First Place in Open - Bitch, Judge: Mr Graham Pickering (Picer)
Thank you to The Scottish Border Terrier Club for asking me to judge the Joint Show. It’s been a long time coming as I was invited to judge in 2019 and COVID 19 got in the way! I would like to thank the exhibitors who managed to attend the show after the problems caused by Storm Lilian at Driffield. I also appreciate that the absentees were higher as a result of many people having prior appointments on the day that the show was rearranged. The City of Birmingham Society where very accommodating, we had a lovely ring with plenty of space.
However, I had a super entry, and I had lots to choose from in the dogs that were able to show under me. Thank you to everyone – I really appreciate being asked to give an opinion on other people’s dogs, it’s a real honour. I would also give a special note of thanks to my steward Bill Shorthose who single handedly managed the ring and made sure everyone was in the right place at the right time. Particularly with the challenges of a partnership show and the clashes that this can cause across two rings. Thank you to all the exhibitors who managed to negotiate two shows with good heart.
When judging, I look for dogs with good heads, plenty of strength under the eye, very little stop and a good strong jaw – essentially a’ Head like that of an Otter’. I also like to see straight fronts, correct shoulder placements and tidy small feet. I found these characteristics in all of my top winners. Generally, mouths were good, although there were a couple of dogs with a tooth out of place. Movement was ok in generally, but as breed we do need to keep an eye on front movement as there were some dogs who did not move as well as they should walking towards me. All the males were entire. I was very pleased with all my placings and when choosing my top winners, I had some difficult decisions to make and so were some dogs that were very unlucky on the day.
Another bitch that I have admired from the ring side, she caught my eye as she entered the ring. A lovely grizzle bitch, excellent confirmation and shape with lots of breed type. She has the best of border heads with very little stop, well filled under the eye with a keen varminty expression. She has correctly placed neat ears and an excellent scissor bite, clean teeth and a good sized nose with large nostrils, a winter nose but this didn’t detract at all from the overall picture of a quality border. A bitch with a good reach of neck, well laid, smooth shoulder placement. Her front is straight, narrow and correct for bone. She stood on small, neat feet with thick pads. She carries her ribs well back which run into strong loin, with a good tail set, straight off her back. Good rear angulation and bend of stifle which meant that she is able to cover the ground effortlessly and with confidence. Very good harsh, double coat just coming into its best with a pliable pelt. She was obviously enjoying her day and was handled expertly and with confidence to BCC and BIS.