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SWEDISH SPANIEL & RETRIEVER CLUB VASTRA 1 &
2 APRIL 2006
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It was a great pleasure to judge at this weekend of shows. With an
excellent part of judges. With almost 600 dogs on each day, it meant big
classes and tough competition, and of course a very good atmosphere at the
show. On the first day I judged cockers and because of the large
entry it was necessery to bring in another judge, and the club was very
fortuned to get Mrs. Phyllis Wise of the Astrawin Cockers, who are known
worldwide and who have contributed so much to the solid cocker breeding
programme throughout the world. She judged the adult male classes.
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In
judging the puppies and all the bitch classes I found plenty of high quality
bitches but I was disturbed by the lack of balance in many. The cocker
should be square and cobby. I found too many which were short on the leg and
long in the body so they were like long rectangles. This is also made worse
by the current trend of too much angulation in the rear legs so the dogs'
hocks are too far behind the dog, the topline slopes like an american cocker,
the dog stands sickle hocked and cannot drive. These dogs always look longer
and lower when they move. It is not enough for clever handlers to stack
their dogs to look good standing; they have to retain their balance when
they move. I was generally disappointed in the junior bitch class when I
felt I could not find any of CK quality, just a few honour prizes and I hope
they will develop well. My certificate winner, winning her fourth certificate
at the day and later number 2 in the bitches, is an outstanding blue of
lovely balance and substance, with a beautiful head. She is Shakima's Cessna
and I think she will have a great future. My best bitch and BOB was the
winner of the champion class, Backhill Farah Diba, as a cocker should be,
completely without exaggeration, balanced and an excellent mover. She was BOB over
Mrs. Wise's choice of dog, the black Claramand Again And Again. Later in
the day Mr. Hans Lehtinen judged BIS and awarded the cocker bitch BIS-2
behind the labrador Mallorn's Diesel, who had also won the working class
under me. He is a lovely black dog, free of exaggeration with substance without
clumsiness and he could move. He had an excellent coat and tail. How nice to see a dual
purpose dog topping an entry - proad that show dogs can do the job for which
they were bred.
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On the second day I judged a very large entry and of course there is a
lot of quality in the breed in Sweden. However, I noticed one trend which is
wouldwide, and that is the loss of breed balance in that some of the dogs
lacked the correct length of leg for the breed. The breed standard is quite
specific here; they are the highest on the leg of the land spaniels and they
are the raclest of the spaniels, so they should not be square. They are not
large cockers. In the same way some of the heads were too refined and
cockery. The standard says the skull is 'fairly broad' so fine skulls might
look very refined and be full of quality, but they are not in the breed
standard. I noticed one celebritor look shocked when I wrote that on his
report, please read the standard...
The male classes were a triumph
for the Trollängens kennel, who bred the top four males, my congratulations.
Best male was Trollängens Maximum Effect, he is full size but a real
English Springer in type, head and movement. It is no surprize to see he has
been such a good sire with an excellent progeny group. He looks like a
stallion with a lot to give. The dog certificate on the day and making him a
champion was Trollängens Hot All Over. I see he is by a Trimere dog, and
this is a bloodline I admire very much for it's type. I had a lot of CK
bitches, with the champion class very good all through and led by Astrosprings
Philyra, like the best dog, she is all English Springer in type
and balance, and like him full size but top quality. She led the strong
class on her balance and type but had to give way to the veteran bitch
Barecho Zuper Diva, in remarkable form, a great mover, full of type and
beautifully balanced. She is the correct shape for the breed and had the
correct head type. Her size and attleticism won the day and she was BOB, and
later on I was pleased to award her Best In Show over the American cocker
bitch Rotojet's Ravishing.
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As usual the general quality throughout
the breeds was high and the group finals, very well staged with music and
spotlights were indeed good to watch. I particularly enjoyed the musical
entertainment from the music school of Uddevalla which commenced the slow on
both days - a lovely thouch. I am sure the club will go on to further
success with it's shows - Mr. Börje and Theres Johansson seem to be full of
ideas to get the exhibitors a good weekend, and that is how it should be.
It is the exhibitors and their dogs which make a good show! / Frank Kane
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