RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK CLUB OF SCOTLAND 01/11/15

Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Scotland held a Ch show where BIS was Ch Kinabula Bin There Done That; RBIS, Ch Gunthwaite’s Cool Crazy Lady of Vandengan; & BP, Rottzridge Me And My Girl.

It is both an honour & a privilege to be invited to judge a breed club Ch show. Thank you to the club for the opportunity & their hospitality & to the treasurer Edith Wallace for her assistance with transport to & from the airport. It was also good to have the comfort of old friends in Drew & Sue Littlejohn who I knew could be left to get on with the stewarding & leave me to get on with the job in hand.

Overall the males were a little disappointing & certainly did not have the depth of quality of the females. I was very pleased, however, with my winners.

In my interpretation of the breed Standard I am looking for substance tempered with agility & athleticism. I can imagine, through my own breeding experience that this is a difficult combination to achieve. Big heavy dogs & bitches who cannot display a degree of spring & lift on the move would find it hard to do the original job & therefore do not display ‘form fit for function’ in my opinion.

There were a couple of misplaced teeth which I faulted to a minor degree. One with evident off set crowns which I faulted a little more seriously.

Although feet in the majority were reasonable to good there is a problem with slack pasterns which certainly affects footfall in movement & is a weakness to be avoided where possible.

Certainly there needs to be some flexibility in pastern but lack of strength here would result in a quick breakdown. The correct exercise can help to improve poor feet & pasterns but breeding for these good points must surely take precedence.

MPD (2) 1 Chagall Akua, just 6 months & very much a baby. Soundly built & chunky as I think puppies should be. Decent head & expression though obviously needs to clear & mature here. Reasonable outline though I wouldn’t mind a touch more length as he appears a little compact at the moment. Decent front with good fill in, good ribbing, good bone & feet. Nicely balanced on the move though he could extend a little more. RBPIS. See he is sired by my DCC. Promising; 2 Rottzridge Mad About The Boy, at the moment very rangy. He has a better shape to his outline than the winner & consequently has a little more freedom on the move, however, his gawkiness showed in his less then positive footfall. He obviously has a lot of maturing to do, another promising puppy, just didn’t fill my eye to the same extent as the winner on the day. PD (3,1a) 1 C Akua; 2 Bovijo Blaze Of Glory, rangier but with a good overall shape. Good masculine head. Perhaps a shade wide in front. Balanced fore & aft. Topline needs to settle. Tailset a shade high & croup a shade short. JD (2) Difficult class as each has virtues I admire. 1 Faahac Free N’easy, good shape to outline. Really flowed through top & underlines. Good bone & feet. Strong masculine head with nice strength & depth to underjaw. Reasonable shoulder & upper arm. Moved out well with enough extension & drive; 2 Azali Jamaa Azizi Tiberius, really well presented young dog with a good outline. Attractive masculine head. Good through the front. He moved out fairly well even though he was very slightly restricted in hindquarter action compared to the winner. YD (2,1) 1 Hespa Hermes, good outline. Head is typical though a little strong for me. Good bone & correct feet. Good shoulder & upper arm. Good croup & tailset. Decent top & underlines. On the move really extended in front & sound in the hindquarters. Liked him a lot, would just have preferred a little more refinement in head. ND (1,1). PGD (2,1) 1 Kani Akilah Encame Hasani for Jengachenga, very good outline. Good balance all through. Head is typical if a shade broad in backskull. Good for depth & strength in muzzle. Can extend when allowed & showed flashes of the movement I was looking for. Just needs a shade more schooling to bring out the animation on the move. LD (4,1) 1 Sofala Grand Master, impressed with this one. Just the right shape & outline. Nicely built with refinement but enough substance. Decent head with good expression. Nice through the front with good bone & feet. Matching fore & hindquarter angles with strength to his moderate hindquarters. Needs to make more of himself on the move to take it to the next level; 2 Gabisa Spotted Dick, substantial & up to size. Full in ribbing. Masculine attractive head. Reasonable front & moved out reasonably well. Just a bit too much of him for me; 3 Chilolo Shha Shoot For The Moon. OD (5,2) 1 Ch Kelshanti Senator of Africaner, really impressive & the first who would fit the ‘outstanding’ requirement of a CC. Very good outline. Impressed on the stack. Good shoulder & upper arm with balanced angles fore & aft. Masculine & typical head. Soundly built & very good on the move. Liked him a lot. CC, BOS; 2 Eilack Kito Kijani, a slightly shorter coupled but equally attractive athletic & lithe individual. I liked him a lot for his balance & agility on the move. His stop is perhaps a shade deep & gives a slightly different expression. Nevertheless another who fulfils the ‘outstanding’ requirement. After judging I realised I have previously awarded him the RCC. I think he deserves to wear his crown. Good luck for the future. RCC; 3 Msingi Tabula Rasa. VD (3,1) 1 Ch Sonstraal Chocolate Storm, slightly longer in outline than I prefer. Decent head. Balanced angles. Dropping his underline a shade now. Moved out well if a little less positive than ideal in hindquarter; 2 Nuthouse Manhatton, shorter coupled dog who doesn’t possess the ribbing of the winner. A little short in upper arm. He carries plenty of muscle & moves reasonably.

