A nice entry sadly marred by absentees, but those who were here had a lovely big outdoor ring to make the most of themselves on.
Veteran Dog (1 entered, 1 absent)
Puppy Dog (2, 0) – two young lads here who are further on in different areas, both promising for the future.
1st: Martin’s Sturtmoor Arceus’s Legacy – 9 month old sable, a large boy who will take time to mature, but without coarseness. I liked his size and length through head and body and found his head planes pleasing. I would prefer a little more underjaw, and his stop needs to clear yet, but his head has good balance and hopefully time will assist. Good neck into decent front construction, strongly muscled and moved well. Tad steep in croup, but he will shift in all directions yet, and hopefully this will improve his outline in this area.
2nd: Acford’s Coneypark Mattie Brown – smaller type, more finished in head than 1, although I found him a bit flared around the cheeks and a little less sweet in eye and expression. Decent neck in to good shoulders, good length to height proportions and shown in hard condition, but not so settled on the move today and gave way to 1’s free movement in this class.
Junior Dog (1, 0)
1st: Sturtmoor Arceus’s Legacy
Post Graduate Dog (1, 1)
Open Dog (4, 3)
1st: Robertson’s Wynele Strike One – 19 month old tri, with the cleanest of heads which handled beautifully, giving a lovely expression when his ears were not being battered by the wind. Not the biggest male, but masculine in outlook and well proportioned all through, good neck leading in to a particularly good front and has a strong topline, which showed in his movement. His mature finish gave him the edge over the younger male. Moved well when settled, although I feel he could be moved a little faster to show his true potential.
Veteran Bitch (4, 4)
Puppy Bitch (no entries)
Junior Bitch (no entries)
Post Graduate Bitch (1, 1)
Open Bitch (3, 2)
1st: Sweeney & Lusty’s Blamorder Do Quite Nicely – Just loved this 5 year old b/m bitch, no exaggerations here and showed steadily, demonstrating the required dignity and intelligence. Balanced in both head and body, moderate size with everything in proportion. Her angulation front and rear is excellent and combined with her hard condition gave movement which was sound and free in all directions. Her head is clean, with a flat skull and no flare through the cheeks. I found her expression beautiful, with ears well set and used. If being picky I would prefer a clearer base colour to her harsh jacket, but there’s not much else I would change on her. BOB, and pleased to see her go BIS with referee’s agreement.
Marina McLaughlin