I was indeed a great honour to be invited to Judge the Swedish Collie Club Speciality show in Uppsala on the 11th September, 2005.
It gave me great pleasure to be there and judge the Rough & Smooth Collies, in such a superb venue, fortunately the weather was very kind to us, and the setting was perfect for such a lovely show.

There were some very nice exhibits on view, I was impressed with the Smooth Collies, and in general they were of High quality, with only one or two exceptions.
My Dog C.A.C. and Best Smooth, is a superb specimen of the breed, he excelled in construction and outline and at 10yrs old, really moved round the ring, with drive and purpose, a very good example. The Bitch C.A.C. winner, I found to be a quality bitch, feminine in outlook, which presented a good overall picture, she had a lovely head with parallel planes and sweet eye and expression, shown on a loose lead, one could appreciate her overall profile.

The Smooth babies, I found very promising, I loved the little one who would not walk on the lead, she showed so much promise, I am sure she will go further as she matures and will no doubt give her owner a great deal of pleasure.

BB, BOB Steadwyn Blissfullyblue & BD, BOS Kendrakes Rockefellish

Best In Show, BB, BOB Steadwyn Blissfullyblue & BOB Smooth & Veteran in Show Int.Norduch, Korad, Nordv-99, SV-OO Oneway's Errol Flynn

In Rough Collies, the quality was mixed.
The young babies in the males, I found interesting to judge, as I liked several of them and in time should mature well, although I would have liked to have seen a little more size in some of them.
The junior and intermediate classes some showed much promise hence my placing in the Winners.
The Open Dog class caused me quite a dilemma, my first impressions, were sometimes deceiving, I found one or two which impressed me greatly for overall type and construction, in some instances, on closer inspection needed slight improvement in head and expression and movement let them down.
My winner, had a lovely head eye and expression, but I would have liked him to have been bigger and carry more body and coat, however, in balance this was my choice..
The Champion winner and Best Dog, was a good example of the breed, and was in a class of his own, his overall profile was excellent, he had a good head and together with his outstanding movement found him to be a very worthy winner, and he has much to offer the breed.

The baby puppy bitch class was a pleasure to judge, I particularly liked the winner, she had a great deal going for her, if she is nurtured she could go far, perhaps her young handler could encourage her more and praise her often for her good behaviour when she responds to show hesrelf,…. She cannot do it all on her own??!!

The Open Bitch class was a joy to see, there were several whom I could have happily awarded the CC I thought the first two bitches were outstanding, it was a pity the 2nd bitch had to meet the eventual B.I.S. winner as she is of high calibre and should gain her title with ease, only the slightly better head profile of the winner was the deciding factor. Her colour and coat was quite superb.
The eventual B.I.S. winner, took my breath away, I think she is perhaps one of the nicest Collie bitches I have had the pleasure to judge, I consider her to be outstanding, in quality and quite stunning in every respect, her colour, I would consider, as near perfection as one could achieve in a blue merle I consider her to be a bitch which completely befits the standard and I would have liked to have brought her home with me.

I had two wonderful Stewards in Patric, and Ingunn, both were highly competent, and worked hard on my behalf.
I would also like to thank the Chairman Marianne, Maria & Britt, and all the other officials of the club, who worked so hard to make the day so enjoyable.

Finally, it was a pleasure to meet everyone, and I would like to thank all the exhibitors for bringing their Collies for me to judge it was indeed a privilege to handle them.

May I wish the Swedish Collie club every success in the future? .

Good Luck!