Judging report from SWTK Region Öst’s Show 13 February 2010
By Margaret Gray
Firstly thank you so much for the invitation to judge. I was delighted to have such as strong entry and I appreciated the effort exhibitors made to travel, some from quite a distance, in such wintery conditions. The welcome I received was certainly warm and a great contrast to the snowy outside weather. I was a wonderful opportunity to see such a selection of Wheatens.
The dogs were very well presented and coats and body were both in good condition, particularly so given that you are in the midst of such a cold winter. In general I felt the level of grooming was nicely done with nearly all dogs well outlined without extreme trimming. I was very pleased to see that there was no excessive trimming on the ears which lead to overall good expression on virtually every dog.
There were some examples of the close rear movement sometimes evident in the breed but I was pleased that this was not in a majority of the dogs presented. Similarly I was pleased to see good rear angulation without the excess sometimes seen that moves away from the moderation of the breed. I felt that overall it was the fronts that could have some improvement. Whilst I would have liked to see less upright shoulders, I was pleased to see most front movement was generally parallel and there were very few examples of the excessively broad chests sometimes seen.
I was pleased that in general both dogs and bitches were of appropriate size with top-lines and tail sets very good. These held well as the dogs moved and despite the indoor venue nearly all dogs showed well with good outgoing temperament.
Heads in general were very good although I felt that some, and certainly not the majority, of the males could have more head to give a more balanced masculine appearance. Overall in dogs and bitches there was good expression and ear-set and I felt some heads were of exceptional quality, more so amongst the bitches. A small number of exhibits showed lack of strength in muzzle and under jaw which spoilt these bites but otherwise many mouths were very pleasing.
Eye colour and overall pigmentation was very good in all exhibits and coat colour was, with one or two exceptions, good clear wheaten. Coats as I said were well presented but also of good quality. Several young exhibits displayed coats of great potential despite ranging from slow maturing to a very abundant but wonderful textured coat.
I felt overall that I was in the end not judging to a particular type, and exhibitors may agree, rather I was looking for a blend of soundness in the exhibit underneath a quality coat. I found this and had a difficult time in the final selections in the pleasing dogs I was able to award.
BIS CH Extra’s Valentino
This mature male is a beautifully balance dog with good coat and excellent depth of chest. His sound construction provides strong sustained movement which complimented his game terrier temperament. His beautiful rectangular head was full of expression and strong in all aspects.
BIM CH Villa Rosas Kaleigh
This is a truly feminine bitch with a beautiful head and wonderful coat. It was a close contest with the male as she also possessed the strong movement which comes from sound construction without exaggeration. On the day it was not so much her temperament that let her down as the male whose ring presence and terrier spirit shone through every time he entered the ring.