Reading back through Ross' recent critiques I have to say that the last two from Tongwynlais and Flint have been on the money. I really can't dispute a single fact about how the dog looked on the day. Standing naturally Ross does not look steep in overline, but as pointed out in Tongwynlais in stance and pushing his weight forward he can look really steep from the middle of his back down through his croup and into his tail set. I need to consider this when showing him at local shows and maybe stand him in a more relaxed manner. The judge also refers to him being long in hocks, the hock is actually a joint, but often a dog with a lot of length in second thigh or long rear pasterns is referred to as having long hocks or being "hocky." Like Nico, Ross is very long in second thigh, and has long rear pasterns but thankfully with correct exercise as a youngster Ross has developed correctly and has strength and soundness in his rear quarters. (Which the judge also mentions)
A month ago at Flint the judge said Ross was out of coat and needing time to mature, but my word what a difference a month makes and surely he can only get better?
Kaiah's critiques from both these shows are extremely complementary and neither judge has listed any faults .. of course she has faults but she and I are ever so pleased they decided to list her virtues. As I've said Kaiah will mainly now be shown at Champ shows and under breed judges. I'm not trying to be big headed or harsh, as I have others I can take, so I will not be going taking her to local shows under pot luck judges to be beaten by what I consider to be inferior animals.
Dramatic different in Ross' overline from show to mountain. I must work on getting him to look more like this in local shows under allrounders
