First Place in Post Graduate - Dog, Judge: Nicola Howard (Tyneotter)
I would like to thank the club and committee for the invite to judge their show, this was my first judging appointment for several years so I particularly appreciated of my stewards, Katrina and Liz in keeping the ring running smoothly.
Thank you to all the exhibitors for making the journey and allowing me to go over their dogs. There was a lovely friendly atmosphere around the ringside.
On the day I thought the quality of the bitches surpassed the dogs overall. Movement seems to be an issue, particularly coming but I did find some lovely exhibits who covered the ground effortless.
Fitness and muscle tone was lacking in a few of the exhibits which I was surprised about and did factor into my decision making, they are ‘essentially a working terrier’ after all.
Coats were varied with a number in full coat, some in between and a few with little coats. Bites were good .I found one kinked tail.
This boy appeals greatly for breed type, he had a gorgeous otter head with a keen expression, neat well-placed ears with a dark eye. He had a short strong muzzle, moderately broad skull with a correct bite. Show in full coat which was just past its best today texture wise. I found him a nice size dog who was easily spanned with a good length in body. He was a little upright on his pasterns and slightly short in upper arm, which affected his reach on the move but he was pretty true going and coming . A lovely typey masculine boy.