First Place in Open - Bitch, Judge: Mr Colin Girling (Benattivo)
I would like to thank the Officers and Committee for giving me the opportunity to judge Border Terriers in their spiritual home territory. My stewards, Audrey & Judith did a great job in running the class changes efficiently on a hot humid day. It was a lovely entry, with many exhibits that I had not judged before – thank you all. I found some exhibits which could have been better prepared with attention to coat, body condition and clean teeth. A few level bites a couple of kink tails influenced placings but all dogs were entire and overall a nice group of BT’s to go over. My main winners had breed qualities that outweighed any imperfection, that in my opinion wouldn’t impact on its ability to perform its traditional work.
A great class to judge with lots of quality and only 5 places, I had to dismiss decent dogs as a result.
I simply couldn’t overlook the qualities that ticked box after box against the breed standard. A delight to go over and a vision in the line where I had the pleasure to award her the CC. Her harsh double jacket was set over a good pelt, a bitch in top condition. Loved her otter like head, a slightly darker eye would have ticked every box of the standard in my opinion. She didn’t put a foot wrong on the move and with super muscle tone without being overly heavy. Overall a bitch without exaggeration in any regard.