Second 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.
another well constructed dog which was workman like with good bone and big teeth. He has a strong muzzle & jaw, OK in skull, good fore hand, topline, tail set & hindquarters. Straight front, good pasterns and deep pads, fit and well muscled, he moved very well up & down and in profile. He has a close undercoat and his topcoat was harsh but had been picked at and lacked depth, pelt could be thicker. Ribs could be longer which would improve his underline, liked him very much but could not match 1 for expression, narrowness of shoulder or rib shape.