Critique Smooth Collie Club of Great Britain Open Show 1 - 13.05.23

Many thanks to the club for their kind invitation to me to judge their Open Show. It was a huge honour for my first judging appointment and I thoroughly enjoyed my day. The atmosphere was lovely and all the dogs demonstrated good temperament. The grass was unfortunately a little long which made evaluating movement a little difficult at times.

Minor Puppy Dog 3,0
1.Seager’s Blamorder Magic Maker With Freejack – 7mth old sable with lovely expression from correct oblique eye placement, and ears used to advantage. Nicely balanced head with correct parallel planes, lovely underjaw and clean wedge shape. Good length of neck into good front angulation well balanced with that in the rear, moved freely around the ring holding his topline.
2.Naull’s Wynele Silver Crusade – 7mth old blue merle whose colour needs to clear a little. Nice expression from clean wedge head with correct ear and eye placement but would like a little more stop. Movement a little erratic today but the uneven ground did nothing to help that and his construction suggests he will improve with maturity.
3.Rodgers’ and Carvallo’s Blamorder Mischief Maker.

Puppy Dog 4,0
1.Sewell’s Wynele Strike it Rich to Lewarne – Striking 7mth old tri dog shown in super condition with fabulous black jacket. Loved his serene expression from correct placement of eye and ear with lovely underjaw and super clean wedge shape head. His lovely front shoulder placement and balanced rear angulation leading to a smooth flowing action for one so young, even in the slightly less than perferct surface conditions. He stood beautifully in the challenge again demonstration his lovely construction and I was pleased to award him RBD.
2. Seager’s Blamorder Magic Maker With Freejack.
3. Rodgers’ and Carvallo’s Blamorder Mischief Maker

Junior Dog 3,0
1. Warren’s Coldelee Jupiter Rises With Blamorder – 13mth old masculine tri boy. Another nice head on this boy and no mistaking his sex. Well up to size but everything in proportion, plenty of ring presence and moved very well both in profile and also going away. Good length of neck leading into strong correctly laid shoulder and balanced rear angulation.
2. Seager’s Blamorder Magic Maker With Freejack.
3. Rennie’s Diamondfox Sir Galahad.

Post Graduate Dog 4,0 – A nice class with 4 promising youngsters.
1. Warren’s Coldelee Jupiter Rises With Blamorder
2. Stannard’s Constella Black Eye Galaxy – a very nice tri boy who pushed the winner hard for this class, shown in lovely condition with a super black jacket. Slightly smaller in stature than the class winner but no less masculine. A lovely gentle expression and correct head but would like slightly tighter ear placement. Strong neck into nicely laid shoulders and lovely rear angulation, moved well.
3.Wensley’s Constella Hazy Cosmic Jive JW.

Limit Dog 1,0
1.Moores’ Manordeifi Bow Regard – Lovely sable who stood alone. Sweet expression from correctly balanced head with good eye shape and placement but reluctant to use his ears today. Correct blunt wedge with nice underjaw. Good strong neck into nicely laid shoulder. Moved well around the ring as befitting his construction but was wide going away today.

Open Dog 2,1
1. Smith’s Ch/Multi Ch Winter Is Coming To Tentola – Up to size blue merle dog with correct blunt balanced wedge, eye and ear placement. Excellent front and rear angulation. I have always admired this boy’s outline when stacked but today he was dropping his topline both stacked and on the move. The rough ground also seemed to hinder his movement when viewed from behind.

Veteran Dog 1,0
1.Lusty’s Ch/Am Gr Ch/Can GCh Cardross Red Dirt Road To Blamorder – Up to size 8 year old sable dog. The head on this boy is a little too “American” for my taste but there is no denying his excellent construction and substance. He has pleasing expression but I would prefer a little more stop and a slightly larger eye. A lovely underjaw and clean head lead into a strong neck and excellent shoulders. He keeps a lovely straight top line on the move and covers the ground effortlessly. His movement on the less than perfect surface secured him BD.

