First Place in Yearling - Bitch, Judge: Mrs Jayne Alpe
I was honoured to accept this appointment at short notice, due to Kathy Wilkinson’s ill health. I was impressed with the new halls and layout this year.
I was able to judge with no preconceptions, as I have only been to two shows this year, so the majority of dogs were new to me. A good size entry with some good quality dogs present in a number of classes in which I was splitting hairs I had two very good stewards who handled the large classes with calm and efficient precision allowing me to get on with my job.
Overall movement, has improved considerably. In my opinion Borders should move soundly, positively and with the minimum of effort needed to cover the ground well, this means that they use far less energy when travelling distances, and my principal winners all fitted this criteria. Nice large teeth and good bites were very much in evidence. At long last I am starting to see definition between dogs and bitches, I like to see a masculine dog and a feminine bitch. The other thing I was pleased to see was the majority had good tight feet. Some exhibitors seem to be under the impression that an underweight dog is a way to make them easier to span, it doesn’t work! I hate to be able to feel bone and not muscle.
I learnt after judging that there was some kind of aggression in one of the classes, unfortunately I did not witness this personally, as I was going over a dog on the table, if I had of seen it then I would have taken appropriate action as this type of temperament is totally unacceptable in our lovely breed.
Loved the head on this bitch, sweet feminine expression with just the right amount of sharpness in her dark eye. Good bite, sound on the move with good feet. Harsh double coat.