Dogs bred by 200 different kennels have won the 2424 (1,212 sets) of CCs awarded since the first for our breed in 1977 with Meadowpark leading the way with 205 CCs to date, 67 in front of the 138 CCs by second placed Monalou kennel and 100 in front of Fortonpark in 3rd place on 105 CCs. There are nearly 40 overseas kennels included in the list.
Of course, not all CC winners are bred by recognised kennels, some are bred by breeders with no affix. If any kennels, UK or overseas, are found to be missing from this list please inform us via web@bernese.co.uk and we will be happy to correct the list. Likewise, please inform us about any information you feel is incorrect as this is quite an effort collating details from over 1,200 events spread over nearly 50 years and isolated mistakes are easy to make and may not be picked up by checks.
Please note this list is only updated periodically so may not be absolutely up to date at any set time but the last show included will always be given. The list is broken down into sections to assist clarity of use. The years the kennels won their first and last CCs helps to date their activity as well as suggesting whether they are still active or not and likely to increase their totals.
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How Important is this list?
Well, it is obviously of prime, at least casual, interest to ‘show people’ but how much does it matter beyond that? How much are top level show winners an indicator of a top class kennel for someone wanting to buy their first Bernese for example? Well it is true there is no direct link between breeding healthy dogs and breeding winning show dogs in this country. In France for example in order to be a Champion Bernese you have to have completed all the recommended health testing for the breed. As critics of the show world will readily attest, it is true there is no regulation to stop anyone breeding your dogs completely motivated by show type and and ignore all health testing and still have a good show career from that kind of practice. Whilst judges have a responsibility to ensure presented dogs are in obvious good general health, show judging does not take any health scoring into account, it is all about the dog on the day so in these contexts the critics are quite correct. Indeed in some other breeds the Kennel Club, and others around the world, have introduced extra veterinary checks of health, or specific features, into various stages of the show procedure to address concerns.
However, to be a successful show dog, especially a consistently successful one, a good level of soundness is a minimum requirement as judges do look at the dog’s construction and soundness on the move. Show dogs need to have a good temperament, being good with people and other dogs, and the best ones often have that that extra happiness and confidence that makes them stand out. These kind of things would be positive things to look for in a potential puppy’s parents and relatives.
Like everything else, showing or even winning, is not a definite indicator of getting a good quality and healthy puppy from that kennel but it does have its positive aspect illustrating a serious commitment to the breed and most seriously interested people will have some kind of show involvement. So yes, if looking for a puppy add show success as a generally positive factor in your assessment of any potential breeder of your puppy but it is just one factor and no guarantee of anything in isolation and conversely if a breeder does not show it does not mean they should be avoided, some may be carters, or work their dogs in some other ways such as obedience or agility, but most experienced people in all breeds would advise a bit of caution with breeders whose only apparent activity in the breed is, and only ever has been …… breeding. You should still ask about all the other factors you can find elsewhere on this web site and in many other places giving advice to puppy buyers and the ‘point of CCs’ was covered in the homepage of this section of our web site.
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How to order the list – Total of CCs won or number of CC winning dogs?
These are two viewpoints that both have their merits. The sheer number of CCs won suggests a high standard of excellence but it could just be with one or two ‘lucky’ outstanding dogs, the number of CC winning dogs suggests excellence over a broader range of consistency.
Purely for the purposes of this list which is about show achievement of kennels, the kennels have been graded by combining the number of CCs won by dogs bred by each kennel and adding it to the number of kennel bred dogs winning those CCs.
So if a kennel had bred 6 CC winning dogs who have won 17 CCs between then they have a grading points total of 23. If a different Kennel has also won 17 CCs but from only 1 dog they would have a grading total of (17+1) 18.
If a kennel has one CC won by (obviously) just one dog then they have the lowest possible grading of 2, 1 point for the CC and 1 point for the dog. Where kennels have the same grading total then firstly the number of CCs will be taken into account next and then the number of dogs winning them, when they are still equal after that then alphabetical order will prevail and they will be ranked as “=”.
Overseas kennels are shown in blue italics.
As is often the case it is much more long winded to explain than actually see in action, so why not just look at the lists below and see how the ordering of the kennels works.
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