Minor Puppy Bitch 0,0

Puppy Bitch 0,0

Junior Bitch 1,0

1. Jerret’s Coldelee Eternal Sunshine – 13mth old sable bitch. Very pretty young lady but slightly fine for me. Her head is correctly balanced with a nice underjaw and correctly set almond shaped eyes, ears used to advantage. Nice long neck on to well laid shoulder but would like a bit more length in upper arm. Lovely straight topline on the move and standing, leading to correct rise over the loin and gentle curve onto croup and correctly set tail, good rear angulation.

Post Graduate Bitch 5,1
1. Trundley’s Nuuk Saarskali Bila Kaifa Juniperwood – This 4 year old tri bitch has caught my eye in the past and I was delighted to finally be able to go over her. Although not a “flashy” girl she has a sweet expression with everything coming together very nicely when she chooses to use her ears. Her construction is excellent both front and rear and she moves easily around the ring holding a level topline. A lovely black jacket completes the picture and I was happy to award her RBB and RBOB.
2. Naull’s Wynele Whats The Story – This lovely young shaded sable bitch has also been one to catch my eye in the past. She has a lovely clean head and correctly placed ears but her expression is slightly spoilt by the light colouring of her eyes. A good strong neck leads on to nicely angulated shoulders and good rear angulation but I would prefer a little more length in the back as her outline is slightly square when standing. Excellent movement in profile but slightly wide when moving away.
3. Forbes’ Zallamere Zsarina Fron Willowhurst.

Limit Bitch 3,1
1. Moores’ Manordeifi Rose Blossom – Pretty sable bitch who was a bit unsettled today. A very pretty expression but again reluctant to use her ears today. She has a good underjaw with a correctly placed stop and lovely parallel planes, correct almond eyes placed obliquely. Good long neck onto well laid shoulder and correct front angulation. She moved nicely around the ring but would jut like a bit more substance.
2. Burton’s Glencorrie Black Chickadee – This 5 year old tri bitch held a very nice outline standing and on the move as her construction indicated. She had well balanced correct angulation and more of the substance I was looking for. Her head has a nice wedge shape when viewed from the front but I would like her stop to be slightly higher and a little more underjaw would improve her profile when viewed from the side. Moved well around the ring.

Open Bitch 6,2
1. Naull’s Wynele Couldn’t Could She – Lovely 4 year old sable bitch. Lovely sweet expression from correct dark eye and ear placement. Good underjaw but nose drops off very slightly. Good front and rear angulation and lovely straight topline when moving out well around the ring. Good length of back leading to correct rise over the loin. Only tail of the day not to quite reach the hock!
2. Sweeney and Lusty’s Blamorder Do Quite Nicely – 4 year old blue merle bitch who I have admired for some time. I love her sweet expression aided by her excellent head and ears used constantly. On going over her, her head did not disappoint and her lovely long neck flows nicely on to a well laid shoulder. I would like to see a little more length in her upper arm. She has good rear angulation and an elegant sweep to her croup but I would like a little more length in the back to complete a more balanced outline.
3. Forbes’ Natalain Kilkenny At Willowhurst.

Veteran Bitch 3,0
1. Norman’s Fin/Nor Ch Seanua Serendipity – This lovely 10 year old sable bitch was my surprise find of the day. She does not give away her age! A beautiful head with all features where they should be flows with a gentle arch in the neck onto a lovely well laid shoulder. Lovely length of back into a gentle rise over the loin sweeping into a correctly set tail of good length. Balanced angulation in the rear giving a lovely sweep to the stifle with no exaggeration anywhere. Moved easily around the ring. Delighted to award her BVIB, BB and BOB, and with her progression to BIS, BVIS.
2. Benton’s Ch Oakstelle Venus De Milo VW ShCEx – Elegant 10 year old blue merle bitch with lovely clear blue coat. Another veteran who’s movement around the ring defies her age. She is a little fine for me and I would like a little more length in her back but has a sweet expression fixed constantly on her handler. She has a good underjaw, a lovely balanced head and excellent parallel planes. Her angulation is well balanced and her movement around the ring is light and easy.
3. Forbes’ Willowhurst Vanity.

Joanne Denton