SOUTHERN COUNTIES 2004 Judge's Critique Elina Haapaniemi (Finland) 

My first time awarding CC's for the breed in England. Thank you for a very nice entry & for an exceptionally enjoyable day & atmosphere. The applause was generous & I really enjoyed my judging & handled many beautiful dogs throughout the day. My top winners were of outstanding quality & I was much impressed particularly by my CC & RCC win- ners.
Many a good Dalmatians have come to Scandinavia from England & the breed is in good & very capable hands. Overall type was very good & most of the temperaments excellent. Just a couple of things that I think may need watching. The fronts - yes I know a universal problem, but a very obvious fault in a Dalmatian where we are looking for a particularly balanced dog who is able to move easily & with good stride. Secondly, & please,! am not a tooth fanatic, but I was concerned to find so many dogs with so many missing teeth.

PD (7): 1 Carvells TimmyWillie with Lilal. masculine, very promising puppy with a super outline, well moulded head. would like a shade darker eye. Nicely spotted, easy, sound mover, most pleasing & promising puppy & should continue to do wed. BP. 2 Stokes' Elaridge Quinde, 1/s.very much a baby at 6 months, but shows a lot of promise & is beautifully made, lovely head & expression, excellent bone, moves soundly for one so young; 3 Kembreys Dalmark The Show Stormer.
JD (16): 1 Pjgden's Tyrodal Mercury Cougar. 1/s very handsome young dog, very well handled, outstanding temperament, excellent outline, head of lovely length & mould, so well put together which was confirmed by his easy & steady movement; 2 Hale's Mapplewel It TakesTwo, b/s, beautiful dog in excellent muscletone, pleasing, typical outline, just needs to tighten a little in front. Well spotted, delightful temperament; 3 Jay's Chandhally Bucks Fizz.
  YD (4): 1 Jays' Chandhally Bucks Fizz. slightly heavily spotted, otherwise plenty to like, well balanced & particularly liked his head, although would prefer a slightly darkier eye. Well built, sound mover; 2 Hammetts Bryedal Mayan, l/s masculine dog, in wonderful muscular condition, excellent head 3 Parla's Washakie with Distinction. 
GD (1): 1 Hartley & Griffiths' MiraguaThe Explorer, b/s, lively young dog who now needs a little more body to complete the picture. Showed very well, nice even spotting, good frame & nice masculine head.
PGD (11.2): 1 Petersen's Buffrey Beau Bell at Daedalus, strong, masculine, well balanced dog of very pleasing type, just a shade heavily spotted. Excellent length of head & pleasing mould, would like his eye a shade darker. His conformation is super & this shows off on the move 2 Green & Sear's Dalspa Oratorio, b/s, the spotting is a little sparse, having said that he is a sound & balanced dog with a pleasing head & expression, weB bulk & an easy, good mover; 3 Moseley's Loxleyvale Khandahar. 
LD (8, 3a):1 Alexander's Offordale Blenheim, b/s strong young mate in excellent form, looks very good standing, excellent bone, very good body & quarters. Just tends to look a little low going around. Very nice even spotting, plenty to like; 2 Goff-Leggett's Ecliptic Star of Washakie, b/s masculine dog, showed perfectly, very pleasing outline, nice head, but would prefer darker eye. Easy & efficient mover;3 Brookes' HispotHicommand
OD (15,1): 1 Goff-Leggett's Ch Washakie Chief As Great As, what a super dog this one is, b/s strong, masculine dog who appealed tremendously, showed wonderfully well. If I want to criticise him I would like him less heavily spotted. Excels in all other departments & moves like a Dalmatian should - with long effortless stride. CC; 2 McCarthy's Ch Tolwood Lionel at Kilndandy, outstanding breed representative, but gave me a bit of a headache with his ring performance, but settled down & I was able to assess his movement, l/s most beautiful dog of wonderful type, very wonderful head, once settled moved soundly & efficiently round the ring. Hope he gets over his dilemma in the ring, his quality cannot be denied. RCC; 3 Stevenson's Ch Gemmont Marauding Mutineer at Macula. 
V (3,1): 1 McCarthy's CMr/Int Ch Truthful Tango at Kilndandy, 9'A years old, b/s in excellent form for his age, obviously enjoyed his day out, masculine, pleasing head, very well put together & still moving really well. BV; 2 Wills' Dunctons Mistle from Dallyvista, 7 years feminine bitch in excellent shape for her age Would prefer her with better spotting.

PB (7,2): 1 Grant-Silverstone's Tanstar Amethyst Rose; 2 Barren's Tanstar Rose Quartz, two l/s litter sisters, both nicely grown for their age & very little separating them. Both puppies are very feminine with pretty heads.Tbe pigmentation on Rose Quartz is not quite as strong as on Amethyst Rose, but I am sure will improve with age. Both were very good on the move; 3 Scott-Alien & Davis' Tolutim Chartreuse. 
JB (10.3): 1 Carter's Dalkiss Spring Surprise, very beautiful head & expression, her underline is just a little too drawn up at the moment Good strong quarters used well on the move, nice spotting; 2 Wilson's Chandhally Phoenix for Dalregis, balanced bitch, but colour could be better. Nice head shape, but would like darker eye. Sound mover; 3 Page's Winflash Spring Fury
YB (4): 1 McMillan's Olbero Ososweet at Dalyance, very pretty l/s young bitch, very pleasing outline & very soundly made, moved with good drive, well marked; 2 McManus' Olbero Osoposh, b/s litter sister to Ososweet, quality head, but would like darker eye. Could have a touch more hind angulation; 3 Morley's Olbero Onemilliongiri.
  GB (4): 1 Rose's Washakie Ocean Song by Candidals, very balanced, soundly made feminine bitch, excellent head, very nice bone & body, carried herself well on the move, very showy; 2 0 Osoposh;. 3 Wills' Dallyvista Scandalous Risk
PGB (11.1): 1 Howard's Alchemilla Mollis from Kawimbe, lovely quality throughout & I really liked her very much indeed, very true Dalmatian from all angles, b/s so utterly feminine & beautifully made, exquisite head with darkest of eye, correctly made & delightful to watch on the move. RCC 2 Scott-Allen & Davis' Olbero Olympic Rose, very good bitch as well. very feminine throughout & with a very lovely head & wonderful dark eye, soundly made & moved with lovely stride & drive; 3 Cuthbertson's Ellemstra Made To Measure for Kalsidoni.
  LB (10.3): 1 Bridges' Washakie Indian Braids, b/s with beautiful carriage, kindly handled & showed very well, very beautiful well made bitch, in very good form, nice head, eye could be a touch darker. Excellent mover; 2 Fleming's Chandhally Chantilly Lace, b/s feminine bitch, very lovely head, well put together, but would have been to better advantage in harder condition; 3 Baker's Abbydal Angelica by Dalleaf. 
OB (11,2) 1 Petersen's Ch BuffreyArrabelle at Daedalus, what an absolutely gorgeous bitch! now 7 years & very much in top form, star quality, so utterly Dalmatian, real blueprint of the Standard, gave me much pleasure to go over this wonderful specimen. CC & BOB over a top quality dog; 2 Whincup's Kajezza Vicky Ticky Toria at Tamilanda, also 7 years, kindly & well handled, quality bitch with many good points, excellent on the move. Front angulation could be a litte better; 3. Hipkiss' Dalkiss Isia of lona

ELINA HAAPANIEMI (Finland) (judge)