First Place in Yearling - 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.
Although there was again a lot of quality in this class, some of the exhibits were out of their best coat which impacted on some nice type border girls going without places.
A hardy looking workmanlike bitch in rich red grizzle coat which was at its best. Proper Border otter head with plenty of strength under the eye which gave her a real keen and mischievous expression. Good bite and strong white teeth. Smooth front into straight front , this bitch is just right for bone which added to the overall picture of being able to do a good days work. Easily spanned and with good balance. She moved out well once she had settled into the ring