Driffield Agricultural Society Championship Dog Show (20-09-2014)

Second Place in Puppy - Bitch, Judge: Mrs A C Fryer (Irton)

Show Critique:

Thanks to the exhibitors for giving me a lovely entry and to my stewards for keeping the ring running efficiently throughout. We had a good day with a very very slight drizzle; the exhibitors and exhibits seemed untroubled but it did cause the ringside to flee temporarily! There were some very good dogs present and I enjoyed all my winners but there are always some buts, and looking through my notes there was a preponderonce of “OK” over “good”. The standard asks for a dog that has the soundness to follow a horse; this, of course, must be understood in the context of a terrier working with the Hunt on rough moorland ground, but even so only the minority of exhibits could meet this requirement. Inadequate angulation leads to poor ground covering ability and untidy front movement – evident in a lot of exhibits. Whilst most exhibitors take the trouble to present their dogs as well as possible, a number were unfit and lacking muscle tone and would one of the Breed Clubs please put on a grooming seminar which shows exhibitors how to prepare feet and nails?? It is clearly needed. I forgive coats since these are outwith your control and sadly some excellent dogs had to pay the price for coming without a jacket.

Class Critique:

A good class with some very nice types but a few were rather unsettled.

Placing Critique:

Very similar type to 1 but not so strong in head, a bigger bitch, good neck and shoulder, good feet, good for bone, nicely angulated behind, a bit longer in back and on the move not quite so steady in front.