I'd like to thank the Smooth Collie Club for inviting me to judge their SAC classes at their open show and for the exhibitors for their generous entry and for accepting my placings.

Puppy D/B
Difficult class of puppies. The two bitches beat the dogs on balance, movement and functionality, despite all 3 dogs having the better heads. I'm sure I would place all 5 of these differently another day and look forward to seeing them mature. All the puppies had excellent happy temperaments and dealt with our little 'interruption' very well.

1 -Russell - Koczkodan Serenity - 9 month old tricolour bitch. Very feminine, sound on the move once she was given a chance to settle. She has good ears, which were well set. Her head is not her fortune but her overall construction and movement was the best of all the pups and it won her the class. Very sweet and happy go lucky puppy.
2 -Flower - Breckamore Butterfingers - 11 month old tri bitch. The oldest puppy in the class and her maturity definitely showed. Good deep chest and well boned. Her angulation is good but she doesn't have the best topline, fortunately time is on her side and I hope this will improve. She had a flat head with slight, well placed stop however I found it a little wide in back skull and her eyes were quite round and could have been better set which spoilt her expression. She excelled with her sound and fluid movement which was lovely to watch. Very happy, cool and calm puppy.

Post Graduate

1 -Russell - Breckamore Bittersweet for Koczkodan - 18 month old tri bitch. Very pretty head, with sweet eyes and good ear set. She moved well, is reasonably well balanced and has a good harsh black coat. I liked her overall type but unfortunately is just too small.

2 -Carpenter - Plaisance Eva La Belle, 20 month old blue merle bitch. I liked this girl. She has a lovely flat head which was a clean wedge, ears right on top and used well. She is a bit heavily marked and could be a better colour but there was plenty to like about her. She has beautiful eye and expression, is well balanced and rear movement was sound. Unfortunately her front movement was difficult to assess but nothing a bit of ring craft wouldn't fix. Would love to see her again once she is used to being handled, as her reluctance to cooperate lost her the top spot.

Open
A good sized class where some beautiful dogs left the ring empty handed. I found some dogs in this class were better to go over but were a bit lack-lustre on the move, I put this down to having already been shown that morning at the main show however for a breed that's designed to work all day it's a bit of a poor excuse. My top two were very different styles to one another but none the less both beautiful bitches.

1 -Griffiths. -Alopex Little Summer - 8yr old sable, feminine bitch. Caught my eye the moment she started moving. She puts her head down and she can shift! Her movement is effortless with impressive forward reach and rear drive to match. To go over she is balanced with an excellent front, which I expected to find after seeing her move. She has a good depth of chest, enough bone and a harsh coat. Her head is a clean, flat wedge finished with beautiful almond eyes and good ears which she used just enough. What lets this quality girl down is her lack of showmanship, she doesn't scream 'look at me', which is the only reason I can find for her not having her title, which is a real shame. When it came down to it this was the dog I would take to move some sheep, she is fit for purpose, workman-like and I loved her. Thank you for bringing her, she made my day.

2 - Denton - Ch Kevranna Theras Enate Echo, 5yr old shaded sable, larger bitch than the first and a lot smarter. She has plenty to like about her, excellent bone, balanced front and rear, clean flat head, good ears and sweet eye. Excellent tight and harsh jacket. She was very sound on the move but didn't have the reach and drive of 1.

Abby Lusty