"Thank you to the NNC for inviting me to judge their 30th Championship Show. Having exhibited at their very first Championship Show it was an honour to be in the hot seat so very many years later.

A few general observations: whilst the number of exhibits being shown has declined over the last few years there are still some top-quality dogs in the ring, however currently females have the upper hand, and I was spoilt for choice in several classes. Of note was the number of promising puppies and youngsters in the Bitch classes which bodes well for the future.

As a working breed designed for swimming or hauling the breed needs a broad and deep chest with plenty of room for effective lung and heart function, I felt some exhibits were lacking this with narrow chests and lack of breadth throughout also leading to them moving close behind.
Mouths and eyes were excellent. There are some examples of dogs with quite extreme rear angulation creeping in which is not typical of the breed and can lead to weakness in the joints and needs to be watched.

As you would expect temperaments were excellent with no exceptions."