First Place in Junior - Dog, Judge: Miss Lisa Jenkins (Badgerbeck)
Firstly, please accept my apology for the lateness of this critique, unfortunately I had problems with my PC which crashed and lost my first , almost complete report, leaving me with no option but to start again. Thank you for an excellent entry. I was very pleased to find that most of the exhibits were of a workable size & spannable, had big teeth with good strong muzzles/jaws, all males entire, only 2 very minor tail kinks, and temperaments were excellent. On the down side I had few in good deep double coat and a really thick pelt was hard to find, the true otter head seams to be being replaced by a squarer skull giving more of a teddy bear look not helped by over long moustaches/beards and big bushy eyebrows. Ribs were frequently too short & deep resulting in whippety underlines. Front movement is still a problem due to a lack of balance between front and hind angulation with dogs either having good hindquarters but short steep upper arms or they were correct in front but over angulated behind, this resulted in them either throwing their fronts about coming or dropping their withers in profile in an attempt to balance their stride. There were a handful with crowded incisors or missing a first or second premolar.
he has the most beautiful head & expression that shouts “otter” at you, strong muzzle with large nose leather, deep under jaw with punishing canines and very large incisors, his stop is both shallow and wide, nice eye, lovely flat skull of good length to width ratio and a flat occiput that blends perfectly into his neck which is both moderately long and strong. He has the best of shoulders and his upper arm is long and correctly angled, an excellent front with good bone leading to good pasterns and the deepest of feet. His ribs are carried well back and the loin is deep giving the correct underline and making him one of the easiest dogs to span all day, he has a good topline & tail set and is well angled behind, the coat was harsh & dense with a good undercoat, pelt could be thicker. Lovely mover in profile, good reach & drive with a level topline, went soundly up & down but moves very close both ways which cost him later on. He is so well constructed he could easily carry a little more condition & muscle without affecting his spannabilty which could improve his movement. Could have easily taken him home.