Richmond Dog Show Society

What a beautiful breed this is. All were real gentle giants and I think we were all laughing at points during the judging at the sheer personality of these dogs. All were very well presented and delightful to go over.  

Puppy Dog (1)

1st: Springham’s Arhat Gandalf Icebreaker Naf Taf. What a nice puppy to start. He is of a good size and developing very well indeed. Head is coming along nicely showing good proportions. Muzzle has a decent width already. Like that he is not overdone in lip. Medium size to eyes which are of dark brown colour and slanting slightly to give a typical Tibetan expression. Ears are not set too low. Well laid shoulders and good return to upper arm. Good bone for age. Could may be slightly longer in body. Chest is deep and reaching to elbows. Firm topline and muscular loins. Moderate turn to stifles when he stands out and has good definition at the hocks. Tail is set on high and is well feathered for age. Coat still to develop and clearing nicely to give a rich colour. Moves well in profile. Gave ground on the out and back, else could possibly have been best dog here. Very promising chap indeed. RBD

Open Dog (2,0)

1st: Love’s Showbull Country Bumkin. Obviously more mature that the puppy winner. Overall, quite nice for shape, though a tad bum high in profile. His head is nice and broad. Occiput is pretty well defined and muzzle to skull ratios are excellent. His muzzle is nice and broad, well filled and blunt. Eyes for me were a little small and showing a bit too much haw on the day. They were set correctly, but I wasn’t getting quite the expression I prefer. He has a lovely strong neck of medium length and well laid shoulders and good return of upper arm. Deep chest reaching to elbows and has enough width too. Rear was not quite so well angulated as front. Hocks were firm and low set. Tail set on high. Good large feet and slightly sloping pasterns. Coat on the blow, but very well presented. Moved soundly, but with rather less agility than I look for. As a whole, came together enough to earn BD here over the youngster.

2nd: Springham’s Icebreaker King of Pecos, A very handsome slate grey fellow. A big upstanding male with a cracking shape. He has a strong head with well proportioned muzzle to skull. Broad muzzle and blunt as required. Eyes of medium size and slightly slanting giving that typical Tibetan expression. Ears are ideally set and good for shape. I found his construction super, with moderate, well balanced angulation fore and aft. Great depth to chest, maybe a tad too broad now. Firm topline. I liked his proportions of body length to height being slightly longer than tall. Tail set high and carried well. Lovely bone. Coat was coming out in handfuls, but he still looked very well presented. He really didn’t want to move today, but what I did see was sound enough, but I just couldn’t see it frequently enough. 

Open Bitch (2,1)

1st Springham’s GB Icebreaker Tara Fubao. Another veteran, and one I’m sure I’ve met before in the past. Very feminine but head is still strong enough. I’d say muzzle to skull ratio is equal. Muzzle is square and broad. Lovely medium size eyes which are slightly slanting – could perhaps be a shade darker. She has that lovely noble look. Good open nostrils. Medium length to neck. Well laid shoulders and good return to upper arm. Medium bone. Brisket reaches to elbows and she has good width to chest. Ribs carried well back. She is slightly longer in body that tall at the withers. Moderate turn to stifles and hocks are well defined and low set. Tail carriage appears high and she carries it well on the move. Another who was moulting, but very well presented. She has the lightness and agility I am looking for on the move. Sound in all directions. Easy BOB for me here.