Did anyone notice how many dogs- not a majority, but a fairly signiicant minoriy- were shown on a LOOSE LEASH last night? While there were still a lot of handlers stringing up dogs on the down and back, I noticed a lot of handlers gaiting their dogs on a loose leash. Are we finally moving away from that?
Secondly, I liked seeing dogs rewarded that WEREN'T quite so heavy on coat- the Aussie bitch who won the herding group would be a case in point, but the Groendahl, and the Rough Collie were also nice and moderate. Yeah, the Spoo was still incredible- but it still seemed like overall, the judges were looking beyond a beautiful presentation for once and really putting hands on the dog.