Believing it incumbent on all judges to be totally aware of those following after & to adhere to the time schedule I was somewhat miffed to get in the ring late. Having got that off my chest I have to say I enjoyed judging your impressive breed immensely. Temperaments were outstanding, even when the ring was at full stretch. I did wonder how one or two specimens had qualified but otherwise the overall standard & general soundness were admirable. A difficult time of year for some who were in between coats or even naked. I felt I had quality winners & decent line-ups, in several strong classes outstanding dogs were unplaced but I did appreciate their virtues. A few just lacked a little in bone & substance or had shallow flat feet. Toplines were not bad but only a minority displayed the gentle slope from the shoulder to the croup. Thank you for your entries & sportsmanship making my day memorable.

VD (10) 1 Brooks’ Myatuk Winter Bear of Snobruk, 9½ years, of excellent type & condition, totally balanced frame, good muscle condition, sound & a credit to owner; 2 Coman’s Arctictrek Georgia’s Dream at Wintalakes, 8 years, well balanced with decent head, well ribbed but carrying a little too much weight; 3 Wilkinson’s Gwinner Lapema Star de Jungla Negra, 8 years, loved him for type & proportions, shown to advantage.

PD (3,1) 1 Helleur & Cameron’s Chayo Fame & Fortune, correct in outline & stamp, moderately defined shoulders, strong bone, good feet, straight sloping topline, moved steady, coat of good texture. BP. 2 Mort’s Arcticbreeze Midnite Hereo, masculine & very typy, preferred harsher coat of 1, head developing well, deep brisket & correctly angled hindquarters, well handled.

JD (9) 1 Salerno’s Ivram Woodland Stars & Stripes, not overdone but totally honest in construction & a superior mover with good reach & drive, strong bone & tidy feet, harsh coat well presented; 2 Coman’s Chayo Fortune Comes to Wintalakes, similar for type, sound & well turned out. Just preferred head of 1. Firm moderately placed shoulders, sound limbs, powerful body & muscular hindquarters, free easy action; 3 Innes’ Monikoona Appalachian Rock of Icycool, excellent for type, masculine with excellent balance & bone, although moving soundly was slightly cloddy compared to those above.

YD (17,1) 1 Chauveau’s Kinuk’s Ice Man, spoilt for choice but this masculine quality lad had everything I was looking for, great frame without coarseness, totally honest, excellent harsh well turned out coat, best action in this class. RCC; 2 Ellis’ Chayo Just The Ticket, really impressed me, totally masculine & honest, broad well proportioned head. Just not quite so settled on the move although very sound when in his stride. Harsh stand-off coat; 3 Hunter’s Tuvaurat’s Minuteman, totally typical & sound. Not yet quite as mature as those above. Also presented to advantage.

PGD (10,1) 1 Hunter’s Tuvaurat’s Minuteman, excellent type from previous class, totally harmonious & slower to mature but has time on his side; 2 Bebiano’s Prince Marshall, looked the winner, very impressive, marginally square in outline, sound but not totally settled, excellent thick harsh coat immaculately presented; 3 Horsman-Phoenix’s Ddraigeira Paris Yn Haf at Nordicwinds, pleasing profile, powerful gently arched neck, enough bone, pleasing topline, moved with purpose, quality coat.

LD (20,3) 1 K Ice Man; 2 Ellis’ Chayo I Want It All, total quality, superb legs & feet, very showy, strength through body & hindquarters. Just needs a little more time to complete maturity; 3 Roper’s Tokosha Atka, rushing to change dogs did not wait for my notes. I remember this upstanding & well balanced lad, totally typical & in grand form, moved out well but didn’t hold his topline as those above.

OD (21,6) 1 Ellis Chayo All Eyes On Me, A1 class but this lad had the edge, upstanding, masculine & totally honest without a hint of coarseness, powerful front, well carried quality head, strong bone into large tidy feet, best mover. CC & BOB; 2 Whittaker’s Ch Chayo Vanquish, totally balanced, lovely head, width between ears, powerful well appointed forehand, depth to chest, pleasing topline, moderately defined muscular quarters, in top form; 3 Koroleva’s Ch/Rus/Cro Ch Vintage Point My Dear, quality lad, beautiful head, marginally square in outline, strong bone, tidy feet, body of substance, muscular hindquarters.

