"What a great day – thank you to my stewards for having a great sense of humour and making the judging so pleasurable even though they hid my new Harry Potter book in case I got sidetracked ! Thanks also to all the exhibitors for a lovely entry and for the sporting way they accepted some difficult decisions. I looked for excellence and tried to be positive in my assessments, looking at the whole dog. I was delighted to go over so many balanced top quality dogs and bitches and forgave minor faults which should not prejudice overall judgement. I have never been a fault judge and have always believed that it is more important to look for size, type, quality, balance, sound confirmation and free movement than worry about a cosmetic colour fault or slightly imperfect bite. The Limit and Open classes were a joy to judge and so many good dogs and bitches went cardless on the day. Limit Dog in particular was an outstanding class where I felt totally spoilt for choice.

The winner, the truly outstanding Seafar Crest of a Wave took the DOG CC. (his second) B.O.B. WORKING GROUP 1 and BEST IN SHOW. I was thrilled to see he was made up the following week! I honestly felt that the first four dogs placed in that class were of ticket quality, as were the first three in Open Dog. It was a delight to judge Bitches again, after a substantial break and it was pleasing to see the in depth quality. Again there were bitches placed in PG, Limit and Open I would have been happy to award tickets to. I was particularly pleased that so many males were dogs of great substance and power with massive bone.

Size and substance are essential in a Newfoundland – a male should be dignified, noble and powerful. This is a working breed ,which had it been weak or small, would never have survived the rigours of pulling heavy loads and swimming in Arctic seas in extreme Canadian winters on an island where snow and wind are a constant fact of life. When even the Newfoundland houses have to be anchored by chains to rock to stop them blowing away, I think it is fair to say any dog working in that environment would have to be a dog of great strength and stamina. I therefore looked for solid massive dogs who looked and moved as if they could work. I penalised lack of size and bone, weak backs and loin coupling, and narrow or shallow chests which do not give adequate heart room. Dogs which have weak hindquarters were also penalised, since they lack the driving power for pulling loads and swimming and do not cover ground efficiently. A powerful rear structure is essential so I set great store on correct forward reach and drive from powerfully muscled hindquarters. Since my last appointment two years ago I was pleased to find that there were far fewer undersize dogs and bitches entered. Whether this is because the breed is getting larger, or smaller dogs just weren’ t entered I don’t know.

For some years I have been very critical of the flashy small dogs which win under some judges - they are totally incorrect! A small Newfoundland is a complete contradiction of everything the breed stands for- this is a working draught dog - a giant breed, a carthorse of the dog world. It is not meant to be a flashy showman racing around the ring like a German Shepherd! Flashy handling does the breed a dis service, though it is often used for disguising conformation and movement faults. Nor is it necessary to string a dog up on a tight chain when moving or standing- a correctly made Newf should exhibit free efficient gait with minimum effort while covering the ground in effortless strides.

It was pleasing to see how many dogs stood square of their own accord after moving ,resisting handlers’ efforts to over angulate the hindquarters. Hand in hand with this is the peculiar belief that a Newf coat must be sculpted in order to win ( or is it to try and hide confirmation faults like straight stifles?) A Newfoundland is NOT a poodle! This sculpting is one American habit that I dislike intensely, and an otherwise fine dog in the Open Class would not have looked out of place in a high class hair salon! Tidying of excess hair is acceptable, body shaping is not. Cardboard cut out Newfies should be resisted. Sculpting detracts from the essential and most basic nature of this working water breed and what it stands for. I also was delighted to see so many quality Landseers – they are no longer the poor relations of the blacks and can win at the highest level in good company. Congratulations to the breeders who have achieved this and persevered in the face of the quite considerable prejudice shown over the years by certain judges. There were fewer browns entered but they were of good quality. Mouths were generally excellent with hardly any untidy bites. Temperament was wonderful without exception."