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J-Len Kennel History
by Joyce Fahlsing  (Photos on this page of BIS BISS Ch J-Len's Tribute to Mundy)

As a child, I always loved animals and kept bringing orphans home to my mother. 
I had a fox terrier when I was 6 until she died when I was 17. 
After that my mother told me I could have all the animals I wanted 
when I got married. My poor husband didn’t know what he was in for!!!!! 

Back in 1965, while on a field trip with a class of 6 year olds, I saw two Malamutes 
in a pen and one was obviously nursing a litter of puppies. I happened to see one in 
our neighborhood previously and admired the looks of the dog and talked to the owner 
about temperament, requirements etc. I decided to try to purchase one of the puppies.
Juneau became our first Malamute, and she was of pure old Northwind lineage, 
going back 3 times on Ch. Little Joe of Northwind.

About a year later, I met a new Mal breeder who happened to have a male of 
similar background as Juneau’s that they were beginning to show. 
We eventually bred Juneau to this male and kept our first male,  J-Len’s Mr. Mundy.

When Mundy was about 6 months old, we were introduced to the 
Olmem’s of Glacier fame. They were holding training classes 
for their friends in the backyard of the people who owned the stud 
dog we used. Showing looked like it would be fun, so we started 
Mundy at a few shows. 

Meanwhile, Lois Olmem suggested we breed Juneau to a 
T’Domar dog she knew of that had a great coat, good bone and 
lovely head, Ch. Mars Artic Dino of T’Domar. Juneau was an 
excellent mover, but had a very short coat and only adequate 
bone. We kept Ch. J-Len’s Captain Koriak from that litter. 
He was Best of Breed at our 1972 National Specialty. 

Then we bred Juneau to Dino’s brother, Ch. T’Domar’s Juneau, 
who had just been purchased by local breeder Verajane Lulkowski. 
From that litter we kept Ch. J-Len’s Gallopin’ Gimlet, who happened 
to take Best of Winners at the 1972 National Specialty.

Gimlet was one of the best moving bitches around, but lacked in head and had a little too much coat. Her first breeding was to 
Ch. Vermar’s Arclar Terrific Turk, and that gave us our Ch. J-Len’s Tribute to Mundy (Binx). This was a double on 
Ch. T’Domar’s Juneau. Binx became known for his exceptional movement and showmanship, and was the top winning Mal in the 
US from 1975-1979, and won the National Specialty Best of Breed in 1977 and a multiple Best in Show dog. Unfortunately, 
dwarfism started to rear its ugly head, and when test bred, Binx was shown to be a carrier, as was his sire, Turk. All my other 
dogs were cleared thru various test breedings, including Binx’s brother, Ch. Vermar’s Czar of Juneau and sister, 
Ch. J-Len’s Odakonya. Our original bitch, Juneau, also cleared thru test breeding, so most of my stock subsequently cleared, 
except for that one breeding to Turk. We continued to show Binx as he was an example of what we produced and had his sister, 
brother and dam still actively being bred.

Since we couldn’t use Turk again, Uyak Buffalo Bill was another dog that suited Gimlet extremely well. He had an enormous head 
and was shorter in coat. We also bred Gimlet to his son, Ch. Karohonta Skymaster.  Gimlet produced 13 champions out of these 
three dogs. The first male we kept out of Bill was our Ch. J-Len’s Arctic Windjammer (Woofer). Woofer went on to produce 26 
champions and was used by many leading US kennels in their breeding program. He combined that gorgeous coat and head with 
effortless movement and was above all, a sweet tempered, very “pretty” Mal. Woofer was also a multiple Best in Show Mal, 
back in the days when there were 33 in the Working Group. Ch. J-Len’s Prairie Twister was a bitch we kept out of Gimlet & Jake 
who also went on to produce several champion producing bitches. 

In all, J-Len was responsible for 34 champions. Maybe not much by 
today’s standards, but for a small hobby breeder, we were very proud 
of our brood. Our dogs became affectionately noted for their “sense of 
humor”. There were times I could have traded them in for a poodle, but 
then that humor would rear up and we would just laugh at their antics. 
Both my husband and I have good senses of humor, and often marvel 
at how we stumbled upon a breed so much like ourselves!! 

Today, I occasionally do Sweepstakes judging and continue to see 
some very fine specimens. However, I also see the “fad” dogs. I am 
hearing about a lot of mouth problems, missing testicles, coat funk 
etc. Yet these dogs continue to be bred, just because it’s the fad 
of today. I am not against breeding a dog with a ChD problem if it 
is an excellent specimen, as we definitely know the mode of 
inheritance and could test breed the offspring. But until we know 
the mode of inheritance or have DNA tests for the above problems, 
if we continue to breed to dogs that produce these problems, 
where will we find ourselves in the years to come?? 
No dog, in my opinion, is that great.