First Place in Minor Puppy - Bitch, Judge: Mrs Kathy Wilkinson (Otterkin)
An excellent entry awaited me at the City of Birmingham show, not only in numbers, but also in the depth of quality. In many classes, I found myself wishing for more than 5 places to award and sadly, dogs left the ring which I really liked and would have been happy to place on another day. In more than a couple of classes, it was very hard to decide on the 1st 5 in order and many went down the line because of coat texture and thickness, although on another day, in better coat, they would have fared better. As I have not been to many shows this year, it was good to view some dogs for the first time, including my Best of Breed, who I was pleased to ?find?, only to later discover she has already been found on a number of occasions, although not at this level!
I apologise for the lateness of this critique. Besides flying out to an appointment to judge in Italy only a couple of days after the show, we have had some personal and medical issues to deal with regarding the welfare of my elderly mother in law. As I write this, we have still not finalised arrangements for her, but hope to do so soon, so I hope you will understand that sometimes, dog shows do not come first.
On the way to the showground, my car made some terrifying noises when I touched the brake pedal and so, that will explain to anyone wondering, why I had to stop judging for a second or two to find my car keys for the AA man, who kindly fixed it at the hotel car park for us and saved us a long trip home on the back of a low loader.
An eventful weekend, made wonderful by the number of top class Border Terriers present at the show.
Many thanks must go to the very experienced and helpful ring stewards, Mr and Mrs Wright, who had the dogs present and ready for inspection at the start of every class and so enabled me to finish in plenty time for the Terrier Group. Good ring management was important with an entry of 185 dogs, making 193 entries (plus one or two whose entries had not been received and less a couple of NFC). This was the highest number in the Terrier Group today and I would like to thank all the exhibitors for allowing me the pleasure of going over their dogs. The absentee rate of dogs entered was 23.5%.
A lovely class. Some very hard decisions. On another day, I could easily place the 5th in a 1st position and all the others as well. A REALLY good class. What a blessing for the future of the breed.
Dark red grizzle bitch. Could not take my eyes off her and found myself comparing all the other bitches in the class to her when deciding whether I liked them sufficiently to place them. Beautiful otter head on this young girl, who has a lovely make and shape. Good small dark eye, with varminty expression. Flat skull, ears well placed. A little bit erratic on movement, which was forgiven as she is just a baby at 6 months and a week old. Lovely topline, with excellent shaped tail, well set on. Thick loose pelt. Small tight feet, Excellent neck and shoulders. Nice puppy, will watch her progress with interest. Hard luck to come up against the puppy bitch winner today!