Godiva Cane Corsos

ICCF, Rarities, IABCA, FORB’s, ICCF Grand Champion
Bel Monte Diva
The top winning bitch in the American history

This page is dedicated to our little girl, Grand Champion Bel Monte Diva-the top winning Cane Corso bitch in American history. Diva has never failed to receive an Excellent rating from any judge she has ever been under (well over 200! Including 40 FCI judges) She is in my opinion the most complete Cane Corso in America. Diva embodies what the breed is supposed to be in terms of type, structure, soundness, character, balance and movement. Diva is OFA certified (FAIR) with no evidence of DJD. Diva is a sound, typey bitch with outstanding movement great reach and powerful drive, substantial muscularity, good bone and what I believe to be the most correct head of any Cane Corso in the country. She is a rock hard 108 lbs at 24 inches tall, she has great character and correct Cane Corso temperament. Diva has a short black coat with nice dark eyes set in a sub frontal position, tight fitting skin, and a nice dark volumous nose. She has slightly convergent naso-cranial axis of the skull and outstanding head to muzzle ratio. Her incisors are in a straight line with divergent canines, which serve to create a highly desirable serrated bite. Diva has a pronounced stop and a very nice deep, wide muzzle especially for a bitch. When viewed from the front her muzzle presents a nicely placed trapezoid. Diva’s body is slightly longer than tall and her center of gravity is evident exactly at the intersection of her shoulders and chest (50% of the height to her withers), her tail set is as a continuation of her topline and she has a nicely tucked loin. She has appropriate rear angulation with a nice low hock set, tight feet that are perfectly straight and good flexible pasterns. Diva has a nicely developed thorax with correct width of chest and very good shoulder layback. These qualities give her a very pleasing outline, and are essential components of sound movement.

Here are some of the things that judges have said about Diva:

Mrs. Sharon Candice Way "Nice powerful bitch. Well balanced, pleasing outline and topline" Mrs. Way goes on to say "head type very feminine yet showing strength and power"- 8/29/98 FORB New Jersey.

Mrs. Honey Glendinning "one of the nicest moving dogs I have ever seen" 5/21/99 IABCA Western PA

Mrs. Beverly Bonadonna-Vics " I only pick the dogs that I would want to take home with me, she should be an outstanding brood bitch" 4/19/98 FORB New Jersey.

Mrs. May Bernhard "Nice young bitch, very together, good reach and drive" 8/29/98 FORB New Jersey.

Diva is the cornerstone of our breeding program here at Godiva, we are trying to capitalize on all of her fine qualities while improving on her faults (yes-she does have faults, all dogs do. Anyone who says their dog is without fault is either lying or does not know anything about the breed or even dogs for that matter) Our breeding program is geared towards producing dogs that can compete successfully both here in America as well as internationally. Our goal is to one-day produce the first American bred World Champion Cane Corso. Diva was entered in this years world show but unfortunately because of a conflict with prior commitments our handler could not guarantee that he would be able to show her, so she will stay stateside and be bred (the world show coincides with her next heat cycle) It would have been very interesting to see how Diva would have faired against strong international competition.

On the Home front we are proud to announce that Diva has won the 2002 ICCF National Specialty! This win furthers her already incredible legacy as the top winning and best Cane Corso bitch in American history. No other female even comes close to her Best in Show wins, Working Group placements (almost 100!), Best of Breed wins, Specialty wins and her sheer dominance in the show ring (although some may claim too-we would be happy to compare records any time) As of this writing Diva is on the verge of becoming the first ever-dual Grand Champion in the history of the breed, she only needs a TT to complete the requirements for a Rarities Grand Champion title.

The 2002 Campaign…
Going into this year we planned on retiring Diva, our thinking was, what else could we prove with her? However, at what was to be her last show we encountered some rather rude and disrespectful treatment towards an important dog in the annals of the breed. Based on that show we decided not to walk off quietly into the sunset, instead we would keep Diva out front and center all year long-as a constant reminder to those who would not give a dog her due. I have to admit to agonizing over this decision, particularly during the hard weeks of roadwork leading up to the Nationals. I could see at almost 5 years old that Diva didn’t have the drive and stamina that she once applied in attacking her conditioning. Fortunately it all paid off in the end as Diva finally achieved the one thing that had eluded her illustrious show career to date, Best of Breed at the ICCF National Specialty. We still have some unfinished business left this year, as I mentioned earlier we still need a TT for her Rarities GR CH. We would also like to get the remaining 5 points to finish her with her Rare Heirs. As of this writing Diva has an already huge lead in points for a fourth straight ICCF Bitch of the Year title, we would certainly like to see that through. Later this year we will be starting her International career, as we plan on going to a number of FCI shows abroad, hopefully she will become the first American bred Cane Corso to earn an International title.

Diva has earned 80 Working group placements, countless Best of Breeds, and 6 Best in Show titles. She is the top winning female Cane Corso in American history.Diva was the youngest champion in the history of the ICCF at 8 months 4 days, until her son Angus took that honor from her in the spring of 2000. Diva is however still the youngest Grand Champion ever. Some of her accomplishments include:

Diva’s accomplishments to date:
ICCF Champion
ARBA Champion
Federation of Rare Breeds Champion
Rarities Champion
IABCA Champion
ICCF Grand Champion (youngest in history)
Rarities Grand Champion (pending TT)
7X Best in Show winner
4X Reserve Best in Show winner
Almost 100 Working Group placements
1998 ICCF Puppy of the Year
1999ICCF Bitch of the Year
2000 ICCF Bitch of the Year
2001 ICCF Bitch of the Year
Best of Opposite 1999 ICCF National Specialty
Best of Opposite 2001 ICCF National Specialty
Best of Breed 2001 CCPS National Specialty
Best of Breed 2002 ICCF National Specialty
Best of Opposite Rarities Cane Corso Specialty show

We are planning to breed Diva this summer to Dutch Champion Byonics Noe to get more information on this litter check out our “Litter announcements” page on this site

To see more of Diva and view her pedigree, click here!

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Godiva Cane Corsos
Godivacanecorsos@aol.com

Contact us for a complementary Godiva Cane Corso brochure

Thank you to Alberto Cremonasi for the use of his "legionnaire" as our watermark

Last Updated 11/12/2008