CRUFTS - March 2017

DOGS – It was a great privilege to judge a lovely entry of quality dogs. I would like to thank all exhibitors for their entries & for what I felt was a great atmosphere around the ringside. The open dog class deserves a special mention where the number of quality dogs meant I had to shortlist a final 10 out of 21 present on the day for further consideration.

Veteran (11,1a)
1 Jefferies & Alexander’s Chantique Hot Toddy at Deorwine, a previous RCC winner of mine. Presented today in very good condition with good head type, dark expressive eyes, good fore face & clean stop. Overall shape & conformation is good resulting in sound movement. I was later informed that today was his last show. Happy retirement; 2 Walder’s Ch Hanvale Doogie Howser, 10 year old s/w presented in good coat & condition with a nice length of head, clean stop, sweet eye & expression & well placed ears. Good spring of rib & length of back with good angulation. Covered the ground well; 3 Wray’s Takhisis High Voltage, 10 year old bl/m presented in full coat & loving his day out! Very good head properties with nice mould of fore face, soft expressive eyes & good ears. Body shape & conformation is good with good bone, depth of rib & length of back. Moved well. 

Minor Puppy (2,1)
1 White’s Mejola Dangerous Liaison, 8 month old bl/m with good length of head, nice eye set & shape, flat skull & good ear carriage. Would prefer a more perceptible stop. Good bone & substance for his age with pleasing shape & confirmation. Moved well. P (7,2) 1 McEntee’s Gerian Sunconnection, well presented s/w with nice head type. Good dark eyes correct shape & size with nice expression. Good length of head with flat skull & correct ear placement. Good bone & depth of rib. In good coat & condition. Movement a little close behind at the moment. BPD; 2 Hogg’s Brookynut Storm’s Legacy, s/w of slighter bone & substance than 1. Good overall shape & confirmation, nice head type, pleasing eye & expression, flat skull & good ears. Moved well but was somewhat fidgety which he will hopefully grow out of & settle down; 3 Carvey & Rocks Rashel One Moment In Time, 11 month old tri, well presented. Nice shape & outline, overall good conformation giving good movement. Good length of head & correctly placed ears. Nice dark eyes giving a pleasing expression. 

Junior (17,2)
1 Walker & Ritchie’s Beldones Seducteur at Starlenga, a young 13 month old s/w. Very good length of head, clean stop & flat skull. Good eye shape, size & set giving a pleasing expression topped by ears of correct size & carriage. Nice bone & overall shape with good angulation. Covered the ground well; 2 Allen’s Lynmack Labyrinth, slightly finer in bone than 1, this s/w has good head properties, pleasing eye & expression, clean stop & flat skull with good ears. Would prefer the foreface to have more moulding which could well come with maturity. Moved well; 3 Rust’s Jotars Moon Spritzer, very glamorous bl/m with good shape & conformation & good movement. Very good head of good length & nice eye & expression, flat skull & good ears. A little fine in bone overall. 

Yearling (20,3)
1 Page’s Lynmead Amalie Bring Me Back, pleasing youngster with lovely head properties. Nice moulded fore face, clean stop, flat skull & good ear placement. Correct eye shape, size & set giving a sweet expression. Overall shape & conformation is correct enabling him to move soundly. Well presented & good luck for the future; 2 Licini’s Keyline Nelchael, well presented tri with very good head, nice foreface, clean stop, flat skull & good ears. Lovely bone & substance, good depth of rib & length of back. Just preferred the expression of 1. Moved with purpose & drive; 3 Randall’s Ladnar Moondust, another tri presented in tip top condition as always from this kennel. Very nice head type of clean lines, good fore face, correct eye placement & good ears. Just needs to flatten on skull. Good bone & substance & moved well. 

Graduate (9)
1  Kenny’s Lanlin Benji at Leesaund, refined s/w who at just over 3 years old will need to ‘beef up’ to compete for high awards. Good overall shape & conformation with sound movement, however his head has all the qualities with a good length, clean stop, dark eyes of correct size & set giving a sweet expression. Flat skull & good ear carriage complete the picture; 2 Everett’s Ileyda Johnny Depp, upstanding tri with very sweet eye & expression. Head of good length, clean stop & flat skull. Well presented nice coat & condition. Moved well, was a bit lazy with his ears; 3 Boyle’s Barranclough Diamond Days, another refined s/w with nice head type, good foreface & clean stop. Good dark eyes of correct size & shape but would prefer more obliquely set. Neat ears & good overall shape & movement.

