Joint Border Terrier Clubs' Championship Show (01-05-2016)

First Place in Limit - Dog, Judge: Mrs Trak Fryer (Irton)

Show Critique:

My thanks to the exhibitors for their entry, always an honour to be allowed to go over their dogs, I did thoroughly enjoy my day. My thanks also to my stewards who helped to keep things on the move throughout. It was in many ways an interesting entry, the standard asks for a dog that is essentially a working terrier and I wonder how many breeders keep this in mind when planning their litters? This implies a dog of correct size, capable of going all day and with strength but not coarseness. Whilst there were many good dogs present that could answer these requirements, there were many that could not.
The quality was very much in the upper classes of both sexes with a few notable exceptions. The major problem is movement, particularly in front, and the puppies were disappointing in this respect. Many otherwise excellent dogs simply could not cover their ground with any ease; it was an excellent ring with good mats so no excuses there.
In general coats and pelts were good, some could have been tidied to effect, feet and nails were poorly presented and fitness varied, which I always find very disappointing in a breed that does so love to run! I was surprised to find a number of mouths that at best could be described as “iffy”, whilst these would not necessarily effect the dogs ability to work it is a worrying trend. I did, however, have some lovely dogs to go over and I was very pleased with my winners, not enough cards to go round in many classes.

Class Critique:

The breed Standard does allow for quite a difference in interpretation and they were all here! An excellent class that was difficult to sort such was the variation in type. Quality went all the way down the line.

Placing Critique:

Lovely head, good strong jaw, nice eye. Excellent front with good rib carried well back into a strong loin, good rear angulation, and is OK for bone. A big dog but spannnable and he was shown in excellent coat. He is of a lovely type and was easily the best mover in this good class, altogether doing enough to take the Reserve CC.