First Place in Puppy - Bitch, Judge: Mr Graham Pickering (Picer)
Thank you to Driffield Agricultural Society for inviting me to judge Border Terriers at their Championship Show. I had a good entry of 169 from 162 dogs and had a large number of quality exhibits to go over. It was a shame that the weather, being extremely windy, meant that because of health and safety reasons I had to judge indoors. This meant that at first the ring was not as spacious as I would have liked and the noise from the wind in the marquee at times disturbed some of the younger exhibits. In addition, the length of the grass and the unevenness of the surface were problematic for some of the exhibitors.
I was extremely pleased with my final line ups and there were many classes where deserving dogs went unplaced due to the quality of the entry. Overall coats, were very good and temperament was excellent. However, I did find two examples of the odd tooth out of place and a number of dogs which could have been tidier particularly around feet and tail.
In my winners I was looking for a correct size Border with a harsh double coat, well muscled, correct bone and looking like it could do a good days work. I found those qualities in my winners.
What a lovely class of puppies, a joy to judge! I was spoilt for choice and I wish that I had more cards as some really nice examples of the breed went without places
Striking b/t puppy bitch with a very mature attitude. Lovely in profile and didn’t disappoint on the table. Excellent feminine otter head with plenty of width and strength in foreface. Scissor bite with correctly placed white teeth. Straight front with a good length of neck into well laid back shoulders. Lovely body lines, level top line and carrot- like tail straight off the back. The best of harsh b/t coats with plenty of ticking. Well angulated at the rear and she moved out with confidence that belied her young age. Very pleased to give her Best Puppy in Breed. I am sure that she has a very bright show future in front of her.