Olderhill Claudette

*Dog Critique* An excellent entry at this my first club championship show. There were quality exhibits in all classes and overall, if this entry can be used as a yardstick, the dogs are now almost as good as the bitches, which couldn’t be said only a short while ago. This must bode well for the future of the breed. I have been very critical of movement in the past, but I found a distinct improvement here and most of the class card winners had good parallel movement going away and back, and plenty of drive with economical front action. Coats were generally very good and heads were much improved with only a few weak snipey muzzles and apple skulls. Many thanks to my hard working stewards, Sharon Pickering and Ray Bryan, who succeeded in keeping me out of trouble. *Bitch Critique* A very satisfying day, I had many good bitches to go over. My thanks to the MBTC for the invitation to judge and to the exhibitors for entering. All were capable of being spanned, there was a good number of typical jackets and overall quality was such that this was a factor in the placings. No bad mouths and many with good strong teeth. Construction has improved but be careful not to overdo the hind angulation and remember we look for narrow fronts. A few round ears and several larger than I prefer. Racy lines preferred but be careful as some lacked substance. I though the principal winners were all very good. BIS, RBIS and BOS were all worthy winners.

I considered it a great honour to be invited to judge this show. I looked forward to it greatly and I was not in any way disappointed. A classy club with a classy committee. My stewards were great and we had some interesting moments through the day, but we coped. Thank you to all involved with the club and most of all the exhibitors for doing me the honour of having me judge your dogs. Thank you. Whenever I judge Staffords, which is my own breed I always make the point that exhibitors should rid their dogs of any reasons to get beaten. Long pointed nails are not a good look, nor are they good for the dog. Even I can make a decent fist of a borders coat and as a singular part of the breed and its identification a bit more attention would not have gone amiss in some. Excess weight is not good for anybody, least of all, what is ostensibly a working terrier. I think there may well be some stars of the future in some of the lower classes and I shall watch with greater interest now when I am at the border ring. Thanks again to you all for coming and entering into the spirit of the day. I had a brilliant day and I hope you did too.