1st
OPEN SHOW RESULTS & CRITIQUE - 2008 - Judge
– Renier van Vuuren
General remarks
I was truly honoured by the invitation to judge at
this show and even more so to receive the entry from
fellow club members, many of whom I got to know very
well over the years. I appreciated your support and
I hope I have done the breed justice – that
is what it is all about. I have really enjoyed going
over your dogs, many of whom I have seen before, but
never had the privilege to lay my hands on to judge
in a line-up. I learn at every show I go to and this
was no exception.
I want to just ask everybody when
reading my remarks about your dogs below, to keep
in mind that this is just my personal perceptions,
seen against my interpretation of the breed standard
and my personal preference of type. You are welcome
to discuss my remarks directly with me, as I believe
that is what a club should be about – sharing
of opinion for the betterment of the breed.
Now getting to the dogs – firstly,
I must just say that I had difficulty forming an opinion
of some of the dogs because of the way they were handled.
There are definitely dogs that will do much better
if they are handled better. I urge you to take the
time, if you are unsure about handling, to make work
of this, especially in view of our upcoming championship
show. We have had many remarks about this from international
judges of previous years and also people from other
provinces. Labradors are clever and it should be the
easiest thing to get it right. But because of exactly
this reason, people often underestimate the skill
needed to show your Labrador free-style and have him
stand four square, presenting a good outline, showing
confidence and even temperament with a kind but intelligent
and alert expression, and then moving well around
the ring so the judge can front and hind movement,
and the ever important steady flow and stride on the
side view.
We generally had good temperaments
with only a few shy ones on the day, but I believe
they just need a bit of socialization and the handlers
some training. Heads are generally of a modern type
with good stops and muzzles of good length and width.
Eye shape, colour and expression are generally good,
but I have seen some round eyes and some dark expressionless
eyes, fortunately very few light eyes, however, I
think we should be careful of eye colour in the chocolates.
I was pleased to find good bites (only one with misaligned
incisors and only one with “almost” level
bite). Dogs on the day were of acceptable substance,
but I’m going to say it - we do not excel in
this area in our breed in general. Some of the Juniors
shown on the day clearly lacked in both bone and body.
I would have liked to see better feet – big,
round cat feet with well-arched toes and evenly worn
nails (sorry, but that’s what I like)! There
were some excellent coats, but also quite a few single-coated
dogs. Breeders should be mindful of not breeding single-coated
dogs to each other – this is even more important
that watching out for eye problems! I saw a few stunning
movers, but then also a few that were really poor
on the move. There is however no specific general
trait such as pinning or knitting that I picked up
on. Problems in movement are specific in individuals.
Then, we MUST work on breeding better otter tails
in this country. It has become a rarity to find a
tail of good length and shape - broad at the base,
tapering down to the tip AND well clothed. “Well
clothed” means that it should have that thick
coat over the entire length of the tail but lying
flat and very dense underneath to give that rounded
appearance the breed standard asks for. Many judges
know they should look for an otter tail, but they
don’t really know what to look for. It’s
a special feature of our breed and yet we see far
too many dogs wagging short bottle-brush tails with
no tapering, or tails with no rounded appearance showing
odd shapes and ample feather underneath. I saw dogs
in the junior section with really dreadful tails which
worried me a lot. It’s almost impossible to
spot a good otter tail in a puppy when you need to
pick at the age of 8 – 10 weeks, which is why
it’s so difficult to get it right in the breeding.
It takes knowledge of your type and more often than
not, a good guess of what’s to become of the
coat when the baby hair falls out.
With this in mind and including myself
and my own breeding practices, I want to appeal to
you as fellow members in this club: let’s talk
and work together to KEEP, and in some instances GET,
those basic things right in the Labradors we select
to breed from and show – head, coat and tail
– regardless of our personal preferences of
type. Please see my final remarks for further reference.
