Saluki Or Gazelle Hound Club

Thanks to the Club’s committee and members for the opportunity to judge at this special Open Show in the Club’s centenary year. A well ran show, excellent stewards, friendly exhibitors and some lovely Salukis all made for an enjoyable day. Thanks also to the Club for my lovely gift. I do understand good venues are hard to come by these days, so this is certainly not a criticism of the committee, but it did occur to me many times throughout judging how certain dogs may have looked different and how results may have changed if we were in a larger outdoor ring.  

Minor Puppy Dog (1)

1. Cannon & Wickstead’s Caryna Stephano at Abayomi. A promising 7 month old cream dog. Rather forward for his age and built on a good frame with the correct proportions. Excellent general conformation. Masculine head, moderately long neck set into super front construction. His body length and moderate hind angulation complete a perfectly balanced picture. Excellent length of ribcage and strong loin. It was no surprise that despite the ring size, he showed promise of light and lifting movement with good reach and drive. Very collected on the move for one so young. Best Puppy in Show.

Puppy Dog (0)

Junior Dog (2,1)

1. Chippendale’s Flytesfield Hyddwn. 14 month old black fringed red. Still rather immature and certainly needs to body up and drop into himself. Masculine head of good length, eye of correct shape, colour and expression. Fairly well laid shoulders and enough return of upper arm. Plenty shape to topline but falling away a little. I would like him to have a touch more length for ideal balance and proportions. Needs to tighten in front movement but drives really well from behind. Easy profile movement, tail a little too happy.

Yearling Dog (1)

1. Chippendale’s Flytesfield Hyddwn.

Graduate Dog (0)

Post Graduate Dog (3)

1. De Souza & Woodgate’s Luachmhar Jalil. 2 year old black and tan. A quality male of good size. Good head, eye and neck. Shoulders fairly well laid and good return of upper arm but I would have liked more infill and width to forechest which may have also improved his front movement. Particularly good underline for a male but perhaps could be more shapely in topline. Moderate hindquarters with good width to thigh. Good feet. Excellent coat and muscle condition. Moved on a light and easy stride but could have more reach and drive.

2. Clanford’s Canapus Fortuna (Imp). A 5 year old cream dog who although is perhaps a little heavy all through for my taste, still appealed for type and quality. Moderate in his angulation, balance and proportions, he looks ‘all of a piece’. He does need some work on ring schooling, but I saw enough glimpses to appreciate his qualities and stride of movement in profile movement, difficult to assess movement coming and going. Good feathering but body coat was a little too dense and thick.

3. Schafer’s Tin Soldier

Limit Dog (2)

1. De Souza & Woodgate’s Caryna Taivoa. 4 year old black/silver grizzle. Scored for his general balance and proportions. Undoubtedly masculine in head with good length, although could perhaps be flatter in skull. Correct eye and expression. Strong neck into good front assembly, with pleasing bladed bone and spring to pastern. Good feet. Correct rise over the loin but is perhaps slightly too rounded from loin into croup. Scored in underline. Excellent hindquarters of moderate angulation and great width to first and second thigh. Another with light and flowing movement but could have more stride, perhaps affected by the ring. Considered for higher honours.

2. Shaverneva & Rhodes’ Qazal Sarbaz Har Kala Rachi AW(B) AW(S) (Imp). 6 year old tri-coloured smooth. Lacks masculinity. Good reach of neck into moderately laid shoulders. Lacks width in front and infill of forechest. Quite typical in outline with shape to top and underline. In excellent condition with a beautifully glossy coat. Very light on his feet moving but could be a lot more accurate in all directions, particularly in front.

Open Dog (6,1) Quite a difficult class to judge due to the variety.

1. Walton-Haddon’s Badavie Don Peppino at Ilsham (Imp). 5 year old tri-colour parti. Impressed for his general balance and proportions and coped best on the move in the ring showing a typical gait with reach and drive, which won him the class. Masculine head of good length and proportions, gentle expression and well set ears which he used to his advantage. Excellent length of neck of good strength set into a well laid shoulder. I would have liked slightly more return of upper arm and neater elbows. Typical Saluki outline with shape to top and underline. Moderate hindquarters with excellent width to thigh. Certainly one of the soundest movers of the entry. Reserve Best Dog.

2. Fulcher’s Classicus Amani at Khandibah. 5 year old grizzle. Most impressive on the stack, commanding attention with an upstanding, yet typical and smooth outline. Excellent front construction throughout, with good length of leg and standing on typical Saluki feet. I was quite fond of him but unfortunately, he was quite erratic in movement today, particularly in front. I would have liked to see him outside in a large, grassed ring.

3. Ulyatt’s Fernlark Legend of Cornhaze.

Veteran Dog (1)

1. Walton-Haddon’s Ch Amal Hayati Ohdedar El Azizi Fuadi of Ilsham JW. 7 year old gold dog with white trim. Quite a strong and compact dog but fairly well constructed throughout. A little strong in head for my taste but a most typical eye and expression. Well ribbed and strong in loin with a gentle rise. Has maintained an elegant underline. Could perhaps do with less length and more width to second thigh. Excellent condition and showmanship for a veteran. Moved on a sound, steady and light stride, but could have a more reach and drive. Best Veteran Dog.

Special Veteran Dog (Over 10 Years) (1)

1. Owen & Stanmore’s Sivendra Tahmas Altaya. I thought this cream dog was quite remarkable for 12 and ½ years old. Congratulations to his owners for maintaining his condition to present a most typical Saluki, both standing and moving, defiant of his grand old age.

