The first Bergamasco, Marco, was imported to the U.S.A. by Mr. & Mrs. Byfield. The dog was sent by Mrs. Byfield's Italian brother. A bitch was later imported, and at least 1 litter was produced. Today, the Byfields have two 13 year old dogs. No records were kept either of the ownership or the location of the other Bergamascos.

We had never encountered a Bergamasco, but we had seen various pictures and were intrigued by its appearance. We were trying to find a breed that was still as original as one could hope for and not yet modified for show purposes only. Hopefully, we could breed with a great temperament, strong will and close family ties.

In the month of July 1995, we brought in Fauno Dell'Albera, a gray 6 month old Bergamasco male, and immediately adopted the out of place, Italian bred "Fauno" and brought him into our family along with 2 Polish Lowland Sheepdogs, "Cole & Cody".

Our purpose for the Bergamasco was to get to know the characteristics of the breed through close personal contact, and, if able, to introduce the Bergamasco to the U.S.A. in as close to its original form as possible. Fauno Dell'Albera of Italian decent is FCI registered, and now also registered with the AKC Foundation Stock Service. The Dell'Albera Bergamasco line has quite a few international champions within it. Fauno, was speaking Italian at 6 months old, good sized head, body of medium build, agile yet cautious, and had a coat soft and wooly as a lamb, with multi shades of gray and black, with some black patches - hence the name "blackfoot". He entered the show circuit in order to help introduce the breed to the American public, and to teach Fauno English. Fauno is 2 1/2 years old now, and a champion of several rare breed clubs as well as numerous "Best of Show". He is one or the top 100 winning dogs within The American Rare Breed Association. He is now fully flocked in multiple mid length layers, not yet to the ground. His third outer coat's fuzziness hides his multitude of flocks, or more correctly "maps". As his hair and maps become longer they will be more pronounced and therefore easily show the Bergamasco's subtle differences.

As a testimonial to the Bergamasco, in March 1996 we went to Italy to pick up Gae Dell'Albera, a 4 month old black bitch. Her genetic background was selected to enhance and preserve Fauno's characteristics in his offspring. Gae, now 17 months old and a bit slighter in body and overall size, is just as beautiful in body and temperament and is as fluid in motion as Fauno. As a puppy she won "Best of Show", and is more than willing to show her spirit in the Show Arena. Gradually adding to her awards, she has an ARBA Championship, and we are waiting for her coat to mature before we regularly show her. Gae is now an integral part of our family and holds her own within our dog clan. Gae and Fauno also have their first leg in herding!

In June of 1998 Gae & Fauno Dell Albera had a litter of 8 puppies, 5 black and 3 gray, 4 males and 4 females. This litter of 8 puppy's is the only registered litter of Bergamasco' s within North America. The puppies after 12 weeks of age left their mother and siblings and went to live with their human companions. Some of the expectant parents waited for a year and were patiently awaiting the arrival of their new companion. We wanted to keep one of the litter of first born Bergamasco's, but due to our lack of sympathetic neighbors we can only have so many dogs. We also knew we needed as many different blood lines and types of Bergamascos within the US to help us preserve the relative style and appearance of the Bergamasco.

In September of 98, Latria Dell Albera found a home and came into our hearts, a 6 month old black female. Pretty as a picture, on the smaller side of the standard and spunky as they come, her surname easily became the Silver Dancer. She stayed away from our 3 teenage boys for approximately 1 year, we didn't blame her due to their teenage differences. Latria then decided that they too were okay, and allowed the boys to touch her. Bergamasco's seem to prefer peace and balance within their surroundings and Latria was no exception!

In December of 98, Lindoro Dell Albera, an extremely light colored gray was sent to us from Italy, he was 6 months old. Even at 6 months and gentle as could be, Lender moved as you would hope for, agile, graceful and appeared to float as he trotted. He was able to cover distance and seemed that he moved effortlessly. His structure is a bit smaller than Fauno, but again we need different types and styles for the longevity of the breed. Lindoro took awhile to accept the family as his own, and stayed by himself, but personally knowing his siblings and mother we could understood that was inherent within his nature. Now in July of 2000 Lindoro enjoys going out with the family, loves the outdoors, plays ball and actually likes to work with us in the show ring! Although once in the house Lindoro prefers to lay around and in the cooler days enjoys sleeping throughout the day on bedding. The DeFalcis's are now up to 4 Bergamasco's and 1 Pon.

The 5th Bergamasco has arrived, a light grey 4 month old male from England, we named Clothos. Clothos arrived when Gae & Sire Lindoro had a litter of 10 puppies. Clothos quickly became the puppies' surrogate and confidant. Clothos felt like he was not the baby in the family after all, now he had 10 behind him to coddle and teach. Clothos use to lay in the whelping box with the puppies when Mom Gae had enough.

In 1999, Fauno continued showing in ARBA, The American Rare Breed Assoc. faithfully, not because he loved the show, but loved being with us as his companion, found himself as one of the top ten dogs for the year. Donna even got Fauno and Stephen to fly to a couple of shows. When Fauno came out of the plane and we picked him up, he howled to us as if to say indignantly, how could you allow me to be treated as baggage, boy did he complain. Donna then decided not to fly him anymore, being he wasn't happy. We ended the year as number 07 within ARBA, which wasn't bad considering the missed shows. Needless to say Fauno in 2000 is semi retired as a showman! To update our Bergamasco population, we now have over thirty registered Bergamascos throughout the US including Canada. We are planning our third litter between Fauno and Latria in the fall of 2000.

Donna and Stephen DeFalcis
The Bergamasco Sheepdog Club of America