First Place in Open - Bitch, Judge: Miss Michelle Barnett (Brockfox)
My sincere thanks go to the society for the superb welcome and hospitality at this premium show, my proficient stewards and last but most importantly the exhibits and their exhibitors for their entries and sporting attitude. It was so nice to hear the ringside applause bestowed upon fellow exhibitors and as a judge it really does make for a pleasurable days judging
After my considerable absence ringside, my findings today were overall as always seems to be the case was the varieties in type, And some of the entry sadly on the day was far too big and by this i mean not necessarily in length of leg ( which the correct term is tall ) but in depth of chest and heavy shoulders , Fundamentally not the supple lithe bodies which is vital in an earth dog ,and an essential breed characteristic that we must strive to breed for.
Please assess your dogs objectively and ask yourself of your own dogs “is this really the build of an earth dog” ?
Mouths were on the whole correct but some very tight bites were apparent and teeth out of aliment I also found heavy almost houndy ears are also creeping in .
Always wanting to finish on a high note, once again temperaments as to be expected were excellent and all males were entire. As always when judging I was looking for a correct sized spannable tweedy border who comes to hand well, with the requisite ottery head shown in correct double jacket and thick pliable pelt, thus providing them the protection required of a working dog coupled with a lithe body with hard muscle tone and fitness to enable them to endure a day in the field
And in completing my appointment I was thrilled with my final line ups and ultimately such exemplary representatives of the breed to award the final top honours too.
Excellent class brimming with quantity & quality
Well I can only say that I am so pleased that this bitch was brought under me today and i had the pleasure of not only judging her for the first time but the privilege of awarding her , her most worthy crowning CC .They say that once in a while a dog comes under you that you covert and she truly filled that emotion in me. I adored her and wouldn’t need to change anything on her but transfer her ownership. I just loved this girl’s overall proportions. Fitting the first line of the breed standard with ease “Essentially a working terrier” she epitomises all that is Border for me “ From her superb otter head, throughout her correct bodylines to the tip of her thick carroty tail” -and if you ever need to check for the eye you should be breeding for this quality girl has it, Her eye and expression is to die for varminty with a capital “V” and dark, dark, eyes. She is so well balanced filling your eye from all angles with so many good qualities, Soundly constructed with everything in proportion to give a well balanced picture standing and on the move .She comes to hand beautifully spanning with ease. Moderate neck set into well-laid shoulders narrow throughout with correct shape and length of rib, firm top line, which she held on the move. The best of cat feet small and well padded Her jacket was harsh and dense with the thickest of pelts ,water would simply bead on top of it. She was in excellent muscle tone so fit, and presented and handled to perfection, a real credit to her owners. At 8 years old she was the best mover of the day and showed the youngsters how it was done. Striding out powering around the ring with excellent reach and drive, covering the ground effortlessly i could have watched her all day and built as she is she could have gone all day too. In a strong line up of bitches I could do nothing else but award her the BCC . She stole the show today not only for me but going by the ringside applause for many others. In the final watching her taking full advantage of the ring her ground covering gait coupled with her “joie de vivre” pipped her BOB over the DCC winner.