Junior Dogs
Baby Puppy Class:
The 3 baby pups were very similar, however the winner
had the best bone and was handled best. 1st: Exhibit
6 (Pott) – A black puppy with nice head and
expression and reach of neck with good lay of shoulder
blades. Shoulder angulation is acceptable with good
length in upper arm, sound in elbows and good straight
forearms. An otherwise good top-line is spoiled by
it sloping in the croup and ending in not good tail-set
or carriage. This outline does not improve when moving.
Although he has excellent dept of chest, there is
no real barrel ribcage and he looked tucked-up in
the loin. I would have liked to see more width in
the loins even at this age. Good turn of stifle with
good muscle on the hindquarters for a baby pup and
hock placement acceptable. Would have preferred him
in better coat and therefore also tail. Nice and friendly
disposition.
2nd: Exhibit 2 (Du Toit) –
Lovely expression, enhanced by excellent pigmentation.
Front quarters and body similar to nr.6 with the same
problem in the top-line, although tail-set and carriage
are slightly better. Hindquartersacceptable and again,
like nr 6, would have liked to see more coat. Responded
well to attention.
3rd: Exhibit 3 (Farrell) –
A black boy very similar in every respect to nrs 6
and 2 and placing on another day could have been the
other way around. Would have liked a more substance
overall on this pup especially. He also has a lovely
head and expression with good forequarters. Moved
better than 2. The handler was using excessive clicking
in the ring which must have been confusing to the
dog. He was not too happy with my presence.
Minor Puppy Class:
1st: Exhibit 5 (Pott) – Nice yellow pup showing
a lot of potential. Excellent pigmentation and expression.
Good reach of neck, but a bit upright in shoulder
due to slightly short upper arm. Forearms good and
straight down from the elbow. Lovely top-line and
tail-set. His coat is of good texture and thickness
with good under-coat, giving also good shape to his
tail. Although acceptable, I would have liked just
a little more upper thigh. Despite this he moved nicely
with good stride and was responding to attention with
lovely temperament.
Junior Dog Class:
1st: Exhibit 10 (Reid) – This is a black dog
of good type showing all the qualities and potential
you want to see in a show dog of this age. He is well
balanced and his head, neck and top-line form a lovely
line deserving of a second look. His expression is
pleasing and his head well-balanced and of good type.
He has good lay of shoulder blades, shoulder angulation
and lovely straight forearmsexhibiting good bone.
Very nice barrel chestand good width over the loin
and hindquarters giving that look of substance you
want to see in a young male. Tail-set good and well
carried on the move, but he should be “happier”
when shown. His hindquarter angulation is acceptable,
but I would have liked to see slightly more upper
thigh. Well muscles and good placement on hocks. His
coat is of excellent texture and with good undercoat,
also giving good shape to the tail. Calm but responsive
temperament. BEST JUNIOR DOG AND BEST JUNIOR
IN SHOW.
2nd: Exhibit 9 (De Villiers) –
A yellow Labrador of lean type with lovely expression
and excellent pigmentation. He has nice reach of neck
and good hindquarter angulation. I would have liked
to see more substance and coat. This dog showed sound
temperament but needs to be trained to stand in the
ring.
Novice Dog:
1st: Exhibit 11(Reid) – This was a very nice
surprise in the Novice class. This young black male
has that loveable head and exactly right eye colour
and expression that I am always looking for. His bite
is acceptable at this stage. He is very well balanced,
but I wish hedidn’t carry that little bit of
extra weight. With his super coat that certainly made
him look a bit heavy. He has lovely shoulder angulation,
good placement of elbow (also on the move), and super
forearms showing excellent bone. He has very nice
spring of rib and good depth of chest. This substance
is carried forth with good width over loin and hindquarters.
He has excellent hindquarters with lovely turn and
depth of stifle and well-placed hocks. His coat is
really his best feature, but felt very soft to the
touch. I suspect he had a bath shortly before the
show, but one could clearly see the quality of top
and under-coat, also giving that rounded appearance
to the tail that is called for in the breed standard.
His tail could have been slightly longer and more
tapering, but to get that thick rounded appearance
free from feathering like this dog has, is rare in
the breed in South Africa. I therefore also awarded
this dog Best Coat and Best Tail in those challenges.
