Second Place in Novice - Bitch, Judge: Gentle Lowe (Rockslade)
Firstly I would like to thank everyone who entered under me and gave me the pleasure of going over their dogs. I would also like to thank the committee for its hospitality and the lovely gift. I would also like to thank my excellent stewards Sharon and Peter who kept everything in order and the ring running smoothly.
Sadly there were many absentees but the show clashed with a number of other open shows with breed specialists judging around the country. I thoroughly enjoyed my day however being my first club show.
All males were entire and mouths were generally scissor bites with only one or two close bites and untidy teeth, a lot of dirty teeth but this is cosmetic and was not penalised. No kinked tails found and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of short tails, some however lacking thickness at the base. Coats as usual ranged from dogs in their undercoats to fully blown, some dogs would benefit from a good tidy up to enhance the presentation such as tails, ears, feet and underlines.
Some dogs movement was hard to assess due to them not settling in classes. Please don’t string dogs up on excessively tight leads one dog was not enjoying his experience for it both on the table and on the move.
Movement was generally ok but some lacked reach and drive with a couple moving wide or really close.
8 month old Grizzle who really did give her owner a hard time. I am sure she will settle in time with perseverance and patience. She made it very difficult to assess her on the table. She does have a scissor bite and is a nice size with good bone. She was shown today in her undercoat. In her initial class she did not settle on the move at all but she did in this class and she moved out well with reach and drive.