East Of England (Ch - 11/07/2015)

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Critique

I enjoyed my day judging this breed. A mixed entry varying in quality, type and size. Too many youngsters were either up to or over the measure in males. Show stock represents the breeding material for the future, and while one cannot penalize those up to the measure, this, and those over should be borne in mind in future selection of either mates, otherwise size will become a problem. On the other hand, some of the bitches lacked size.
Four failed in character, including a dog who I have long been an admirer of, unfortunately he had to pay the penalty. I had one with a level bite, and one with missing teeth.
Conformation, in many cases, doesn’t appear to warrant much consideration. This lack of harmony shows up in the gait, either by picking up the forefeet too high, or crabbing. All dogs tend to adjust themselves to lack of correct conformation and the dogs who are guilty of high stepping, crabbing and in some cases hopping, are doing just that.

Puppy - Dog
1st Poultney ‘s Sirchray Star Trooper, 7 months top size cream, well boned and strong. Good wedge shaped head, well placed ears. A shade steep in shoulder and upper arm could be more sloping and longer. Good topline and hindquarters. A bit restricted in movement.
2nd Taylor ‘s Zephon King Of The Rock For Tispitza Naf, 10 months white. Well presented top size strong dog who lifted the measure slightly. Very good bone, legs and feet. Attractive coat without there being too much of it. A tad forward placed in shoulder, which led to a slightly long middlepiece. Shows some restriction in fore reach, otherwise fair gait.
Junior - Dog
1st Hall’s Sobriety's Grizzly Bear For Pufnstuf, nearly 12 months strongly built brown who lifted the measure slightly. A pity because he is a well constructed dog of good general appearance and type. Correct head and eyes with ears to match his size. Excellent character. Moderate upper arm and shoulder, good balanced hindquarters. Strong and true both in stance and gait. Moved with a good stride and drive. Best Puppy.
Post Graduate - Dog
1st O'loughlin’s Caoilta Drexl Light orange with lighter flashings on head and legs. 18 months medium size, medium strength. Nice dark eyes. Would perhaps prefer a more masculine head which is of correct shape. Well presented and in good condition. Enough bone, very good legs and feet. Well proportioned with correct angulation fore and aft. Well set and carried tail. Moved in a very collected manner with a decent stride.
2nd Hearson’s Nixtev Uraxys At Jumasue White. Big strong dog on the upper limits of the standard. Correct head with good eye and ears. Well boned, good legs and feet. A well constructed dog who had a tendency to pace, but did correct this when handler’s attention was drawn to the fact. Could be in much fitter harder condition. Rolled over the back and wither. I would prefer slightly less coat.
Limit - Dog
1st Hamers’ Borndownunda Talking Heads Of Clarmer (Aus Imp) Ir Jr Ch Cream, medium sized, medium strong, hard and dry dog. Good typical head, with dark eyes of correct shape. Well laid shoulder and correct in upper arm. Strong level back and short loin. Muscular hindquarters with well let down hocks which are strong and true. High set, well carried tail. Very good proportions and balance. Shows a lot of attitude and shows himself off well. Moved with reach and drive. Sound. Res CC.
2nd Orr’s Sobriety Jack Daniels Cream, strong and good size. Well coated. Good type with correct head, eye and ear. Well proportioned and good quarters. Strong bone, legs and feet. High set and nicely carried tail. Moved with a good stride but could be harder and fitter in condition. Could to advantage carry less weight. He was rolling over the back and wither.
Open - Dog
1st O' Leary’s Ir Ch Amoyalois Rufus For Cadasaro Jun Ch Grey sable and white particolour, 3 years. Up to the measure but not over. Medium strong and masculine. This dog personifies the true Spitz attitude. Stands in a calm, controlled manner and looks straight at you with lovely correctly shaped dark eyes set in a dark mask. He is very alert and responsive to his handler, yet misses nothing! Very correct head, ears, leading into a good neck and withers. Good topline, short loin and short croup. Well placed and carried tail which is nicely plumed. Very good bone, legs and feet. Well laid shoulder with sufficient length of upper arm, which a touch more slope to it would further enhance. Balanced hindquarters with well let down hocks. Good proportions and length of foreleg. Moved with excellent reach and drive. CC and best of breed.
