6th August 2016
Judge: Dr. C. Linde Forsberg (Sweden)
Entry shown: 75

© Photos by Cristina Fornasier

bis-20

I would like to thank the Beagle Club of Queensland for inviting me to judge at the 20th Championship Show in Brisbane, August 6th, 2016. I also wish to express my warm appreciation for the generous hospitality shown to me during this my first visit to beautiful Queensland. I thoroughly enjoyed this great opportunity to once more go over so many of your Beagles, and also after the show to meet with some old acquaintances. The showmanship and sportsmanship of the exhibitors, and the efficient help of my ring stewards made my day a very pleasant one.
I found the overall quality very good, but with a wide variation in type. Although it is the same breed the two Beagle standards, the British and the American, differ especially when it comes to height and body proportions. Both standards produce some excellent Beagles, and when judging one should have no problem to find worthy winners according to the standard at hand.
The Beagle is a working dog, bred to hunt, and this means that the functional details are of prime importance. For endurance it needs good running gear and plenty of heart and lung capacity. At the same time the correct Beagle head with the soft expression is what tells us this is not just any sound dog, but a Beagle. And the correct stern carriage is the icing on the cake.
I was very pleased with my winners and found both the dogs and the bitches of high quality. In heads there were some untypical too round eyes, and some pink haws which both spoil the expression. A few heads were also a bit on the short side. Toplines in general were strong, and the tailset and carriage correct. Most ribcages were of adequate length and depth. A few were a bit deep in brisket or had a slightly prominent forechest which tends to give an untypical silhouette. Bone in general was strong. I was pleasantly surprised to find so many Beagles with excellent shoulders and long upper arms. This is lacking in the breed in many countries, so you really have something to pride yourselves with here. Rear angulation in most of the dogs was fine, with strong quarters and well outlined second thighs. Movement seen from the side in general showed good ground coverage, but there was more than one entry that came towards me with some degree of paddling. A common fault in this breed. Rear action on the other hand was in most cases both parallel and with good drive.
The slides from my talks on canine reproduction and on Beagle health have been forwarded to the Club for the home page or other distribution to those of you who were unable to attend.

Catharina Linde Forsberg