RESERVE BEST JUNIOR DOG AND RESERVE BEST JUNIOR
IN SHOW.
Junior Bitches
Baby Puppy Class:
1st: Exhibit 47 (Knight) – This black puppy
is of lovely type and has the potential to have a
great show career. I loved her head, expression and
over-all balance, even at this age. Her neck-line
flows into a super top-line and she has perfect tail
set. All of this comes together when she moves. She
has such a lovely stride and outline when moving and
I think this to be her best feature. She has super
bone, lovely spring of rib with just the right length
and width of loin. Her fore- and hindquarters have
very good angulation and she stood four square when
she was in the mood. She has the right coat. However,
she pulled away from the judge when I tried to judge
her. This became more so in the next round of judging.
If this problem can be solved, this pup has a great
future.
2nd: Exhibit 38 (Pott) – This
is another pup that has all the makings to have a
very good show career, and she was just unlucky to
have shared the class with exhibit 47. She has a lovely
head, super pigmentation against her yellow coat and
good expression, but I preferred the muzzle and balance
in the head of nr 47. She has good shoulders, but
looked slightly out at the elbow on the move. Good
forearm showing good bone. She had thenicest barrel
ribs and a well balanced body. I prefer this pup’s
hindquarters to that of nr 47 as it has better turn
of stifle with very well-placed hocks. She also showed
well on the move, but in this I preferred 47. On the
day
she did not have good coat which also made her tail
look thin. She responded well to attention and was
not worried by me touching her at all.
Minor Puppy Class:
1st: Exhibit 39 (Van Rensburg) – Unfortunately
this pup was not shown to her full potential and it
was difficult to look for general outline, angulation
on fore- and hindquarters and overall balance. She
has good head type, but I did not like the eye colour.
The shoulder placement seemed to be fine and length
of upper arm good. I would have liked to see more
substance in the forearm. She has nice depth of chest
and good length and width over the loin. I found the
tail-set a bit low but she never relaxed enough for
me to judge carriage. I liked her hindquarters showing
good turn of stifle, good placement of the hocks and
well muscled. Her best feature is her lovely dark
chocolate coat with good texture and undercoat. Although
she did not shy away from me, she was just so submissive.
She needs to be socialized to build confidence in
the show ring.
Puppy Class:
1st: Exhibit 46 (Reid) – This black pup has
a nicely balanced feminine head with good expression.
She has a very lovely neckline flowing into her shoulders
and topline. Her lay of shoulder blades and angulation
is excellent. She has good barrel ribs and acceptable
length in the loin. She is broad over the back and
loin, showing good substance in body. Her hindquarters
seemed good but she did not stand nicely four square
for me to judge this. She was very attentive to her
handler, but looked slightly nervous. This caused
her to be slightly down on her haunches which spoiled
the outline, making her top-line look as if it slopes
over the croup. Despite this she is
clearly a quality bitch and just needs to relax a
bit. RESERVE BEST JUNIOR BITCH AND BEST PUPPY
IN SHOW
Junior Class:
1st: Exhibit 44 (Hoffman) – This young black
bitch has a lovely head type. She has lovely eyes
and expression and muzzle of good width and length.
She has good reach of neck flowing into well-laid
shoulder blades. Her shoulders are well angulated
and she showed good substance in the forearm. She
has good spring of rib, but slightly long in the loin
for my liking. She has good top-line with good width
over loin and hindquarters, but unfortunately sloping
over the croup. Tail-set then lower than what I would
have liked. She has good muscle and turn of stifle
and moved well. She was responding well to attention,
but also needs to get more used being handled in the
show ring.
2nd: Exhibit 32 (Scheepers) –
This yellow bitch is of a very nice type and has good
balance overall. I love heru attentive expression
and she has good pigmentation. I would have liked
a muzzle with better depth and width. She has good
lay of shoulder blades and shoulder angulation is
acceptable although upper-arm is slightly on the short
side. She has good straight forearms. She has nice
barrel ribs and is short and wide over the loin. Would
have liked a bit more turn of stifle with her being
slightly short in upper thigh. She has excellent coat
true to the type with good texture and under-coat
and has a good tail. Moved soundly. She was not presenting
herself very well, something that cost her the class.