GCD (6) 1 M Winter Bear of S; 2 M Appalachian Rock of I; 3 Bevan’s Snobruk Super Charged with Conyzone, masculine with pleasing profile, reasonable head, moderate shoulders, well ribbed with pleasing topline & tail, moved steadily, harsh coat.

VB (13,2) 1 Wilkinson’s Gorkeane De Jungla Negra, 9 years feminine without compromising strength, well developed expressive head, dark eye, super forehand & bone, reasonable topline, moved well; 2 Butler’s Kaytoo Where Legends ‘R’ Born, similar stamp, balanced & sound, not the coat of 1; 3 Biagiotti’s Ch/Jit/It/Int/Lux/Fin Ch Alexan Del Baggio, 10 years with lovely head properties, powerful neck & forehand, strong bone, good tail & carriage, well presented.

PB (4,2) 1 Kinnear’s Libertia Poison Ivy, developing well, dark eye, ears okay, arched neck, strong bone, good feet, sound movement; 2 Mort’s Arcticbreeze Midnite Echo, much to commend this girl & could have won here, pleasing outline. Not the front action of 1.

JB (10,1) 1 Wolfe’s Follow My Dreams Polarni Usvit via Dreamwolves, evenly balanced class so a difficult decision, feminine yet pleasing head, strength to muzzle, moderate stop, arched neck, strong bone, tidy feet, pleasing action, superb textured coat presented to advantage; 2 River & Towers’ Chayo Cookie Monster for Wintadreama, well up to 1 & equally well balanced with action to match, harsh coat but not as standoff as 1; 3 Kinnear’s Libertia Pandora, more compact than above, balanced head, well developed front, moved steady.

YB (12,3) 1 Covasas’ Kinuk’s I’m No Angel, decent class but this lady was a most convincing winner, conveys power with femininity & total balance, moved with consummate ease & was presented to full advantage; 2 Helleur & McGrae’s Chayo Careless Whisper, totally feminine & honest, quality head, dark eye & pigment, ears well placed, good bone & feet, width through, useful quarters; 3 Hunter’s Tuvaurat Miss Independence, correct stamp & attributes, expressive & well balanced with meaningful movement.

PGB (19,2) 1 Brown’s Alaskanstar Jet for Icetrax, portrays strength, femininity & is harmonious, strong bone with width through, sound on the move, coat could be more stand-off; 2 Vasarhelyi’s Okinastar First Lady, loved this lady for her type & balance, totally purposeful & sound but I did just prefer hind action of 1; 3 York’s Chayo Sweet Sensation at Snowstruck, maybe the handler didn’t remain in ring as I have no notes, my apologies.

LB (17,3) 1 Nawrockas Monikoona Casablanca, very feminine & so well balanced & retaining strength, beautifully modelled head, dark eye, powerful arched neck, strong bone, neat feet, pleasing topline, tailset & carriage, muscular moderately defined hindquarters, moved well with reach & drive. RCC; 2 Clark’s Marahootay Sorcery at Shamanictrax, super outline, well constructed powerful frame, sound free action. Not quite in full coat; 3 Partridge-Bebb’s Chayo Don’t Stop Me Now by Keighanya, slightly masculine but well balanced, muscular & a very sound mover, in excellent condition.

OB (14,6) 1 Biagiotti’s Hr Ch Lera del Biagio, quality frame, displaying correct outline & carrying correct substance, powerful without compromising any femininity, totally honest to handle without a hint of exaggeration, shown in hard condition, free easy purposeful action while retaining topline, quality coat. CC; 2 Rivers & Towers’ Polarpaws Naknek Dreamer, from the top drawer, pleasing head & pigment, moderate stop. Just preferred front of 1. Carrying strong bone she has depth of brisket & held herself well on the move; 3 Butler’s Kaytoo Kandi Kandu, full of quality, nothing overstated, appreciated her overall balance. Lacked coat somewhat.

GCB (3) 1 Druce’s Koromandel Glamorous Indie, from PG, very balanced & well built, sound with quality head, correct topline & a free easy mover; 2 Shorer-Wheeler’s Koromandel Somebody Told Me, lovely head, has much to commend her, feet a little flat & possibly a touch long in loin; 3 Forster’s Hawkam Kruzin’ On By to Kachemak, bigger lass with good substance & muscle formation, shoulder marginally steep & feet could be better, deep brisket & shape to ribs, moved steady, harsh stand-off coat.

Judge: Stuart Mallard