JUDGING THE BORDER TERRIER By Robert & Ruth Ann Naun From Ruth Ann A judge of the Bor- der Terrier will stay on breed standard if they hold to the rule that form fol- lows function. Bred standard point by point, in what fol- lows here. He gives a prospective that has been previously published in this magazine. He has clearly outlined the evaluating that takes in the whole dog using this approach. Border Terriers can still do the work they were bred to do. The Border Terrier community and the breed’s parent club hold a desire to see a functioning working Border Terrier in the show ring. When those traits put a Border Terrier in the ribbons in your ring, you can safely feel a good job was done of judging this breed.
in the American standard in the early 1940s, this emphasis was in the Bor- der Terrier standard. Dr. Merritt Pope, the prime mover in working towards recognition of the breed in the US and his friend Mr. William McBain, were disturbed by changes made to the Scot- tish Terrier standard for the purpose of improving its chances for winning in the show ring. For Dr. Pope, a well-designed and functional machine was a beauti- ful thing to observe, and they wanted to apply this concept to the functional purposefulness of a terrier. He and his committee were attempting to design the perfect working terrier in a breed stan- dard. Th ey abhorred the fancy terriers they were seeing in the show ring. Th e descriptive terms they used to describe the Border Terrier are few in num- ber. Th ey wanted a head that resembled that of an otter, in particular a river otter head. Th ey wanted a dog who would be spannable by a man’s hands, a method used by old time hunters to evaluate the ability of a dog to go to ground. Th ey consistently talked about the Borders’ ability to run with horses and to get along with hounds. Given this, the Border should not spar. For working terriers, the ribs should not be over sprung. Th ey should have ribs well back with a flexible loin which would allow the terrier to turn around more easily when down the hole after the fox, this also helps to give more stamina to a dog doing a days’ work. Finally, they wanted a double-coated dog who could work under the hard condi- tions of the English/Scottish border coun- try, and not a fancy smooth coated terrier. When beginning to judge the Border Terrier in the show ring, the judge should observer the Border outline. It is on the table that the judge can begin to evalu- ate the functioning ability of the Border to work. Approaching from the front the
by working farmers in the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland in England, and the southern Scottish border country, this breed went out with hounds in this wild hilly countryside. Th erefore, the Border Terrier should be built to cover long dis- tances over an extended period on the day of hunting, in all sorts of weather. Once the fox they chase goes to ground, the Border Terrier goes in and finishes its work of the day, or flushes the fox for oth- ers to dispatch. Every breed trait judged in confirmation, still should reference this function. Exhibitors will respect the judge who attempts to evaluate entries base on this approach. Bob Naun explores the
From Robert Many judges have di ffi culty in judging the Border Terrier because of the empha- sis on function as a working terrier. Most terrier standards put more emphasis upon appearances, with the exception of the Parson Russell Terrier. In Britain in the earliest written stan- dard of the breed we have (1920), and
The general appearance of the Border Terrier.
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