Once Upon A Time ...
in a land not so far away, a litter of Samoyed puppies was born at the Vanderbilt kennel of Blair & Judi Elford. Nine puppies to be exact.
This was the first litter for their dam, and a petite girl - she was at the lower end of the breed standard at 20". But what she lacked in size "Fallon" made up for in pure quality and amazing temperament. Fallon has a story all her own that we'll describe briefly which might heighten your enjoyment of Fonzie's own tale. Fallon was a girl her breeders could not sell. The Elfords had planned to keep a boy from this litter - and a dandy one he was, known as "Pyro" (later Multi BIS Can.Am.Ch. Vanderbilt Plays With Matches). Show breeders and pet owners alike looked at the litter and picked around the little "Pink Girl". At 10 weeks she was brought to a show to meet a couple who were looking for a new show girl, but they didn't like her pigment and thought she was shy. At about 12 weeks Fallon again came very close to being sold to a pet home, but Judi & Blair got some bad vibes from the would-be owners just before the sale so returned the deposit and cancelled the deal. Although Fallon's STAR QUALITY was shining through loud and clear for many weeks, at this point the Elfords were just looking for a great home as show people were sometimes terribly fickle. They knew that she had a GREAT temperament, and just needed the right family to lavish herself on. Ultimately at about 4 months they decided that this puppy was no longer for sale, and gave her a name. And so "Fallon" stayed. At 6 months of age to the day she took a Group 4/BPIG in tough Southern Ontario competition, and the following weekend at 6 months, 8 days of age she became the youngest Best in Show winner in breed history. Fallon went on to win the prestigious Credit Valley Puppy of the Year, 11 BPIS's, many Group placements and also net Best of Breed at the National Specialty at 15 months of age as well as the Specialty Sweepstakes.
 Fonzie's dam, "Fallon"
Once Fallon was old enough, the hunt was on to select a mate for her first litter. Herself the product of an outcross between two highly successful US kennels, namely Wolf River & Risuko - Blair & Judi were now hoping to linebreed on one of the two families. Both of her parents were older at the time of her birth, so the breeding could not be repeated - although there were many who wished it could be after seeing Fallon and her littermates! The Elfords decided that a linebreeding on Risuko was highly desirable as the line had strength in the beautiful temperament the breed is supposed to have, but sadly in recent years seems to be slipping. Alas, but the Risuko kennel had been disbanded and was no longer producing dogs. There were some hybrid descendents with other breeders of course, but we wanted to go fairly tight. Fallon's own sire "ZJ" (Ch. Risuko's Amorak at Katimavik) was now gone, but he had produced some exceptional offspring in his limited stud career.
 Fonzie's double grandsire, "ZJ"
One young male in particular had caught Judi's attention while exhibiting her then-baby boy "Heero" at a show in Thunder Bay. This young fellow was bred by well known Canadian breeders Frank & Helga Gruber (Shebaska) and had been sold to owner Barb Thompson. "BJ", as a truly precocious adolescent was having great sport with Barb who was trying hard to handle him in the ring when Judi first saw them. Barb did extremely well for her first showdog, but luckily professional handler Yvonne Yuric noted BJ's potential early on and was instrumental in seeing him aquire his Can.Am.Ch. titles very quickly. Barb and her husband John were delightful folks that loved BJ to pieces and more than eagar to see their boy live up to his potential! The dam's portion of BJ's pedigree was linebred Shebaska - which was the family the Elfords had started with back in 1977 and had combined so successfully with the Wolf River blood, producing many Champions including 6xBIS Can.Am.Ch. Vanderbilt's Secretariat, "Ajax" and Can.Am.Ch. Vanderbilt's Neon Nightingale. When the Elford's approached Barb & John about whether they would consider flying BJ to Toronto for a hot date with Fallon, they was more than accomodating and our fate was sealed.
 Fonzie's sire "BJ"
Nine weeks after BJ's tryst at Camp Vanderbilt, 9 beautiful puppies were gracefully delivered into the world by Princess Fallon. She proved to be a superlative mother and raised the kids beautifully and to have her air of Royalty. By now tales of Fallon being passed over as a puppy were almost legendary in Samoyed circles, and there was no shortage of interest in her protege! The puppies were stunning - brimming with the exceptional type and presence of Risuko and the soundness of Wolf River. Seven of the 9 went to show homes in several countries (Canada, USA, Finland, Spain). The remain 2 exquisite puppies went as beloved family companions. The Elfords retained 2 of the litter themselves, a boy and a girl. The girl was named "Celine" (Vanderbilt's Playin' My Song) and the boy was called "Fonzie" (Vanderbilt's Playin' It Cool). There was such depth of quality as to make puppy selection difficult for all involved, but as with most dogs that grow up to be notables, there was just "something" about that little "Blue Boy". The effervescent character had a lot to do with it, the Elfords admit. Fonzie was always "cool".
 "Fonzie" at 5 wks
Fonzie's show debut was in the US at 6 months to the day. Really planned as a lead-breaking excursion for the young puppy as the Elford's yearling bitch "Yasmine" was the primary entry on that outing. The first two days Fonzie fought the lead, ran around the ring backwards, and generally acted like a salmon on the end of a line! The Elfords had no reason to expect more from this heretofore untrained fledgling who had never even attended one class or match. By the last day he semi-gaited, flashed his famous smile at the judge (Houston Clarke) and bagged a major!
 "Fonzie" - a major at 6 mos!
We won't bore you with details of all the many wins of Fonzie's puppyhood career - rather suffice it to state the highlights. Showing just between 6-12 months of age The Fonz won 3 BIS, 1 RBIS, 3 BISS, many Group placements and 21 BPIS's (a CKC all breed record), ending the year as #2 Sam. At 13 months he took 1st Award of Merit at the US National under top US breeder-judge Lynette Blue (Polar Mist), and together with siblings "Celine" and "Ultima" helped Fallon win 2nd place in a very competitive Brood Bitch class under Anne Rogers Clarke.
In 2006 Fonzie was hips OVC and eyes CERF certified and began "dating". Visit f2 page for more info on his kiddies and breedings.
 Fonzie was out showing on a limited basis in 2006 and to October bagged 7 BIS, 6 BISS + several Group wins and placements. Watch for him at a show near you, and check in on his "Show Results" page for updates. In the mean time, Fonzie sez ...
"Live fast, love hard, and don't let anybody else use your comb!!"
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