Show Placings
Windsor Championship Show
1st Jul 2012
Judge: Mr K Holmes
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock
Northern Border Terrier Club Championship Show
17th Jul 2012
Judge: Mrs. A. C. Fryer (Irton)
My thanks to the Northern Club for the opportunity to judge their 40th Championship show and for their wonderful hospitality; to the exhibitors for giving me such a lovely entry and to my stewards Doreen Rushby & Tracy Peacock for their assistance through the day.
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my day, as we expect from this club there was a wonderful atmosphere all day with good support for the winners and, of course, very impressive rosettes!
I was pleased with the entry and thought the Veteran class outstanding. In general exhibits were good types of Border, presented clean and reasonably well muscled. I dislike over handling and excessive stacking of exhibits, these are working terriers and if made right they will – eventually – stand right. In general heads were typical, some with excellent expressions. Coats, of course, were all over the place but where present were of good quality and in the main pelts were OK with some very good examples. Feet generally were OK but good tight well padded feet were definitely in the minority. Similarly ears were generally OK but small, well set, well shaped thick ears were scarce. Tails and tailset were very much a plus with some very good examples, just a few rather long or thin ones. I was pleased to find enough well made dogs who covered their ground cleanly without fuss and flicking but good movement was definitely one of the major problems, particularly in the bitches.
Shoulder placement was a problem in a significant number of exhibits, mostly these were upright shoulders out at the withers giving big problems with front movement. These may look good standing but these dogs are not sound on the move, a vital requirement for a Border.
I accept that an older dog can lose teeth or have a bite move but I was disappointed to find a number of young dogs with incorrect bites, missing and broken teeth. I thought a number of heads were weak, particularly across the jaw and these seem to go with rather small teeth, I wonder if these are related problems?
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Very Highly Commended
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock
Class Critique
A big class with a lot of nice pups, rather mixed, some not moving well and some with coats all over the place. Some good movers difficult to sort them all out. Some poor shoulders & flapping fronts
Paignton & District FA
7th Aug 2012
Judge: Miss Rebecca Barber (Alcumlow)
I would like to thank the committee for their hospitality, I thoroughly enjoyed my day. Thank you to all of the exhibitors for giving me such a good entry of quality dogs. I judge according to the breed standard and I felt that my winners today were extremely fitting.
Minor Puppy - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock
Placing Critique
A 7month old grizzle bitch, in good coat, excellent front angulation, topline and tailset. Moved out well.
Midland Counties
25th Oct 2012
Judge: Mr. Gerald Baker (Jaslou)
Puppy - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock For Onthill
Southern Counties Canine Association
1st Jun 2013
Judge: Mr Hans T Lehtinen (Finland)
Yearling - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock For Onthill
Southern Border Terrier Club Championship Show
14th Jun 2014
Judge: Mrs Wendy Mooney (Chesterton)
Congratulations to the committee of the Southern Border Terrier Club for running an excellent show at a new venue under extreme circumstances. Due to a nasty virus the appointed judge, Mrs Betty Judge, was taken ill the day before and was not well enough to carry out her duties. I know that she was absolutely devastated and had been looking forward to the appointment for a long time.
Faced with such an emergency, show manager, Mr David Hunt managed the situation with complete calm and professionalism. I was both honoured and shocked to be invited to step in to judge and here, I must say a huge thank you to the committee for asking me but in particular to the exhibitors who had entered under and were expecting another judge and took the situation so sportingly.
I am grateful to everyone who accepted my decisions and placings so graciously and to my great team of stewards: Andrew Mooney, Elspeth Jackson and Bev Marsh, who kept everything running smoothly and between them managed to multi-task and juggle photographs, collecting ring, announcing, paperwork awards etc etc.
And so to the dogs themselves – there were some superb entries and it was an absolute pleasure to go over and place them. Some of the classes were so strong that even good dogs didn’t get placed.
Coats and presentation were generally excellent - something, which was not so apparent the last time I judged. This I put down principally to the time of year (for both shows).
Movement today seemed in many of the dogs to be lacking the drive that I would have wished for. In part, I think the surface may have been to blame (but not in all instances) and had we been outside on the grass this might have been different. I do slightly regret that I did not decide to judge the dogs outside.
Mouths were good in all but one (suspect) case, as were the temperaments. Size I think will need to be kept in check, there seemed to be a fair number who seemed to be heavy enough, others who were too deep to be easily spanned.
I was so thrilled with my “stars” of the show. It was a pleasure to judge all of your dogs; they were a lovely, quality entry.
Post Graduate - Bitch /
Reserve
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock For Onthill
Guildford and District Canine Society Open Show
28th Jun 2014
Judge: Rachel Larner (Hawcoat)
Post Graduate /
First Place
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock For Onthill
Placing Critique
3 year old bitch in super condition with a lovely tight jacket and thick pelt. Femine head with a keen expression. Looked a neat little bitch who had good length of rib and good topline with a nicely set tail. Moved well.
