As it has been some 6 yrs since I last judged the breed in this  country, I thought I might give a resumee of how I think the breed is  progressing. A good enough entry of 74, although over 100 less than my Crufts  entry in 2006, was typical of todays entries. Two things stood out immediately.  First the standard states “never appearing short on the leg”; this seems to  have been ignored by many breeders: it is easy to get a short legged, long  bodied dog sound, but this is untypical and should be bred away from. The  slight slope down from withers to tail set was also missing in the majority of  exhibits. That leads me to my number two point. If the topline and croup were  set correctly we would not see those very ugly tails set on at right angles and  curled right over the back. I wonder if the exhibitors holding the tails way  over the back are just trying to make a breed fault look correct? The standard  is explicit, asking for a “moderately high set tail following the line of the  spine then curving gently upwards, giving the appearance of a waving plume”.  This is partly to help the dog protect his face and nose when lying in snow –  the tail can wrap round the face – impossible with a tight, high set tail. On  the plus side, most were moderately angled, powerful, well muscled and had  heavy bone. Good movers too, but the stride length should not be excessive.  Coats were ok and obviously a lot were in summer coat which is acceptable this  time of year. Some forefaces in the very heavy and large dogs were a little too  heavy and loose in flews, strong muzzles yes, but not loose skin around the  mouth. Nice to see that my BOB not only won the Group 1st, but also BIS and the  BCC was her third. Well done to all breeders for improving both soundness and  temperaments.

VD(1)
1 Isherwood’s Tuvaurat Akimarug Amani ShCM. In  wonderful condition for nine and a half yrs, good shape to skull, perfect  mouth, ears set well apart, moderately angled front and rear, nicely waving  plume, just a bit long in back, excellent mover all round.

PD (7, 1)
1  Maguire’s Dreamwolves Look At Me Now. Nice proportions of height to length and  has a decent length of foreleg, pleasing head, ears ok, excellent length to  neck, moderately angled in front and rear, nice tail and ok movement, smooth  and easy in profile, can still tighten up and down.
2 Rodger &Wheeler’s  Pamelyut Siku At Northspirit (Imp) NAF. Lovely type and quality, he just needs  more width and strength when he will trouble the best. Everything needs to  widen – head, front, body and rear, but he does show promise.

JD(6, 1)
1  Dolan &Dolan’s Ishjamani Hey Joe. First and second were brothers I was  told. Winner a good strong sturdy dog with a lovely head and comparatively  small, neat ears, set well back on skull. A touch long in back and tail too  tightly curled, super mover, easy, active and powerful.
2 Isherwood’s Ishjamani  Purple Haize. A little narrow in front, but heavy boned legs and big compact  feet, correct slight slope to topline, tail a bit too curly and carried in a  ring, another very attractive head and super temperament.

PGD(6, 2)
1 Davey &Greenway’s Snobruk Spirit Of  Fire At Wintatrails JW. Smart dog, very strong, lips could be tighter and ears  are a touch on the big side, strong neck, ideal bone and feet, fairly deep  without being too short on leg, excellent backline, reasonable tail, but it does  come over too far, straight and precise moving.
2 Wolfe’s Hawkeye Polani Usvit  Within Dreamwolves (Imp). A bit out of coat, upstanding male, better lips and  ears than winner but not quite the front of above, well ribbed, a bit long in  loin perhaps, moderate rear angulation, nicely waving tail, super outline in  profile movement.

LD(9, 2)
1 and  Res CC, Dolan &Dolan’s Tuvaurat Valentino. A little too long in loin and  would prefer a less curly tail, he is very sound and fit, strong in neck, good  bone for size and moderate rear angulation. Won on his superior movement.
2  Russell, Morgan, Cameron &McGrae’s Chayo Fame And Fortune. Another  excellent profile mover, a little close going and coming, pleasing head and ear  set, a wee bit too straight in shoulders and topline could slope down more, he  shows well, a lovely temperament, in good coat for the time of the year.

OD(9, 2)
1 CC,  BOB, Group 1 and BIS, Ellis’ Ch Chayo All Eyes On Me. Two smart dogs, in fact  the third was lovely too! Winner has that extra length of leg for better  balance, good skull, lips could be tighter, moderate angulation front and rear,  good slope to topline, tail too curly and much too high set, in good coat and  body and super mover all round.
2 Janicka’s Svk Czech Ch Lord Of The Rings  Appalachian. Again a little heavy in forface, excellent front and rear movement  and keeps a good backline, lovely tail which I much admired. Just too short on  leg for his length of body.

VB(2)
1 Towers &Rivers’ Polarpaws Naknek Dreamer ShCM. Best  Veteran. Lovely bitch, she is so sound and active, difficult to believe her  age. Pleasing head, strong muzzle without being too deep or loose in flews,  good neck and front, a touch too long in back but in good coat and she is so  powerful but still feminine. A credit to her owner.
2 John’s Cristakell Simoom.  Not in the top class coat or condition of above, but so enjoying herself, still  has a good topline, down on her pasterns a touch and not the up and down  movement of winner.

PB (5, 2)
1 and BP, John’s Chayo Rumour Has It For  Cristakell. Most attractive puppy, lovely head, skull, broad between the ears  for her age, well set ears not too large, good neck and excellent front,  correct body length and height of forelegs, tail too high set and curly,  otherwise a really lovely outline and she can move too!
2 Wilkinson &Jelfs’  Lapema Angelo Di Ciel. Long coat and soft ears spoil her, she is so sound and  really a pleasure to watch her go. I hope her coat settles with age.

PGB(12,  3)
1 Aiston’s Chayo Miss Moonfrost. Super class. Winner dead out of coat but  what a lovely bitch the best head, eye set and expression so far, her lack of  coat showed her moderate angulation, excellent movement and drive, well boned  legs and super big compact feet.
2 Reid’s Chayo Bootilicious Of Milagre. Really  top quality bitch too. She was not in the hard body condition of above, a bit  slack in movement and lacked drive, her proportions of height to length,  backline and ribbing were all super. In good coat too.

LB(8, 3)
1 Wolfe’s Follow My Dreams Polarni Usvit Via  Dreamwolves (Imp). Cracking bitch, fit, strong, well made with a lovely typy  head, eyes and expression, sound leg and feet. I would like an inch more height  to her forelegs but otherwise a good bitch all through. Lovely waving plume  too! Super mover in all directions.
2 Druce’s Koromandel Glamorous Indie. A wee  bit better balanced maybe for height to length proportions but lacked a little  width across the chest and tail set too high and curly. Also moved smoothly in  profile and carries herself nicely.

OB (10, 1)
1 and CC, Nawrocka’s MNECh Croat Ch  Pol Monikoona Casablanca. Lovely bitch all through, super head, neck and front,  good solid legs and feet, moderate angulation, in lovely coat and condition,  super compact, large feet, good proportions of body to height.
2 Jerman’s  Lapema Reina Una Stella ShCM. Not quite the neck of above and looked a mite  lower on leg, she too was so sound and showing drive in rear, correct slight  slope to topline and showing well, even through our shower of rain and move to  the wet weather tent.

Zena Thorn-Andrews