Full critique for Richmond 2005

Show critique

Firstly, I wish to thank the officers & committee of Richmond
Championship Dog Show for affording me the opportunity to
judge Shih Tzus at their recent show & to thank my competent
stewards for their support. Thank you too to the many
exhibitors who travelled from far & wide for my opinion & for
the sporting way in which they accepted my decisions. I
thoroughly enjoyed my day & was happy with my placings, but I
believe that every dog has its day & on other occasions I’ ve
no doubt that the placings will change! Overall it was my
privilege to handle some wonderful exhibits who are a credit
to their owners & to the breed lines from which they come.
However, over the years, my concerns remain the same. Some of
the girls in particular were, in my opinion, just too heavy &
the added pounds affected their movement; there were several
exhibits who were sluggish on the move & sadly lacked rear
drive, clear pads & an arrogant carriage.

Once again, from my point of view, there is nothing more
beautiful than a Shih Tzu in ‘ full sail’ & my eventual winners,
to my delight, truly displayed this – well-balanced impressive
Shih Tzus with that little extra something special. Although
the presentation, as always, was excellent, I noted a huge
increase in v ‘ obvious’ trimming, personally this doesn’ t
appeal, some discreet ‘ tidying’ yes, but there were many who
appeared to have been ‘ chopped’ ! Mouths had improved greatly,
particularly in the younger stock but I was disappointed, on
examination, by the white of eye in some exhibits who in all
others areas appeared from a distance quite superb. Finally, I
did find myself searching for what I call the true Shih Tzu
expression, beautifully warm large dark expressive eyes & I
hope that in future more attention will be given to this when
breeding.