Page 13 - ShowSight Presents The West Highland White Terrier
P. 13
“Montgomery County 2011” ©2013, Allison Platt.
There is some debate among long-time, well-respected Westie judges as to the mer- its and usefulness of sparring, especially as far as bitches are concerned. Many judges do not spar bitches at all because bitches have a softer personality and rarely spar well. Personally, I almost never spar bitch- es except when the class is of uniformly high quality and I have trouble choosing between the best of them!
All along, the judge collects mental notes on each of the dogs. In smaller and weak classes the judge may well have decid- ed on placements along the way. In larger and strong classes it is best to have a strat- egy on how to make the final selections. The chief consideration should be given to the main characteristics that define Westie type. The standard lists many characteris- tics but gives little guidance on which ones are most important.
Fortunately, many well-respected judges agree on the most important cri- teria for evaluating Westies. Some years ago I asked a number of respected Westie judges what the five most important char- acteristics were on which they based their judgment. Most of the judges listed bal- ance/proportion, head, movement, coat, and temperament, not necessarily all in the same order. A survey by Nikki Riggs-
bee published in Dogs in Review found a very similar consensus. All of these char- acteristics except movement are essential expressions of type! This is not a choice between type and structure. Like Winnie the Pooh when confronted with a choice of sugar or honey for his tea, here too the right answer is, “Both, please.” Each dog should be rewarded in proportion to the degree to which he approaches the ideal in type and anatomy, with type weighted more heavily. Judges should be guided by what I was told more than four decades ago by Westminster BIS winning Terrier handler and later AKC Executive Field Representative Jimmy Butler, “You can find soundness in any pound, it is type that sets the breed apart.”
BIO
Dr. Gerry Meisels
and his wife Sylvia
have owned, bred,
and shown Westies
since 1959. Their
love of Westies began
with a daughter of
Westminster BIS winner Ch. Elfin- brook Simon. Gerry’s job took them from New Jersey to Houston, Lincoln, NE, and Tampa where they have lived
since 1988. They are primarily breeder- owner-handlers who have finished 62 home-bred Westies and have repeatedly received parent club recognition for BBE success and top producing bitches. Their daughter Laura still holds the record as the youngest handler ever to go BIS at an all-breed show. Several of their dogs have been ranked in the top five nationally. Gerry has judged Westies since 1972 and all Terriers since 1982.
In 1976 he and his family spent three months in Great Britain visiting ken- nels and dog shows every weekend, and acquiring six Westies. Gerry has held offices in several all-breed clubs and is currently AKC Delegate and President of the St. Petersburg DFA. He was found- ing president of the Westie specialty clubs in Houston and Tampa, and was on the Board of the WHWTCA. He currently serves on the WHWTCA’s Illustrated Standard Committee.
Gerry was born and raised in Vienna. He came to the US in 1951 as a Fulbright fellow in Chemistry at the University of Notre Dame. After 26 years of research and teaching he became Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebras- ka and later Provost and Vice President at the University of South Florida.
