Show Placings
The Border Terrier Club Open Show
24th Feb 2024
Judge: Libby Tanton-Joy (Itsaso)
Thank you to the committee for inviting me to judge their open show held at Jedburgh, the home of the border terrier. It was a great privilege, and I had some amazing dogs present who are a credit to their owners, thank you for bringing them.
Thank you to my stewards for organising the rings so smoothly and keeping me on track so we finished at a reasonable time. The hospitality was second to none and I would like to thank the whole committee for this.
Minor Puppy - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Ravenside Rasputin
Placing Critique
7-month-old grizzle and tan puppy who was really enjoying his day out, as they should be at this age. Plenty of character and taking it all in his stride. I found him very promising with a lovey front and rib and presenting a very balanced picture which is finished off with a cracking short carrot tail. Shown in correct jacket with pelt. Still needs time to develop in head and movement to settle as he matures.
The Border Terrier Club Championship Show
30th Mar 2024
Judge: Mrs Lynda Ward (Roundtown)
It was an honour to be invited to judge this, our parent club’s show. My thanks to the committee who ran such a lovely event with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. My judge’s gift is much appreciated and will be a treasured momento of the day.
My superstar stewards, Janice Johnson and Liz Barrett, worked hard and unobtrusively whilst keeping the classes moving smoothly over a long day – well done ladies.
Many thanks of course to the exhibitors who made the journey on a major bank holiday weekend giving a large and quality entry of 190 dogs making 229 entries plus 10 NFC.
I had some lovely sound and typical Borders to go over and, had I had them, I would have had no qualms in awarding 4 dog tickets and 5 bitch tickets.
Unfortunately there are always downsides in a big entry and today size was an issue with some overly large exhibits who were not spannable and very heavily built.
There were a number of youngsters which were obviously unused to having their mouths examined and more practice in a calm atmosphere would help to make them comfortable and avoid stress for them and their handlers.
Ears need watching as some were quite large and spoiled the head.
Sadly, as in the past I must complain about long tails. Tails are an integral aspect of the overall picture of a typical Border outline and long is simply wrong. Our breed standard is spartan compared to many others but for tails the description is clear and begins with, “Moderately short; fairly thick at base, then tapering.” Hopefully the issue will be addressed before the untypical becomes the norm.
On a positive note …
Feet were overall small and thickly padded although some would benefit from trimming and shorter nails.
There was a good number of lovely otter-like heads of correct proportions with well placed dark eyes and a keen expression.
As is usual these days coat presentation was generally good and today there were plenty of dense coats of correct texture and thick skins.
Do I think the quality shown in this entry bodes well for the breed? Yes.
Minor Puppy - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Ravenside Rasputin
Placing Critique
8 months old with good head and expression. Well balanced with good topline and tailset. Movement still to settle.
National Terrier Club
6th Apr 2024
Judge: Miss Elspeth Jackson (Clipstone)
Thanks to the National Terrier Club for their invitation to judge at this prestigious show and to the exhibitors who did me the honour of judging their dogs. I was lucky to have two efficient stewards who kept things running smoothly, thank you Laura and Dave.
The entry showed a good depth of quality. In many classes the places were hotly contested with decisions needing to be made on the narrowest of margins. I was very pleased to find that there were some good coats on thick pelts and the nice thick short tails which set off a good border so well.
Minor Puppy - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Ravenside Rasputin
Placing Critique
Very promising 8 month old grizzle and tan with everything in the right place. Masculine head, good neck and shoulders, good in body with good rib and loin. Needs his coat to come to complete the picture. I will enjoy seeing how he matures.
The Northern Border Terrier Club Open Show
13th Apr 2024
Judge: Mrs P Cox (Cushatlaw)
Puppy - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Ravenside Rasputin
East Anglia Border Terrier Club Championship Show
20th Apr 2024
Judge: Mrs Elizabeth Barrett (Howthwaite)
Thank you to the committee of the East Anglia Border Terrier Club for the honour of inviting me to judge your Championship show and for your great hospitality on the day. It was hit-and-miss as to whether or not I would be judging inside or out, and I’m pleased that the committee took the decision to hold it outdoors. It is far nicer for the dogs to be outside, even with the biting wind, and we are not to forget that they are designed to be outside in that type of weather, which reiterates the importance of a good coat. I hope everyone at ringside managed to keep the chill away, myself having Cumbrian bloodlines, found it rather pleasant. Thank you to my stewards Tracey, Dave and Mike who worked tirelessly to keep the ring moving. My biggest thanks are to the exhibitors who gave me an excellent entry and took all my decisions in a sporting manner. I know it is always said there are too many good dogs for the number of cards and that was especially true of the limit and open classes. I was spoiled for choice in a number of classes and had to split hairs on a number of occasions. Dog’s are never static and can have good days and bad days just the same as us, and condition and coats can change dramatically. Some dogs were out of top coat or had no harshness to their coat on the day which cost them on this occasion. Repeating myself from my last judging appointment, I made mention that true movement isn’t necessarily conducive to good movement if no ground is covered at the same time, ideally of course we want both but I would rather see a dog with a good outline in profile than one very accurate that’s going nowhere. Good construction should be a given, I know not much mention is made to that in our breed standard, but to constitute soundness to follow a horse, the construction must be balanced and correct with no exaggeration. Thankfully, there were not many exaggerations on the day. One or two were big ribbed and not quite spannable, and surprisingly they were not necessarily the ones that looked up to size. Overall, I was very pleased with the quality of the dogs presented.
Best Puppy
Name at show: Ravenside Rasputin
Best Puppy - Dog
Name at show: Ravenside Rasputin
Minor Puppy - Dog /
First Place
Name at show: Ravenside Rasputin
Placing Critique
Grizzle and tan of nearly nine months old. Nice for size, narrow throughout and well balanced. Lovely otter head, nice eye and neat well set ears. Good neck into well laid shoulders and good return of upper arm. Just right for bone, standing on well padded feet. Excellent rib shape with length. Great topline, firm loin and well set tail. Just right for rear angulation, being racy without anything overdone. Sporting an excellent harsh topcoat with thick undercoat and pelt. A very sound moving youngster, I was pleased to award him best puppy in show.
West of England Ladies Kennel Society
26th Apr 2024
Judge: Mandy Holmes (Bimandi)
Minor Puppy - Dog /
Second Place
Name at show: Ravenside Rasputin
