This may or may not be the reason I observed a much higher percentage of Staffords in the ring who could only be described as unhappy campers, exhibits with tails between their legs, heads down, ears laid back, eyes rolling. These comments, of course, apply only to the happy campers. Different horses for different courses. On the other hand, this unfortunate circumstances simply gives me an additional reason to visit Merrie England one more time. From what I could see, the qualify of white and color Bull Terriers has regressed somewhat since the days of the late Raymond Oppenheimer, but the quality of the Miniature Bull Terriers has improved considerably.
Border Terriers seem stronger there than here.
I was delighted to see that the Finnspitz numbers and quality are vastly improved. Perhaps an addendum to my previous post on Crufts might not come amiss at this point. I did not post the following previously because I wanted to make sure my thoughts were in order before doing so and that I would choose my words carefully. All the caveats of my previous post still apply. The bitches were much more even in size and type than before.