Special Beginners Dog (1).

1. Schafer’s Tin Soldier. A 3 year old deer grizzle. Could do with more substance and development throughout but stood on a frame of good proportions with shape to outline, particularly in underline. Very moderate, yet balanced in angulation fore and aft. Good width to first and second thigh and well let down hocks. A little erractic on the move, needs to settle.

Champion Dog (4,3)

1. Aldous & Glaister’s Ch Jay JP Sea Bird El Panhsher JW (Imp). Cream dog of 4 years. A dog of quality presented in gleaming condition. I would like more width throughout to his head, but he has an excellent eye and expression, with well set ears. Long neck set into well laid shoulders and super return of upper arm. Typical in outline with an excellent underline. Perhaps a touch too long in second thigh. Despite the ring, he showed a most typical action on the move; sound and true on the up and down and going in profile with a lovely light and lifting stride showing the desired reach and drive. Shown in excellent coat and muscular condition. Preferred the type and head of the bitch for BIS. Best Dog and Reserve Best in Show.

Minor Puppy Bitch (0)

Puppy Bitch (1)

1. Velickaite’s Al Nafiseh Ivory Pearl. A most attractive and feminine 9 month old cream. Long head of obvious quality with moderate width to skull and well set ears. Long neck set into excellent front construction, well laid shoulders and good length and return of upper arm. Could have more slope to pastern. Strong and well arched feet of moderate length. Still needs to body up but can be forgiven at this age, she certainly has a lovely frame to fill into. Lovely free mover, still needs to come together but shows great potential. It was a close call for BPIS but the dog was more together both standing and on the move. Best Puppy Bitch.

Junior Bitch (4,1)

1. Warner & Hetherington’s Flytesfield Eowyn at Savuka. 14 month old black and cream. Such an elegant and attractive bitch with a graceful outline. Still some maturing to do understandably. Beautiful feminine head, dark eye and gentle expression. She was a little apprehensive for assessment but I was more than able to get my hands on her to appreciate her construction and quality. So light on her feet moving with a smooth and effortless action, holding her outline completely. Considered for higher honours and with time, could make it to the top.  

2. Harding & Cowley’s Classicus Florentina at Ashahni. 15 month old black/white parti. More developed and together than 1 at this stage with pleasing balance and proportions. Good length to head and strong underjaw but would prefer less width to backskull. Beautiful long neck with good strength leading into excellent lay of shoulder and return of upper arm. Good ribbing and strong muscular loin. Moderate hind angulation with good width to thigh. Moved well but doesn’t hold her topline as well as 1 on the move. Excellent muscular condition, coat a little harsher than ideal.

3. Steel’s Shahdad Darya Dinazad at Ceimiad (Imp).

Yearling Bitch (0)

Graduate Bitch (0)

Post Graduate Bitch (0)

Limit Bitch (5,2)

1. Williams’ Luachmhar Jadira Kasaque. 20 month old tri-colour bitch. Good overall balance and proportions with a pleasing outline. Lovely size and very feminine. I felt her head planes were a little too diverging, but her head was still feminine with a good eye and expression. Beautiful underline and moderate hindquarters. Good shoulder placement and return of upper arm. Still needs to develop in body and particularly fill out in forechest between her elbows, which may tighten her front movement. Otherwise, she moved on a balanced, light and lifting stride with good reach and drive.

2. Everton’s Savuka Rashiqah with Kasra. 3 year old black-fringed red. Lovely quality and lots of type. Built on correct proportions with moderate balance throughout. Preferred her head to 1, feminine with the correct proportions and strength. Liked her eye and expression. Fairly well constructed throughout but tended to flatten in topline. Good bone and correct feet. Not as settled and positive on the move as 1, perhaps might have benefitted from a larger outdoor ring to settle into her stride.

3. Woolmer’s Al Nafiseh Flowering Sage.

Open Bitch (3,1)

1. Knowles’ Ch Micattura All I Breathe of Mahziba. 6 year old cream. A most beautiful bitch of obvious quality and a type I am attracted to. Such a typical, balanced and graceful outline and built on the correct proportions. Feminine head with the correct eye and far-seeing expression; to be critical, I would prefer more strength to her underjaw. Long neck set smoothly into textbook front construction. Bladed bone, sloping pasterns and typical feet. Ribbed well back into a muscular loin with the perfect gentle arch. Strong hindquarters, particularly good width to first and second thigh with well let down hocks. Most typical movement, light and lifting with reach and drive, holding her outline with perfect tail carriage. In excellent coat and muscular condition. Best in Show.

2. Garratt & Oakley’s Caryna Esperanza. My notes for this class were mostly written about both of these bitches as much of the same applied. This 4 year old cream was not to dissimilar in type and had many of the same attributes. In the end, I preferred the refinement of head of 1 but nonetheless, this is still a lovely shapely bitch with sound, typical movement. Reserve Best Bitch.

Veteran Bitch (2,1)

1. Garratt & Oakley’s Ch Caryna Neferti JW ShCM. Lovely cream bitch now approaching 9 years old who I have judged on a couple of occasions previously. So nice to see her still looking so well and retaining her qualities and attributes. Well proportioned and feminine head with the most beautiful expression. Well constructed throughout and so shapely. Still moving very well. Good to see she has passed on many of her qualities to her daughter who was RBB. Best Veteran in Show.

Special Veteran Bitch (Over 10 Years) (0)

Special Beginners Bitch (0)

Champion Bitch (1)

1. Knowles’ Ch Micattura All I Breathe of Mahziba.

Mr L A Johnston