First Place in Limit - 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 is an old fashioned workmanlike dog of correct size and proportions, strong muzzle & jaw, good otter head free from excessive whisker with shallow stop and lovely flat skull. Correct shoulders with an upper arm of good length that returns well, straight front, good pasterns and neat feet, he has a good length of rib and a deep, strong loin giving a correct underline. Level topline both standing and on the move, good set-on and moderately short stern, thick at the base, racy hindquarters. He moved well and has an ideal coat for work being naturally short & harsh with a close undercoat, pelt OK, to be very critical would prefer him slightly less full in eye and a smaller ear, but still a lovely dog I would be happy to have in my kennel, Best Dog.