3rd: Exhibit 45 (Van Zyl) - A black
bitch with very well balanced proportions, with a
nice head and expression. She has good reach of neck
with a nice top-line, but tends to carry her tail
a bit high. Although she has good angulation both
in fore- and hindquarters I would have liked to see
better stride on the move. She has good coat, both
in texture and under-coat. What counted against her
competing in this class is lack of bone and substance.
She was friendly and well socialized.
Reserve: Exhibit 40 (van Rensburg)
– Another chocolate with lovely dark coat with
excellent texture and a good under-coat. However,
it was virtually impossible to judge her because she
would not show properly. She has a nice head, but
I would have liked darker eye colour. Balance, angulation
and movement could not be assessed. She was too submissive
and not socialized for the show ring.
Graduate Class:
1st: Exhibit 31 - This pale yellow bitch is very nicely
balanced, I liked her type of old-fashioned look and
she showed herself with confidence as a Labrador should.
I would have liked a slightly stronger muzzle, but
her head was still balanced with good eye colour and
expression. She has lovely reach of neck flowing right
through wellplaced shoulder blades, with an excellent
top-line and tail-set. Her forequarters are good and
she has good angulation also in hindquarters with
nice depth in the thigh. She has a good barrel ribcage
with good width in loin and hindquarters. She has
the right coat texture, undercoat and a good Labrador
tail. Lovely spirited personalityand clearly in love
with her handler. BEST JUNIOR BITCH
Novice Class:
1st: Exhibit 41 – Lovely chocolate bitch with
super coat colour. I really liked her head (again
slightly of the oldfashioned type), with nice expression
and very good eye colour for a chocolate. She has
a lovely temperament but really too pleased to see
me, because she was lying down as soon as I touched
her. She has good reach of neck, lay of shoulder blades
and good topline. On the move she looked a bit out
in the elbow. I would take off a bit of weight, but
else her body looked nice. Would have liked better
turn of stifle, but this was difficult to really judge
as she would not stand nicely. Not showed and handled
to her full potential.
Senior Dogs
Veteran Class:
1st: Exhibit 13 (Reid) – I really admired the
type of this black male. I especially liked his head
which is typically old fashioned (hope I don’t
offend the owner/breeder), with lovely eye shape and
exceptional colour making up that melting expression.
This dog is just so well balanced with good reach
of neck, and for his age, still clean lines, going
into super shoulders and a strong level topline. He
has good lay of shoulder blades, good angulation and
forearms showing good substance. He has good depth
of chest with a ribcage stretching far back, strong
short-coupled loins of good width, ending in good
width over the hindquarters. Although there is a slight
slope in the croup, his tail-set is good and he carries
it well on the move. He has good hindquarter angulation
and hock placement which he used with good drive on
the move. He has good coat texture, thick undercoat
and a tail many youngsters will be proud of. I noticed
a slight limp in the forequarters in the next round
of judging. A very calm and sweet temperament.
Open Class:
1st: Exhibit 4 (Pott) – A classy yellow dog
that draws one’s eye. He is very well balanced
with a strong but typical Labrador head. He has good
eye colour and expression. Nice reach of neck and
excellent shoulder placement and angulation. His elbows
are perfect, also on the move and his forearms straight,
ending in strong pasterns and feet. I love his spring
of rib but, if one is really nit-picking, wouldhave
preferred him slightly shorter in loin. He sometimes
looked tucked up in the loin and he was not presenting
his hindquarters as I would have liked to see him
do, but this was just bad habit – he has very
good hindquarters, well muscled with good hock placement.
