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Kythe Kennels Philosophy

Our Philosophy

Our Bernese Mountain Dogs are bred for temperament, soundness, longevity and type. We breed Berners to improve the breed. In doing so, it is our goal to produce puppies of superior quality and type. No Berner in our breeding program will be used unless we believe that particular Berner and the resulting puppies can make a contribution to someone's life with the goal in mind that the breeding is for the purpose of improving the Bernese Mountain Dog breed and specifically our puppies and our dogs.

All of our dogs are AKC registered Bernese Mountain Dogs. We do not use dogs in our breeding program who have hip dysplasia (HD) or eye diseases such as PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) or cataracts. We do not believe that a dog who goes blind make the best possible pet, and we could not and would not show or breed such a dog.

Our Views and Goals

Bernese Mountain Dogs are a part of our life, and they will be as long as we are on this earth. Our goal is to breed dogs who are a joy to own, who can be worked in obedience and who can win in the show ring. We want to be known as breeders of distinction. To that end, we obtain GDC and/or OFA certifications on all of our dogs. We have eyes checked for CERF, and we breed only dogs who we believe will produce puppies that can make a contribution to the breed. We love Berners, and we want to do everything possible to improve the breed and help puppy buyers get sound, wonderful puppies that can be just pets or can be used for working titles or show.

We believe Berners should only be bred for temperament, soundness, longevity and type. Anything less, we believe is wrong.

Temperament

If a dog does not have a good temperament and if it cannot live with a family it will be of no value to anyone including itself. If you are wondering if our dogs are good with kids, see Geo with Nathan. Our dogs have typical Berner temperaments. They are wonderful with our family, and they let us know when strangers are here.
Some people ask, "Do Berners really smile?" If you are one of those that wonder, see Imp Smile!
Soundness has been a problem in all large breed dogs for years. Berners are no exception. But we think we can brag about our excellent soundness. (See Lucy's record!)
Our two foundation bitches are OFA Excellent with sound elbows and sound eyes.

We don't want to increase problems in Berners, so if we believe a dog is genetically unsound so that it cannot work and must limp from pain, we do not breed it. If a Berner is not sound, no one can use it for work, and the pleasure derived from the dog and the joy of its company is constantly overshadowed by the pain and suffering the dog is doing.

Three of our breeding females are OFA and/or GDC Excellent with sound elbows. The other one is GDC Good. All of our breeding Berners have been certified as having sound eyes. All of our breeding animals have certified sound hips.

Longevity

Longevity is a problem in many large breed dogs. If the Berner someone buys is not long lived, then the people who buy that Berner cannot have a full and wonderful adult life with their Berners. Some of our dogs ancestors have lived to be 14 years of age. Some have lived to be 12 years old. Several have lived to 9. Our foundation bitches are still alive at 7 and 8 years old. See Lucy... and Christy!

Breeding for Type for Show and Obedience

Dogs should be bred for their purpose in life. Berners were bred to herd, pull milk carts to market and watch the farm for intruders. The herding instinct in our dogs is strong. We are working with our dogs in herding. Although our dogs don't pull milk carts to market (do you need that?) our dogs are working on carting titles. Dogs from Kythe Kennels and in our breeding program have conformation championships, See Lucy!
national BMDCA wins See Christy!, obedience championships (see Jennifer K) and are working dogs in carting (see Jennifer K) and therapy. (See Sian E) We breed sound dogs that we believe can get the job done for you. And more importantly, they are wonderful to live with and to have for companions. See Christy and Nathan!

Read Kythe's Philosophy | Meet Kythe's Berner Family | Learn About Kythe's Breeding Practices | Kythe's Main Page | See Pictures of Kythe's Newest Puppies | See Kythe Dogs' Most Recent Wins | Kythe's Berners' in Their New Homes | Meet Kythe's Founding Fathers and Mothers | See Our Dogs Working | Kythe Puppies: How Much Are They Socialized? | Feeding Kythe Dogs | Kythe Puppies | BMDCA Standard | BMDCA Code Of Ethics | Other Dog Sites: Not Berners | Berner Friendly Sites

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