exhibits free and with a long stride. A lot of coats were in between. But I could feel the correct texture being double and harsh.
I had a lovely day and want to thank the organisation for their efforts to make me and my sister ? who accompanied me ? feel welcome and of course all the exhibitors for entering and taking my decisions so sportingly. The atmosphere around the ring felt warm, friendly and relaxed.
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Oatberry Rheme
Class Critique
Another strong class of very young Borders. A great promise for the future.
East Anglia BTC Open Show
29th Nov 2009
Judge: Mr Euan Castel (Flutorum)
I would like to thank the Officers and Committee of the Club for their invitation to judge their Open Show. Special thanks to Bev Jackson for her efficient stewarding. Despite a cold and rainy day outside the atmosphere in the hall was excellent, thank you to the exhibitors for a lovely entry of 100 from 84 dogs, with 20 absentees. Overall the quality was good, with some close decisions in several classes. I was very pleased with both the final dog and bitch line up.
Puppy - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Oatberry Rheme
Placing Critique
attractive 10 months red grizzle, nice in head and expression, straight front, good in body, well angulated rear quarters. Moved soundly.
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.
Junior - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Oatberry Rheme
Placing Critique
good otter head, good ear set, keen expression, correct bite, ample bone, easily spanned, chest deep, topline held on the move, good pelt, coat and tail carriage, moved with verve
Southern Counties
5th Jun 2010
Judge: Tinna Grubbe (Denmark)
Junior - Bitch /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Oatberry Rheme
