Archie “Bernation Archys Crusade” – 2014 Shining Knight Winner

This year’s Shining Knight winner was Nikki Smith’s boy Archie who has a long list of achievements to his name.  For the last three years, Archie has donated blood every 3 months and before that he donated blood on an emergency basis.  To be a regular canine blood donor is a tremendous gift and the blood he has donated has no doubt saved the lives of many dogs.

In addition to regularly donating blood, Archie has been a tremendous ambassador for the breed.  For many years he helped Nikki run the puppy preschool at Craigieburn Animal Hospital teaching both small dogs and their owners that Berners really are gentle giants.  He has also represented the breed and BMDCV at many expos and functions over the years.

Archie has also shown that Berners are extremely versatile and capable.  He achieved his conformation title at the age of 14 month and in 2008 easily obtained his Endurance Title which involved completing a 20km course at a run of just over 10km/hour.  This is an amazing achievement for any dog, but particularly for a Bernese Mountain Dog.

Also in 2008, Archie won the Novice Obedience (Dogs) class at the Royal Melbourne Show.  He has also obtained his CD title, scoring the top score in the entire trial.  He then gained his CCD title with brilliant scores of 99/100, 99/100 and 98/100.  Finally, Archie does agility although he has not sought any titles in this area yet.