MPB (2) 1 Rottzridge Me And My Girl, delightful chunky puppy with a decent outline. Feminine head. Nice width through the front. Carries herself well on the move. Very promising. BPIS; 2 Nuthouse Hot Stuff, rangier but still shows promise. She needs to come together which I’m sure she will given time. Feminine & shows some elegance. Can put it together on the move. PB (2) 1 N Hot Stuff; 2 Bovijo Bed Of Roses, 9 months but just too much substance for me at this stage. I’m afraid she didn’t stay long enough for a more detailed critique. JB (8,3) 1 Faahac Fancy Free, sister to the winner of JD. A really good combination of elegance, substance & athleticism took her to the top of this class. Lovely head & expression with femininity but no lack of strength. Good bone & feet. Good top & underlines. Absolutely footfall perfect on the move. At 15 months, time is on her side & I will not be surprised to see her winning CCs in the not too distant future; 2 Jimanns Sadly Sober at Kondwani, another lovely bitch who has a good head but doesn’t quite match the expression of the winner. Lovely for bone & substance. Really good on the move. Very typical & most promising; 3 Nehando’s Red Queen at Jaloumi. YB (2,1) 1 J Sadly Sober at K. NB (0). PGB (4) 1 Gabisa Wonder Woman, good in outline. Decent shape all through with attractive feminine head. Balanced angles. This bitch needs a little more work in my opinion. She has a good natural ability to show herself off, however, she loses her topline easily & pasterns & feet could be improved. Just needs to step it up a level when she could be so much better; 2 Kinabula Young Gifted And Red, typy bitch with a reasonable head. Feet could be improved. Moved out fairly well but a little choppy in the hindquarters; 3 Kelshanti Winnie Wannabe. LB (9,3) 1 Nuthouse Never Say Never, by far the best overall in the class for type, soundness & balance. Feminine head & expression. Good ribbing & reasonable front. Good top & underlines. Moderate hindquarters. Really made the most of herself on the move with a good precise footfall; 2 G Wonder Woman; 3 Ballyriver Hot Caramel for Fahari. OB (10,1) This class brought out the big guns & it turned out to be a tussle between the two on form bitches who eventually took the top honours. 1 Ch Kinabula Bin There Done That, judged this one very recently in a strong hound group at SWKA where she took G3. She is so good all through. Appealing head, strong neck. Moderate & balanced angulation throughout with no major faults. I thought today she more than stepped up to the mark & showed really good animated extension on the move with lovely propulsion from her hindquarters. To be critical she could strengthen in pastern. CC, BIS; 2 Ch Gunthwaite’s Cool Crazy Lady of Vandengan, instantly attractive beautiful bitch of excellent type. She shows much animation on the stack but can be a little over baited which shows up her pasterns/feet sporadically to her disadvantage. Really wouldn’t change her anywhere else. Moves out really well. Delighted to award her the RCC, RBIS against the male in strong contention; 3 Gunthwaite Born To Be Wicked at Jarhiba. VB (4) 1 Nuthouse Martini, good outline. Decent bone & feet. Her well balanced build enabled her to show exceptional movement. She really made the most of herself. BVIS; 2 Kelshanti Penda Zula, good outline if a shade on the heavy side. Very typical & moved well; 3 Ch Veldtkammer Red Hot Chick at Jaloumi.

PAUL SINGLETON