Beagle Club

I want to thank the Beagle Club for inviting me to judge the males at the 130th Championship show. The show was held at the lovely RKC facility in Stoneleigh and was inside, which made the unpredictable English weather not an issue. The facility has excellent flooring so the dogs do not slip when standing or moving. My 2 wonderful stewards kept everything moving along and made my day much easier.

Overall it was nice to see 44 dogs entered, with a good depth of quality. A couple of things I noticed is that some exhibitors need to pay more attention to nails - I had 5 or 6 dogs who had not see the nail clippers in a while! Another interesting observation is the many of the dogs possessed a good layback of shoulder but were short in upper arm, which often led to some less than true front movement. Temperaments were excellent.

Baby Puppy Dog (1): 1 Davies Annavah Overide By Barrvale – Soundly moving puppy, with good bone. Pleasing head and expression. Well proportioned body. Excellent feet. Tail a little lowset.

Minor Puppy Dog (2): 1 Hardisty's Blunderhall Gunpowder Guy – Showing some immaturity and hopefully his topline will strengthen as he ages. Well proportioned head with good strength of muzzle. A little longer cast in body, but with good length of ribbing. Covers the ground efficiently.

2 Coates, Gladstyle Frankly My Dear- Moves around the ring well from the side. Pigmentation needs to fill in on the nose. Dark eyes which gave him a pleasing expression. Front legs need to be a little straighter and he needs a little more length of leg to be balanced.

Junior Dog (9): 1 Harvard's, Annavah Top Notch – Well proportioned body and has a pleasing head and expression. Level topline and short in the couplings Covers the ground when moving around but a little looser in front, which hopefully will improve with maturity. Needs a little more angulation in the rear.

2 Bell – Thomas, Amorpapaver Copernicus – A little less compact than the winner but had a lovely shoulder angulation, allowing him to move effortlessly around the ring. Good bone, tail set on high.

Yearling Dog (3): 1 Hardisty's Blunderhall Jackson – Compactly built dog with good balance. He had a soft expression and a well proportioned head. Level topline and correctly set tail. Moved with drive around the ring and was good coming and going.

2 Porter's Puddlehill Doctor Strange – Soft expression. He had good angulation in front but needs tighter feet. Topline could be stronger when moving.

Post Graduate Dog (4): 1 Peterson's Trooperway Helios – This dog covered the ground well when viewed from the side. He has a good topline and tailset. Head was powerful but not coarse and with a soft expression. Excellent length of rib.

2 Miller's Alkirabeau Showtime – Balanced dog with a good topline and tailset. A little short in upper arm, which caused him to move a little wide in front, good rear. Could be a little longer in rib.

Mid Limit Dog (3): 1 Giles-Wyatt's Clarismore Crown Prince – Compact and well balanced male. Has dark brown eyes and a lovely expression. Carried himself well on the go around and was true coming and going. Has good bone and feet, his tail could have been a little higherset.

2 Murphy's Davricard Piccasso at Rhosyndu – Larger hound, with a pleasing head and expression. He has well laid back shoulders and good length of upper arm. Topline could be a little stronger and needs more angulation in rear to match his front.

Limit Dog (7): 1 Quantick's Parkebreeway Rumor – A powerful moving dog who held his topline on the move. Well balanced head with correct earset. Good layback of shoulder but would like a slightly longer upperarm. Lovely reach of neck. Well muscled hindquarters.

2 Taylor's Rosanka O'Neal by Deaconfield – Not fully cooperating with his handler today, displaying his merry hound temperament! He is however well balanced and covered the ground when moving. He has a pleasing head and expression, with correct proportions of skull to muzzle. Another with good layback of shoulder but needs a longer upperarm and could benefit from more turn of stifle.

Open Dog ( 5): 1 Back's Maliwick's Folklore – This stallion hound caught my eye when he came in the ring. His ground covering movement, propelled by his short hocks enabled him to move effortlessly around the ring with a long stride. He has a well proportioned head and dark eye. His neck blended into well laid back shoulders with a good return of upper arm. The body was compact with good depth of chest, and the ribbing extended well back. His muscular hindquarters and low hocks completed the picture. I was pleased to award him the CC

2 Parker & Stevens's Serenaker Armani – Another hound who impressed with his reach and drive going around the ring and was also sound coming and going. Clean head with good proportions and soft expression. He has well laid back shoulders but could use a longer upper arm. He is well ribbed back and has a firm topline and correctly set on tail

Veteran Dog (2): 1 Taylor & Taylor's Ch Deaconfield Kingcraft -This boy was not the easiest to handle and tried very hard to make himself look bad. However with his lovely soft head and expression and his well constructed front and strong hindquarters with a level topline and tailset and sound movement down and back, he could not be denied this placement and the Res Dog CC

2 Whitton & Edge's Jalhar The wonder of You at Haggatty – Clean head and expression but a little heavy in depth of muzzle. Good reach of neck, set into well laid shoulders but a little short in upper arm. Sound mover with good reach.

Vintage Dog (2): 1 Peterson's - Troopersway Gladiator – A longer cast hound but with a pleasing head and expression with a correct earset. His topline was firm and level when moving and with correct set on of tail. Moved around the ring with purpose and was very sound, in all directions.

2 Murphy's Black Royal at Rhosyndu Vw – A more compact hound than the winner, however he is not as good in front when moving and did not hold his topline when going around. His head and expression is still soft and he was very well ribbed back.

It was a unanimous decision between my co-judge Mike Denny and myself to award the male Maliwick's Folklore BOB, however the services of the referee Mrs Jill Peak were needed to decide Reserve BOB. It was decided the veteran dog Ch Deaconfield Kingcraft got the award.