Here we go again. At General Ch. Shows long coats and standard coats these days go in to the show ring together. Judges should judge the animal on its merits, regardless of coat! Then why is it when they are not placed highly do people assume .. "Oh that judge doesn't like long coats!" Come on guys, 6 were presented in an entry of 67 dogs, two were second in good classes, one was behind Callan, one was behind Siska ..I am very critical of my own, but I honestly feel he judged the classes correctly. One lovely male was last, but he was stood so badly, left in a rocking horse stance and ten to two front feet, I can understand that seeing that picture the judge could not put him higher up. Another bitch was last, exactly where she should have been on conformation, colour and movement. Like I said, one was second in limit, the other in open, bitches second to quality bitches, and having quality behind them. Come on Long Coat people, see the true picture and judge for the animals merits, and don't hide behind the coats!
I'm not "anti" Long coats in the ring, though I confess I once was. I have moved with the times. I look at photos of Elka (Siska's sister) and think my God that is what along coat puppy should look like, that is quality. It's not rose-tinted glasses, and I know I'm only looking at photos, but she really looks the part. Zeus is also stunning, though he does have that classic L/C weakness in his pasterns, and he would be penalised for twisting his hocks .. if you could see that with that huge tail! LOL
Siska needs to strengthen in her pasterns too, I'm sure she will, well I hope she will. Looking at the video from Friday I can understand why she wasn't Best Puppy Bitch, she really has got a long way to go. I think sometimes it takes a video or a photo to show you what you have. It's funny because at one time she did seem to have it all in the right places, now she does look a raw and out of proportion. Maybe it's a good thing that we only have one show left, hopefully given time she'll come together again.