Manchester Championship Show
15th Jan 2015
Judge: Miss Anita Harrison (Iacheslei)
This was my first Championship Show appointment and I would like to thank the Society for the invitation and generous hospitality. Thanks also to my stewards Brian Attwood and Anne Speake who did a sterling job keeping the good sized, well appointed ring running smoothly throughout the day. Thanks also to the exhibitors for allowing me to go over some very high quality dogs. Generally the standard was good with the majority of exhibits showing and moving well. I was concerned by the number of short rounded ribs I found, especially in the bitch classes. There were several noses lacking pigment, some very long thin tails, and I found a few broken or out of line teeth. Coats were at various stages and some otherwise good dogs had to be penalised for lack of coat in the stronger classes. Whereas others with little coat made it into the line up on overall quality. I was very pleased with my main winners, and thank the exhibitors for accepting my decisions in a sporting manner.
Post Graduate - Bitch /
First Place
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock For Onthill
Placing Critique
A red bitch with a good head, broad skull, nice size with good bone, and a level top line which she held on the move. Presented in good coat. Moved well. I would prefer a flatter rib.
The Midland Border Terrier Club Championship Show
2nd Aug 2015
Judge: Mrs Jayne Gillam & Mr Mick Rushby
*Dogs*
What a pleasure it was to be invited to judge the males at the Midland BTC Championship show on 2nd August 2015, and thanks to the exhibitors for giving me such a good entry of males to go over. Thanks must also go to my stewards Chris Wallace and Margaret Davies who did a great job, making sure everything ran smoothly. It was interesting to be judging alongside my Co-judge Mick Rushby who I felt has similar views to how I interpret the Breed Standard and when it came to choosing Best of Breed, I appreciated the good qualities of his bitch CC winner and after a thorough deliberation we jointly decided that my Dog CC winner had the edge, and awarded him Best of Breed. Although I didn’t judge the bitches, from the ringside they did look a much more even entry than the males, which were quite mixed, but I was very happy with my main winners with several males who I felt were champion standard, my eventual CC winner stood away from the rest but I had a few contenders for the Reserve CC whom I really liked. No matter what time of year I judge there is always a percentage of exhibits out of coat, I am not normally too hung up on that, as coat is a transient thing and if there is evidence of a harsh coat and thick pelt, movement is good and the dog is well constructed I don’t penalize them too much, but when you get a dog before you with good construction, good movement and a fabulous coat, they really have the edge and stand out. Having said that and not wanting to sound as old as Methuselah, I really feel the correct Border coat is in decline, you rarely find the really good, harsh, dense wiry coats and pelts you did in the past, and is an important element to give the breed, type and is a requirement in the Breed Standard. The fashion for several years has been to show dogs with little coat, with all the undercoat scraped out to reveal a sleek outline. Thankfully not all exhibitors do this, and it was good to see some with decent coats, but judging by some of the poor toplines, and profiles on Sunday, I really think exhibitors should be thinking of leaving some undercoat in, and keep a good depth of coat, as it creates a more finished, Border Terrier look, rather than a thin skinned whippet look. Ultimately good coats and pelts need to be bred for. When I am judging, I tend to look at the overall dog, I never pick out one thing and allow it to seduce me into thinking it’s a good Border Terrier, the whole dog has to be balanced and fit for function, display good breed type and have the ability to follow a horse, moving with economy with long low strides. I don’t go in for extremes or exaggerations either, or a dog which looks like a caricature of a Border Terrier, because the breed standard doesn’t allow for that. I do like ring presence, clean dogs with good presentation and showmanship, a working dog can still have all that and it is a show after all, but it has to be a good Border Terrier first and foremost.
Post Graduate - Bitch /
Second Place
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock For Onthill
Placing Critique
another nice typy bitch, good head, neck & shoulders, topline & tailset OK, just lost out on movement to 1
The Southern Border Terrier Club Members Limited Show
5th Mar 2017
Judge: Mrs Jill Stevens (Cobstoneway)
I would like to thank the committee for giving me the honour of judging at this lovely show, with special appreciation to show manager Jane Roberts, and ring stewards Sandra Girling and Sheila Hales. Most of all, I would like to thank the exhibitors for giving me the privilege of going over their lovely dogs.
With the phrase “Essentially a working terrier” in mind, I was satisfied that my main winners fitted the breed standard and moved soundly with good reach and drive. Coats also played a part, and although I appreciate that coats come and go, they did matter on the day. All the dogs were entire, there were a couple of level bites and the odd tooth out of line, but most exhibits were really nicely turned out. The puppy classes were very promising, and at the other end of the scale it was nice to see the veterans enjoying their day.
Open - Bitch /
Third Place
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock For Onthill
Richmond
9th Sep 2017
Judge: Mr Richard Allen (Penparc)
Open - Bitch /
Reserve
Name at show: Bandicoot Robins Rock For Onthill
