Windsor

Friday 1st July 2016

Thank you to my excellent stewards. Spectators very enthusiastically clapped all winners. So nice to hear. I found type and size very mixed - as mixed as when I did Crufts prior to CCs being granted. If one takes judging in the show ring as a monitor of how the breed is progressing as to type and conformation, I would say that compliance to these attributes is being compromised by the increase in numbers. I can well understand why the breed is so popular as pets, and for competitive flyball, agility and so on. They are eye-catching, lively and happy and a handy size to have around. Their plumed tail that is forever wagging yet to denote their pleasure, yet is soft and doesn't crash into furniture ...or your legs, and need non-expert grooming and not much trimming even for the show ring. But, please breeders as the breed becomes more popular, make sure a check on health is maintained. I worry that the breed is often listed on search sites as on the Kennel Club Breed as, ".... no current points of health concern reported". But the entries on the KC Breed Specific Requirements and Recommendations demanded of both parents of litters bred by Accredited breeders includes heath screening "Requirements, 1) Hip scoring 2) DNA test - prcd-PRA. Recommendations: 1) Eye Testing - Annual 2) Bitches under two years not to produce 3) DNA test - CEA a litter 3) Bitches not to produce more than one litter within a 12-month period 4) Dogs under two years not to be used at stud, 5) DNA test - Degenerative Myelopathy." Breeders and buyers beware. Aesthetically, on the subject of colour I've heard several mutterings about 'too much white' or 'too little white', but the standard and authoritative texts on the matter are specific, "Any shade of orange or red. It is usual to have white in at least one of (specified places) as long and the white does not extend beyond pasterns or back of head or neck....lack of white not to be penalised." I only saw a few that had excessive white that bothered me and I would be hesitant about using in a breeding plan, certainly not the proportions of 'incorrect' white I had been warned about. For the purpose of Tolling I think a white tip of the tail would entice a duck more, but it's a personal and minor point compared with the importance of temperament (which was excellent throughout the dogs ...and exhibitors'!) type, jauntiness, a well feathered tail moving constantly, the construction to enable the dog to run speedily along the bank, and a neck of the strength to retrieve ducks or geese and the biddability to repeat the fetching of sticks or balls thrown by the hunter again and again to attract the quarry into the tolling net or within gunshot. I am concerned the Breed Standard gives no guidance about proportions, so I used the silhouette portrayed in the NSDTRC UK presentation and in its recommended reading; Strang and MacMillan's book on the breed and in particular the articles by Canadian The late Robert Cole. Cole was outstanding in the way he portrayed breed type and anatomy as both a wordsmith and illustrator. His book 'An eye for a dog - illustrated guide to judging purebred dogs' is a useful addition to any dog library. Frank Kane's book on Gundogs is also a good source for guidance.

Veteran Dog or Bitch (4 entries, 1 absent)

Minor Puppy Dog (1 entry)

Puppy Dog (3 entries)

Junior Dog (6 entries, 1 absent)

Yearling Dog (4 entries)

Post Graduate Dog (9 entries, 2 absent)

Large class containing all sorts of different type, conformation, heads and movement in this class. Top 3 made the best impression on the snapshot of judging. As with some other classes, I could do with more than 2 minutes a dog to analyse differences to be happy with my decisions.

Limit Dog (6 entries, 1 absent)

Open Dog (9 entries)

Good Citizen Dog Scheme Dog or Bitch (4 entries, 1 absent)

Minor Puppy Bitch (3 entries, 1 absent)

Puppy Bitch (4 entries)

Junior Bitch (5 entries)

Yearling Bitch (5 entries)

Post Graduate Bitch (5 entries, 1 absent)

Limit Bitch (8 entries)

Open Bitch (10 entries, 2 absent)

Really nice class to judge. The first three were close up.