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A
short history of Fantail Kennels...
Fantail actually did not start in the world of English Setters.
Honey Walker got her first dog from her parents for her 16th
birthday. An Irish Setter. A casual remark from the breeder of
this dog upon the occasion of picking him up at the kennel
changed things forever. That remark was, "why don't you
show him?" Honey's perfectly logical response to this
question was "To whom?" That first show took place
within a month and after that outing Honey knew this would be a
major part of her life.
Six months after that came Christmas, not the holiday but the
second Irish Setter. Christmas actually became the first
resident champion at Fantail Kennels. At about the same time
Honey's father Frank was looking to get an English Setter for
Honey's younger sister Taffe (now McFadden) and assigned Honey
the project of finding the best English she could locate in six
months. This search led to Sally Vertulia at Wragge Run Kennels
in Milton, ON. The result was the first Fantail English Setter
champion, Wragge Runs Wine and Roses. So in 1969 Fantail was in
the English Setter business. The Irish lingered for a few years
but the thrust of the breeding program moved to English Setters.
Two more dogs arrived from Sally's kennel, one being Ch Wragge
Runs Copper Bottom CD who was a wonderful showdog, great
companion and very solid producer. "Alfie" as he was
known, was the top producing E.S. sire in Canada for four years
from 1976 to 1979 and was a BISS winner. Six months after
Alfie's arrival Fantail really became established with a gift
from Honey's parents, a young puppy bitch from Levonia, Michigan
and Marge O'Connells Hiddenlanes Kennels. This young pup would
grow to become BIS, BISS and multi national champion Am Can Bda
Ch Hiddenlane's Tisha and the true foundation of Fantail English
Setters.
Looking back, the key breeding that put Fantail on the road to
becoming one of the top producing English Setter Kennels in
Canadian history was that mating of Wragge Runs Copper Bottom to
Hiddenlanes Tisha. One of the most important results was Can Am
& Bda Ch Fantail's Snowboots, the first homebred Fantail All
Breed BIS winner. "Lisa" Took over as top producing
bitch in Canada from her mom and held that crown for 6 years,
producing 19 champions, including Am Can Ch Fantail's Sunshine
Man who was top dog All Breeds in Canada in 1982, winner of both
the ESCC and the ESAA National Specialties. At the time Sunny
became top dog in Canada he set a record for the number of
points accumulated in a single year, a record that would stand
for 14 years.
From 1969 to 1984 Fantail produced 55 champions and 5 All Breed
BIS show winners and Fantail kids' were starting to show up in
pedigrees around the continent. Honey's son Paul was
eight years old at this time and a decision was made to 'pull in
the horns' on breeding and move to a neighborhood for Paul's
important school years. This put an end to breeding at Fantail
for the time being while Honey pursued a career in
judging.
In 1995 with Paul grown and some free time available Fantail was
reborn with the acquisition from Joan Savage of Oregon of a
young orange bitch, Stagedoor September Song. This decision was
made after Honey judged the 1994 English Setter Association of
America National Specialty and she knew she had to have another
of these wonderful creatures in her life. After a 12 year hiatus
there are now 3 Fantail English Setter litters in the 'new era'
and there will be more. These latter day Fantail puppies are
carrying on the long tradition with several finished already and
Specialty winners and group placers among them.
This "second wind" for Fantail has produced another 29
champions in 3 countries and all breed BIS winners and many
group winning and placing dogs. It's good to be back...
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