First Place in Open - Dog, Judge: Mrs Jayne Gillam (Orenberg)
Many thanks to the officers and committee for inviting me to judge Border Terriers at Blackpool & District Canine Society Championship show. Grateful thanks must go to my very efficient steward Gisela Duran who did an excellent job in making sure everything ran like clockwork. Finally thank you to the exhibitors for giving me such an excellent entry of 142 dogs making 183 entries, the largest entry across all breeds on the day. It really was a privilege to go over such a large entry of dogs and I thoroughly enjoyed my day.
The size of dogs has always been a perennial topic, but I was pleased to say overall, many of the dogs were of correct size on this occasion, with very few oversized dogs and only the odd one or two I couldn’t span. Bites were good and only an odd one with teeth out of line, although a few had broken teeth, quite a few had dirty teeth and some had small teeth which is something I really don’t like to see on, essentially a working terrier. It was good to find some really lovely tails, with not too many long thin, spindly tails we have seen in the past, although I was surprised to find four kinked tails in the entry.
Overall I thought it was a good entry, I found some quality exhibits and I was very pleased with my winners, and in particular will watch the progress of my puppy and junior placings with interest.
Probably one of the best classes of males I have judged in a long time. It was a privilege to have such quality dogs all in the same class to judge, and some tough decisions had to be made. The first three in particular are out of the top drawer and excellent examples of the breed.
G&T. Beautifully presented dog in hard, fit condition with a perfect harsh, pin wire jacket and thick pelt in perfect rapport with his handler. Super otter like head, dark keen eye and short strong muzzle with good dentition, correct V shaped ears framing his head nicely. Good reach of neck into well laid shoulders, retains a good neckline into level topline in profile and covers the ground effortlessly with well angulated hindquarters. He isn’t a big dog at all, is well ribbed back and very easy to span with good underline. Moved very soundly coming and going. Pleased to award him the DCC and BOB. He later went on to win the TG1.