He has good coat texture, but I thought him not in
his best coat on the day. His tail is of good shape,
but I
would have liked it better clothed. On the day was
a bit lazy to show himself well, but clearly a quality
Labrador in every aspect. I also awarded him Best
Head in that challenge. Has a very relaxed nature
but looked very bored with it all. RESERVE
BEST SENIOR DOG AND RESERVE BEST SENIOR IN SHOW
2nd: Exhibit 8 (Hoffmann) –
Big masculine yellow male with a really nice head.
I liked the balance of his skull to muzzle, stop and
placement of eyes and ears. He is slightly tall, although
that did not bother me too much, but I would have
liked more bone on him to get better balance to his
size, head and body. His front quarters are good,
although he looked out at the elbow when the moving
towards me. Nice barrel ribs and broad over the loin
and hindquarters. His hindquarters has good angulation.
His tail-set is good. He looked a bit wary of me and
clearly uncomfortable when I approached to go over
him.
Champions Class:
1st: Exhibit 3 (Moore) – A grand champion in
every aspect. He presented himself well and although
he had a mind of his own dragging his handler around,
he was performing well when it counted. I liked his
pigmentation, expression and head overall. He has
a lovely neckline, really excel in shoulders, with
lovely top-line all the way down to the tail. His
forequarters are showing real substance, excellent
pasterns and feet. I found him a bit heavy in chest,
but that is just from the good life he must endure!
He has a true Labrador barrel chest, strong and broad
in loins and strong hindquarters with good angulation
that he used with drive on the move. He was in
very good coat with the right texture and under-coat.
Although he has good tail-set and shape, it carries
some
feathering underneath which could with careful grooming
look better in the ring. He was also awarded Best
Feet in that challenge. Could also liven up bit in
the ring, but then he’s seen it all before.
BEST SENIOR DOG AND BEST SENIOR IN SHOW
2nd: Exhibit 12 (McKay) –
Lovely young yellow champion with the right things
in right places and handled very well. He has a balanced
head, expression and pigmentation. He is very well
balanced in outline with a lovely neck-line, top-line
and tail-set. His shoulder placement and forearms
are good. He has good spring of ribs, width over loins
and topline staying level in the croup. Good angulation
in the hindquarters and hock placement. His coat is
of good texture and thickness and I liked his tail.
He is clearly a quality dog and deserving of his champion
title at this age, but I would have just liked more
of him. He looked small with not enough substance
in this class.
Senior Bitches
S A Bred Class:
1st: Exhibit 43 (Hoffmann) – A black bitch with
a super head, lovely eye shape, colour and melting
expression. She has a lovely neck line, flowing into
her shoulders and top-line. She has good shoulder
angulation andsubstance in the forearms. She carried
a bit much weight and that made her look slightly
unbalanced in body. She has good spring of rib, loin
and width in the hindquarters. She has good hindquarter
angulation and hock placement. Her coat is of good
texture and with good under-coat. Her tail is nice
but with some feathering which should be trimmed before
the show. I liked her very much on the move –
everything came together and she really looked nice
on the stride. She has a friendly but calm temperament.
2nd: Exhibit 42 (Van Rensburg) –
A chocolate bitch unfortunately not presented well
at all, and what a pity! She has lovely substance,
with lovely coat, but she was clearly scared of her
surroundings and I didn’t want to frighten her
more. She has a nice strong head and I wish I could
see her standing four square.
3rd: Exhibit 41 (Van Rensburg) –
Also very difficult to judge, but at least she did
not look scared in the ring. She has good reach of
neck and a nice feminine head, but I thought she lacked
a bit in substance. I could not judge topline, angulation
or movement.
Veterans Class:
1st: Exhibit 35 (Pott) – A lovely black bitch
and still looking like a champion at this age. I love
her head – lovely balance and nice strong muzzle,
although still feminine. She has excellent substance
showing good bone in both hind- and forequarters.
She has super shoulders and a lovely neck- and topline
to show it off. She has good tailset. Her forearms
are straight down from the elbow and that stayed exactly
right on the move. Lovely barrel ribcage, acceptable
in length of loin for a bitch and good strong hindquarters.
