First Place in Novice - Dog, Judge: Mrs Sue Baxter (Mysulan)
Firstly I’d like to thank The Border Terrier Club Committee for their very kind invitation to judge this Open show, I felt honoured and privileged . I thoroughly enjoyed my day and the hospitality on offer , the lunch certainly hit the spot..thank you Nancy Hogg. My two stewards, Jane Morton-Shaw and Marina Fleming kept things running smoothly and I am grateful for their support .
To the exhibitors , my thanks go unbounded as I had a lovely selection of good quality dogs to go over and there were certainly some tough decisions in many of the classes. It is an education to finally go over some of the dogs I have admired from the ring side. I am grateful that my decisions were taken, mostly in a sporting manner.
My general findings were , all males were intact , I found no kinked tails ( 1 dog had a bump on the underside of its tail , not a kink in my opinion), jackets were, as usual , at various stages of growth. I was impressed by the fact that all animals before me could be spanned , some a little easier than others.
Once again I feel compelled to comment on the state of nails and feet. In my opinion , many dogs had nails that were too long and some needed drastic fur trimming to enhance the shape of the feet.In my opinion it is a shame to groom your dogs for the ring but forget that ,especially whilst on the table, the judge has a perfect view of any, long nails and/or woolly “ Yeti” feet .
A smart young grizzle dog , lovely head piece without much of a stop , very good muzzle furnished with a good set of teeth . Good sized dark eyes , well placed , making for a nice expression. Legs were good and straight with sufficient bone , front very nice , narrow and good angles through the shoulder … finished off with tight feet and well developed pads. Lovely flat rib and good accompanying loin … Topline and tail set very good , tail of a good length coming right off the spinal vertebrae . Crisp jacket and pelt to spare . Moves soundly … rear angles not quite as accurate as the front , would like to see a bit more stifle …. Rear feet are perhaps on the slack side but they may tighten up as he matures.