2nd Williams & Garbutt’s Ch Nixtev Torvald White. Medium sized, medium strong, masculine dog. Very nice type, correct head, eyes and ears. Good forehand and hindquarters. Nicely proportioned with good length of leg. Well boned with good strong legs and neat feet. Moved in a good co-ordinated manner, but could be in fitter, harder condition, and needs to carry less weight. Rolled over the wither, sound coming and going.
Puppy - Bitch
1st Orr’s Sobriety's Caviars Whispa Black. Just on 12 months, litter sister to best puppy winner. Medium size, quite strong, good coat and condition. Correct in head, eyes and ears. Adequate bone, good legs and feet. Good quarters, moved quite well and sound going, a touch wide coming.
2nd Saich’s Lindcoly Wishing On A Star 11 months grey sable with black mask. Pretty head, well placed ears of medium size. Shown in good condition and well coated. Fairly good quarters with well carried tail. Moved adequately from the side but toed in coming and close going. Could to advantage have slightly more length of leg.
Junior - Bitch
1st Orr’s Sobriety's Caviars Whispa
2nd Alfred’s Nixtev Vitesse At Teamor Very attractive cream of good type. Lovely head with expressive dark eyes. Very good proportions and balance, well boned with good legs and feet. Presented in good coat and condition. Moved very well from the side with good reach and drive. She had a tendency to move cow hocked away, almost as if she was unsure of the floor.
Post Graduate - Bitch
1st Bennett’s Musique Mariella At Melitabe Good coloured dark brown. A bit pommy in head with a rounded skull. Small ears, good proportions. Needs more slope and length to upper arm and is somewhat steep in shoulder. Short in lower thigh and needs better let down hocks. Movement was fair and she was true coming and going. On the small side.
2nd Mountain’s Musique Hot To Trot At Hocombewood Again, a good brown with white mark on the chest, litter sister to the winner. Nice head, ears and eyes. Forward placed and a bit steep in shoulder, which led to too much length in the middle piece. Adequate hindquarters and fair movement which could be more spacious. Lost first place due to weak character.
Limit - Bitch
1st Saich’s Zephon The Thunderstorm At Lindcoly Medium sized, medium strong in good coat and condition. Good head, eyes and ears. Needs more angulation front and rear a she is less than moderate. A bit long in proportions. Well carried and well set tail. Good bone, legs and feet. A bit restricted in movement, which is sound.
2nd Conway & Oakden’s Macpaws Roxy Rascal Attractive head, correct eyes and ears. Adequate forehand. Good bone, legs and feet. Shown in good coat and condition. Moved fairly well but more length of stride would improve in this respect. A bit wide coming but true going.
Open - Bitch
1st O' Leary’s Ir Ch Utopia Aus Dem Norden At Cadasaro Jun Ch 18 months white of extreme quality and type. Very pretty and feminine. Medium size and medium strength. Excellent head with strong underjaw, the latter not very common in this breed! Lovely dark, well shaped eyes, correctly placed ears which are the correct size. She has jet black pigment and a lovely pure white coat. Strong bone, good legs and neat tight feet. Hard level back with short loin and croup with a well carried high set tail. Excellent proportions and very well balanced quarters. Her movement is exceptional, brisk, forward, springy and true. I had no hesitation in giving her the bitch CC. I thought for best of breed she still has some maturing to do, which is to be expected given her youthfulness, when this is so, she will be a force to be reckoned with.
2nd Beard’s Wyndlee Jenny Strong coloured brown. Medium size, medium strength. Very good head, eyes and ears. Very good proportions with good quarters and well balanced. Very good bone, legs and feet. Could be more animated, this was reflected in her movement, which although quite sound appeared a touch sluggish, compared to the winner, whose gait is so exceptional.