Post Graduate (7,1)
1 Licini’s Keyline Nelchael; 2 McEntee’s Rubacuoridella Buca Delle Fate at Gerian, s/w presented in good coat & condition. Nice head type if a bit heavy in back skull for me. Clean in stop, flat skull with nice eye & expression. Overall shape & conformation good with good angulation, moved well; 3 Jones’ Erjon Early Edition, shaded s/w presented in good coat & condition. Lovely head properties with nice mould of foreface, clean stop, flat skull & sweet dark expressive eyes. Overall shape & conformation & movement is good. However, not so happy with his surroundings & not on his best behaviour, unfortunately. 

Mid Limit (13,2)
1 Congdon’s Monsolana Velvet Blue for Aaronwell, impressive bl/m of good proportions. Masculine head with clean wedge, moulded foreface, clean stop, flat skull & good ears. Lovely sweet expression from eyes of correct size, shape & set. Good arch of neck with good depth of rib, length of back with good bone & substance. Good angulation, moved well. A great pleasure to award him this strong class & RCC. Congratulations; 2 Loader’s Redola Just For Fun, s/w presented in good condition. Good head type, flat skull, clean stop & moulded foreface. Eyes are dark & expressive but would prefer the eye set to be slightly more oblique. Nice spring of rib & overall confirmation. Moved well; 3 Slater’s Danfrebek Double O Seven at Stanlox, upstanding, masculine s/w, well presented. Nice mould of foreface, clean stop & flat skull with no coarseness. Eye set & shape correct with nice expression. Good bone & depth of rib with good angulation. Showed & moved well. 

Limit (8,1)
1  Tipper’s Tiganlea Too Good To Be Forgotten, upstanding & showy s/w that just gives his all to his handler. Very nice head properties, moulded fore face, clean stop, pleasing expression, from eyes of correct size, shape & set, flat skull & correctly positioned ears which he used continuously. Good reach of neck, length of back & overall sound construction giving good movement. Very well presented; 2 McDevitt’s Caronlea Lukin Black, tri presented in lovely coat & condition. Well boned with sound construction giving movement with drive & purpose. Nice moulded foreface, clean stop & flat skull with correctly set ears. Preferred the expression of 1; 3 McEntee’s Imperial Des Beldones at Gerian, masculine s/w well presented in good coat & condition. Good bone & substance. Head of good type with nice eye & expression, would just prefer the eyes to be set a little more oblique to the headline. Clean stop but a little stronger in back skull than I like. Showed & moved well. 

Open (24,3)
1  Sibbald’s Telforth Tony, congratulations on winning this very strong class! 3 year old masculine s/w presented in tip top condition. Lovely head with nice mould of fore face, clean stop, dark sweet expressive eyes correctly set to the headline. Flat, clean skull with no hint of any coarseness or depth, topped by correctly set neat ears of good size. Good depth & spring of rib with good bone & substance, sound conformation & angulation producing one of the best examples of movement today. Such a pleasure to award him his crowning CC & also with thanks to referee Mr Robin Newhouse. BOB; 2 Hawkins & Foy’s Ch Beldones Black Illusion, another top quality dog. Tri, presented in good coat & condition with lovely head of clean lines, moulded fore face & clean in stop. Lovely dark eyes of correct size, shape & set, giving a very sweet expression. Flat skull with correctly set ears which unfortunately, he was reluctant to use. Good shape & conformation & very sound movement; 3 Cooney’s Jopium Stole My Heart at Lingwell, another quality dog. S/w with good bone & substance & well presented. Lovely head properties, moulded foreface, clean stop, dark expressive eyes, flat skull & good ear carriage. Body & construction all in proportion with good angulation & sound movement. 

Good Citizen (13,2)
1 Boyle’s Barranclough Diamond Days; 2 Boyle’s Barranclough Moonglow, s/w presented in good coat & condition. Moved well. Nice head type but a bit fine in foreface & would prefer the eye set to be more oblique to the headline. Nice overall shape & confirmation. Moved well; 3 Everett’s Ileyda Johnny Depp.

Doreen Clarke