It was some time about 1962 that I caught a first glimpse of an all white, long-haired, prick-eared dog in an ad on our “giant” 21-inch black-and-white TV.  I had never seen such an animal before and it took old fashioned research to find out that what I had seen was a “Samoyed.”  From that moment on, it was my life’s goal to have one of these dogs.

My first attempt to become a Samoyed owner involved driving from Connecticut where I lived, to New York City.  I had seen a puppy advertised there for sale in an issue of Dog World magazine.  As I did not have a car, I had to talk my boyfriend into driving me.  At the time, I was still in high school and it never occurred to me to call first. I ended up knocking on an apartment door in New York City that was opened by a confused women who told me that the puppies were long gone.  So much for that. 

Six years later, I was living in Chicago while attending the University of Chicago.  This time, I was not going to go on another wild goose chase.  The Chicago International Dog Show was advertised in the Chicago Tribune and I made plans to attend so that I could meet a real breeder.  Not knowing how dog shows worked at the time, I was lucky that the Chicago International was a benched show.  By the time I got to the show, it was afternoon and the Samoyeds had shown at 9:00 a.m. but because of the benching, Sammy people were still there and that is when I met Carol Bradley of Libertyville, Illinois.

Several months later, I got my first Samoyed, a son of the legendary Ch. Sam O’ Khan’s Ghengis Khan and Carol’s lovely bitch that had gone Best of Opposite at the National, Ch. Bradley’s Powder Puff. 

I named him “Kiki Kublai Khan.”

Unfortunately, I was one of those first time buyers with absolutely no interest in dog shows and it would be another 20 years before I “retired” from horses and began showing dogs, with one exception.  When “Kiki” was 4 years old, we moved from Chicago to Maryland.  Carol, “Kiki’s” breeder, had never given up trying to excite my yet non-existent “dog show” addiction.  She convinced me to enter him in a local match.  I think that it was the one still held at Frying Pan Park.

I went with my dog, neither of us having seen a dog show let alone been to a handling class.  It was all very confusing because we would win a class and wander off only to have everyone calling us back into the ring.  Before it was all over, “Kiki” had won Best in Match.  This caused quite a bit of excitement.  In fact, he got mobbed because everyone wanted to see the unknown dog that had just beaten the local “big dog.” 

It turned out that this dog was his littermate.

One more story before closing the book.  ”Kiki” loved to retrieve.  So, much so that he would never stop.  I could guarantee that any new person that set foot on the farm would be throwing something for him before they left.  “Kiki” never cared what it was that was thrown – cans, bottles, balls, ears of corn, sticks, stones; just throw it!  He would never stop!  I remember throwing things deep into a corn field just so he would be gone for 10 or 15 minutes, but, he always came back with the prize!  This being my first Samoyed, I thought that this was “normal” for the breed but there has never been another “retriever” like him. 

That’s my story.  Ever since 1968, I have not been without at least one Samoyed or two or ten.