Folke won the challenge and BOB, 7 entries, under Eeva Rautala in Hässleholm during the weekend. 
Intermediate class
He won over 2 in his class plus the open dog that was Swedish winner earlier this year. 2 bitches were entered and since neither got a CK there was no BOB competition. There were only two who got CK and that was Folke and the Swedish winner.
Intermediate class
The judge loved Folke and said that the somewhat open bite had to be put into relation to his strengths and assets. She had a Swedish judge trainee in the ring, which was great fun as that meant that she said everything out loud and discussed it with the trainee.
Intermediate class
She went through Folke bit by bit and pointed out breed characteristics and what to be aware of in curlies - it was easy to tell she knew curlies, everything from temperament to appearance. Luckily she checked the teeth last or I would have turned cocky by all the positive comments like "this is what you should look for in a curly" "this is also perfect - this is the way it is supposed to be" , the only words that went through my mind was "bugger bugger bugger bugger, "she is going to check his mouth and all this will be worth nothing". But as earlier mentioned she commented on the bite and I was relieved she put it in perspective to all of his strengths. The tiny bit of an open bite comes and goes - I hope it will go never to come back again.
Best dog
She was also really strict on coats - finally a judge that values a good coat. I have been on dog shows watching curlies with no curls or with huge bald patches win the challenge - scary!
Best dog
Folke´s critics:
Excellent type and size, beautiful head and expression, good eye colour, excellent neck and topline, excellent chest for his age, good bone structure, well angulated. lovely coat, carries his tail a bit high when running. Moves well. Pleasing temperament. A somewhat open bite.
Yeeey! The challenge!!!
We have practised a bit on running using a command and also on following my hand at certain times while running and I am pretty happy with the result, especially the running command as Folke kept going for quite some time once he got in the right pace.
There were quite a lot of bitches on heat around - and I showed one, so by the time we got to the Group competition Folke´s thoughts where someplace else but it didn't bother me all that much. He will learn how to handle it (with a little bit of help ;) ) as he grows and he won't grow tired as quickly when he gets used to shows. He was an overly happy lad in the group finals - but happy is good!
Best Of Breed