I would have liked a bit more upper thigh –
although she has acceptable turn of stifle, she stands
right over her hindquarters which spoils her stance
and outline. She moves with lovely stride and good
drive. She has true under-coat and lovely coat texture.
Her tail is well clothed and she carried it well on
the move. She has excellent temperament and responded
well to my attempts to draw her attention.
Open Class:
1st: Exhibit 37 (Pott) – A yellow bitch with
excellent proportions making a lovely outline. But
her best feature is that lovely expression! She has
a well-balanced head, and the with the ears alert,
lovely eye colour and shape, makes a picture. She
has lovely reach of neck, a great topline and good
tailset. She is slightly upright in shoulders but
not to distract from her outline and movement. She
lacksunfortunately in substance in theforearms, but
shows strength in pasterns and stands comfortably
four square. She has a good body with nice spring
of rib and broad and short coupling. She has good
width over the hindquarters, with very nice angulation
in thethigh and placement of hocks. Her coat texture
and tail is good. She is alert to her handler looking
like she’s about to talk back. RESERVE
BEST SENIOR BITCH.
Champions Class:
1st: Exhibit 36 (Pott) – A lovely black bitch
of excellent type from head to tail. She has a lovely
head that you just want to touch. She is one of those
where you can’t stop to follow the flow of the
line from neck to tail. What a lovely balanced outline
she projects. She has all the right angulation in
fore- and hindquarters, lovely bone, excellent ribcage
and balance with length of loin. She shows substance
in front- and hindquarters and good width in the loin.
She moves well both in front and back and on the stride.
I liked her tail-set and carriage. Good temperament
and handled very well. I just thought she was not
in her best coat and that was especially evident in
the tail. This was really unfortunate as this was
what made her miss top honours. BEST SENIOR
BITCH
2nd: Exhibit 33 (Scheepers) – A lovely yellow
bitch with loads of substance and a super coat and
tail. She is quite strong in head and I would have
liked a softer stop in a female head. She has excellent
pigmentation, eye shape and colour. She has good reach
of neck and clean lines into her shoulders. She has
excellent forequarters with good lay of shoulder blades,
upper-arms and good strong forearms and pasterns.
She has good spring of rib but the body is out of
balance in the loin area. Although it is of good width
it looks tucked up and this is then noticeable in
the top-line – this does not improve when she
moves. She has acceptable tail-set. I love her coat
– it is very dense with undercoat, free of wave
and with excellent texture. She was not really enjoying
herself in the show ring.
3rd: Exhibit 34 (Lodge-Lowe) –
Another black champion with good substance. She is
strong in head but not excessively so. She has good
reach of neck and good placement of shoulders. Strong
forequarters showing good substance. She carried too
much weight on the day and that counted against her
in presenting a good outline when shown as well as
on the move. She has a level top-line, acceptable
hindquarters also showing good substance. I did not
like her tail-set or shape of tail. At a stage thought
she had a cold tail. She was a bit of a handful for
her handler, with lively temperament clearly enjoying
her day out.
*****
Final remarks
Courtesy of Betty Howard, I want to refer you to a
website link showing a video of the recently judged
Westminster Show (USA). Look at type, balance, substance,
coat, feet and especially handling. Not that all ofwhat
you’ll see is good, but it’s nice to watch
a video of one of the world’s great international
shows, judged by Mr Guy Spagnolo, who also judged
the 2007 LRKC Championship show.
http://video.westminsterkennelclub.org/player/?id=0#videoid=217241
I also thought there must be a lot
of LRKC members keen to also join the British Labrador
Retriever Club. In support of your application, you’ll
need someone to propose and another to second you
as a new member. I will be glad to do the honours
for anybody in South Africa wanting to join. Single
overseas membership will cost £12 and if you
want to receive your mail and annual Yearbook via
airmail, an additional £5. The yearbook features
some LRC information, show critiques and some breed
articles, but mainly publishes display adverts of
dogs from member kennels all over the world. Contact
me directly if you want to enquire about this. |
