Sharon Sakson's Dog Critique

A lovely summer day and 132 beautiful male Whippets.

Minor Puppy Dog – Class of 10. The morning began with rain, so the first three classes were held indoors. This was a lovely group of squirming youngsters. 1) Beetelian Indian Brave of Dunaruna. Lovely quality, very balanced, and a good mover. 2) Denimonde Over the Moon. Lovely shape and balance could use a little more neck and stronger muzzle. 3) Elmanash Amberjack of Shagraan. Smooth and pleasing.

Puppy Dog. Class of 11. 1) Spinneyhill Shiraz. Reserve CC. So elegant and flexible in body. Love his long neck. One of my mentors in Whippets used to say, “A good stud dog needs something to give away.” That’s how I feel about this dog; he has elegance to spare. 2) Aquilegia Vanetino. Classic Whippet type. 3) Yialousa Crème de la Crème at Jzan. This young boy kept me guessing as to what he looked like by tugging, pulling and putting his body in a pretzel. Flexible, I thought.

Junior Dog. Class of 16. 1) Spinneyhill Rainmaker of Railfield. Lovely shape and movement. Thanks to the club for putting pedigrees in the catalog. I see here that he is a kennelmate of my Puppy Dog winner, but from a different breeding. 2) Blandings Captain Scarlet. Strong & solid. 3) Loroli Authorized by Dohan. Smooth muscle.

Yearling Dog. Class of 10. 1) Willingwisp Star Trooper. A strong, outstanding red and white particolour. Athletically muscled and in top shape. Congratulations are due to the breeder who so successfully brought together Swedish and American bloodlines with English ones. 2) Blandings Captain Scarlet. From Junior. 3) Huntinghill The Jazz Man. Again, a nice blend of international qualities.

Maiden Dog. Class of 11. 1) Beetelian Indian Brave of Dunaruna. The Minor Puppy winner continued to shine in this Maiden class. Elegant, eye-catching, and solidly built. 2) Denimonde Over the Moon. Smooth outline. 3) Inca Gold. Seemed rather unhappy today.

Novice Dog. 13. 1) Yialousa Creme de la Creme at Jzan. This young fellow showed much better outdoors, or maybe it was because he’d worked out his hijinks from his Puppy class. This time his overall soundness made him #1. 2) Midnight Dazzler at Derohan. 3) Kaymark Dexter.

Graduate Dog. 13. 1) Denimonde Weaving a Dream. Strong and powerful. 2) Loroli Authorized by Derohan. Nice outline. 3) Spyanfly Sinatra. A strong little stallion of a dog. Needs a more powerful muzzle.

Post Graduate Dog. 15. 1) Mossbawnhill Cast No Shadow. CC winner. This boy was pleasing in type, symmetry, muscle, flexibility, and length of neck. Balanced combination with elegance and grace of outline. Particularly nice shoulders. 2) Woolsocks Red Kite. Fawn & white particoulor. Loved his elegance & sweet expression. Head pleasingly long & lean. 3) Watchword Aragon. Blue, lovely deep chest & tuck up.

Limit Dog. 26. A class loaded with quality. Willingwisp Star Legend. He epitomizes the requirement of the standard for “grace of outline.” The loveliest headpiece. I wonder if an exercise program would strengthen his rear movement. From the catalogue, I see he is a full litter brother to the Yearling Dog winner. 2) Barnesmore Parti Time at Tahir. 3) Endway Alpine Gold.

Open Dog. Entry 23. 1) Jasarat Galaxy Gold. Wow. I thought this dog was stunning, with his clearly defined outline and depth of chest. Arched neck, broad back, strong front; he had it all. 2) Courthill Cast in Stone. 3) Nevedith MFA Markwiss at Marimau – notes not available for these last two & judge doesn’t want to rely on unreliable memory.

Veteran Dog. 8 entries. 1) Multi Ch. Airescot Ruby Rascal. At 8 ½, this dog is still stunning. A little more avoirdupois then when he was young, but so do we all. After the show, I perused the pedigrees and found he had contributed greatly to many of my winners. 2) Spinneyhill Minstrel. 3) Nevedith Beefa Beejabbers at Lokeren.

Coursing Dog. 8. 1) Moonlake Macintosh. A 10 year old dog still loaded with quality. It’s interesting how he and Ruby Rascal are much of a type but from entirely different breeding. Clever breeders. 2) Starwift Casanova. In fabulous shape, ready to run. 3) Spiders N Spoons.

In the Challenge, when I looked at my line-up, I felt proud because each dog was such a lovely representation of my breed. This day, I didn’t know which of these beautiful dogs would be victorious. I put my exhibits through another examination and more movement. Mossbawnhill Cast No Shadow won a very close competition on his easy sidegait and sound up and back, plus excellent shoulder layback and matching return of upper arm. Reserve CC: Spinneyhill Shiraz, who’s elegance reminded me of my own Ch. Paris Panther.

Coming from America, I’m struck as always by the great outlines of English Whippets; deep chests and lots of tuck-up. This entry also had a lot of smooth, easy movement. They were notable for good shoulders, and also for sturdy chests, the bit between the front legs that provides stability. It’s been my observation in my own breeding that when you start to improve fronts, you get a bit too much breastbone at first, and I saw that here. An excellent entry that was a pleasure to judge. I must give thanks to my excellent steward, who kept things running smoothly.

(In this critique, for those dogs with few or no comments, it is because the photo did come out & judge’s memory is unreliable.)