The welcome and hospitality shown by the committee was fantastic and I do truly thank them – Sue & Mick Virgo, Mike and Avril Lancashire and Derek and Hazel Arris, along with my ring stewards Lizzie Vowles and Peter Wright.

On arrival at Carlton Towers we were presented with a fabulous sight – sun shining, exhibitors all over the place, beautiful ring settings, all with a back-drop of the majestic Carlton Towers residence and gardens. What a setting for the show !!

After some last minute discussion and instruction from the stewards it was all about to start. Cynzia commenced dog judging 30 minutes earlier than I did for bitches – to allow exhibitors the ability to swap rings if and when needed.

My judging commenced with veteran bitches and then through the classes from the young to older. My specific comments on winners and placements are below, however I would like to offer some of my general impressions here.

• Movement – first and foremost I would expect (hope) that most exhibitors could follow what I was after – a style of high order with correct spring and sound reach and drive. Generally I found this in all of my winners and this also seemed to exist quite well throughout the classes.
• Heads – this is where I did find the most trouble. In some cases I had to forgive what I viewed as some coarse heads and/or skulls to get the correct movement that I was looking for. I like my bitches to be "obviously" bitches and possess a high level of femininity. However I did find many very pleasing and feminine heads as well.
• Eyes – again I did have some trouble here and saw probably more lighter eyes that I would like to have seen.
• Neck & Forequarters – generally I found front construction very good and to my liking. Good shoulder angles and length of upper arm were present in numbers. Overall neck into shoulders was also quite good with only a few shorter necks.
• Hind quarters – generally I found rear angles very good and to my liking – and balanced with front angles. Most hindquarters were sound with well let down shorter hocks.
• Tails – there were a few straighter tails there – also in some of my winners or high placements. However overall I thought tails were quite OK.
• Top-lines – this is one area that I found to be quite consistently good on the day, with most exhibits carrying level top-lines moving and standing.

To all exhibitors – please remember that these comments contain my opinions of the dogs that I judged on the day – you have every right to disagree with me and even on another day my opinion may be different. But on the day what you saw is what you got !!!

Black masked gold with nice head and shoulders and well balanced on the move.

Black masked red also of nice balance.

Brindle with good substance and body. Pleasing head and eye and moved well. Would prefer better ring in tail.

Black masked gold of nice balance, just beaten on the move by 1^st place.

Black masked gold nicely constructed with good angles front and rear. Very nice balanced moving with good spring and great carriage. Nice ringed tail, but would prefer a little more refined skull.

Black masked silver with nice head and construction, but not moving as well as 1^st place on the day.

Black and brindle with far too much coat that was somewhat unruly. Quite a beautiful head and nicely constructed. Sensational movement with great spring, reach and drive.

Masked red brindle with nice balance and good topline. Would prefer a more refined head, moved very nicely.

Brindle with nice head. Had a very balanced outline both standing and moving.

Blue bitch, head not as nice as first place. Nice balanced movement, but tended to move with rear end a little high.

Blue brindle bitch of substantial proportions that did not show herself on the day.

Black and Silver with very nice head, balanced standing and moving and very well constructed and presented. Showed with good style and carriage.

Black masked cream with feminine head piece and well constructed. She moved nicely but not as good in carriage as 1^st place.

Black and Tan/Brindle that has a good outline. Has a beautiful head and neck and moved with reach and style.

Black and Tan/Brindle smaller than first place. Has nice angles and moved well.

Black and silver with nice head and construction. She moved well with good style and carriage.

Black and tan/brindle who was very nice moving but did not show with the style that I expected.

Black and silver bitch with feminine head and nice neck. Well constructed with houndy outline. Very light on her feet, but did let down somewhat in CC line-up.

Brindle bitch that was quite large. Great moving and well constructed but needs to be more feminine for my liking.

All five placings in this class impressed me greatly !! I had particular difficulty choosing between first and second place in this class. Both of these bitches were very feminine and of the type and style that I like. They moved beautifully with correct spring off the ground and with a style of high order. However I had to make a decision on the day and give first place to one of them, and first place held her top-line better on all occasions.

Beautiful highly marked black and silver with striking T-bar face markings. Very good angles front and rear and moved with spring and style. She has great carriage and did not let down once, and held her top-line standing and on the move throughout the whole class. A very worthy open class winner.

Quite similar in style and construction to first place. Beautiful head and also moved with great spring, reach and style. Very little separated her from first place. An extremely close decision and would also make a very worthy winner !!

Blue bitch also of great quality. Nice head and moved with the style that I expect. First two placings were more to my type, but on another day could have placed higher.

Dark Blue Brindle bitch also of exceptional quality. Has a lovely head and moved very well.

Black masked silver bitch of great quality. Incredible amount of coat that did detract from her outline. Moved with great reach and extension.

Bitch CC went to the strikingly marked black and silver open class winner who put together most of the qualities that I look for in a bitch – beautiful and feminine, moved with a style of high order, as well as all the other qualities that make her a winner.

Reserve Bitch was the beautiful black and brindle bitch who was second in open. Another feminine bitch who moved with a style of high order and this was an extremely close decision as she pushed hard to win in the class.

A very stylish moving black masked gold puppy. I would like to see a more feminine head piece on her but overall a lovely puppy with very good style and carriage on the move.

For me this was another extremely difficult decision. On the one hand I had my bitch CC winner who was gorgeous and did everything right. On the other hand I was presented with the imposing black masked gold dog CC winner who just owned the ring. Arrogant and a real showman and he covered the ground on the move with correct spring and great reach and drive.

After a hard day of showing in difficult windy conditions neither dog nor bitch let down on their performance. They were asked by me and my fellow judge to perform again and again – first the dog in front and then the bitch in front. However in the end the ring presence of the dog won out on the day for me, and both Cynzia and I agreed to award him Best in Show.

Again the bitch had to perform further, this time against the dark brindle reserve dog CC winner. Somewhat different to the dog CC winner, he did not possess the same arrogance and style. A well constructed male, but perhaps a little on the larger side for me.

After some more work around the ring, both Cynzia and I agreed to award reserve BIS to the bitch.

The dog puppy winner was a well presented silver/blue domino. He probably needs a little more time to mature (particularly moving) and Cynzia and I agreed to award best puppy in show to the bitch who continued to move with great style.

Best Verteran in show was awarded to the black masked gold bitch.