Hi everyone,,,
I'm welcoming Ella to our Secret Thread.....
She's pretty new,,,,and started a thread on the 11 11 Forum,,,, called "Do I belong here" which slowly got into her passion.....Dogs...
now I know how many dog and animal lovers we have here,,,and I had posted Prince as my avi again....and started to respond to her over there,,when I realized what I was going to write was,,,
"Coffee House Time".....so lets get out those cups,,,and fill'em up..
(Chai please,,,,,oh,,,,sorry,,,,I'm serving today....
anything to go with it ladies????)
so here's the post I started for her there,,,,and I'll carry on with the story.
Hi Ella,
nice to hear from you....
Yes the Samoyeds are certainly one of those 'stand out breeds',,,they're called The Christmas Dog,,,,and the dog with the smiling face...
I think their smile stands out more just because they're white with the black lip line.....but all dogs smile,,,don't they....
their nature is soooo sweet,,,,apparently,,,,where they come from in "Lapland" originally.....the story goes.....
You know what ella......I'm going to copy and paste this post,,,,over to the Secret thread.....
it kind of doesn't belong in the 11 11 phenomena thread,,,and you'll get to discover our International "not so secret" coffee house thread...
so go there and you'll see my post,,,,
love to you
pp
So the Samoyeds originate in Lapland,,,,,reindeer country folks,,,and originally the dogs were black, brown, with a little white,,,,,they sort of resembled the "Newfoundland dog",,,,well,,,,the Laplanders started their own 'breeding' program,,,,and slowly developed the All White Samoyed.
It's actually pronounced Sam eee yed... or Sam yed eee.....there's no oi or oy sound to it,,,,and it actually has a j in it.......so much for phonetics....
So all of a sudden,,well not so sudden,,,it took some years of breeding,,,,,,they had the same dog,,,,but with a white coat,,,some slightly off white.....they loved them so much,,,,that they let the white dogs come into their tents,,,homes.....and they became part of the family.....mind you, they still worked,,,herding the reindeer,,,along with their multicoloured brothers and sisters,,,,but they got to come into the house....
ella asked me about grooming,,,,and the Sammy coat is a double coat, like the Siberian Husky and other northern breed,,,,but with an incredible difference...
They don't shed hairs.....they have wool that comes out and only when brushed.....their coat has an oily substance that repels dirt....you betcha,,,actually repels it.....so when you brush it,,,,even slightly,,,the oils remove the dirt and their coat always looks like it's had 'some' attention...this double coat,,,,shed's it's wool,,,,usually after the winter season....and it almost ALL comes out.....that's the 'job' in taking care of a Sam.....but the wool,,,,you can actually card it like sheeps wool,,,and turn it into yarn,,,,,and knit with it......
after a good bath and grooming job,,,,I had more wool on me than on them....you get covered in it....dangerous on the eyes...
when the females have a litter,,,,they drop almost all of it and end up looking like a white lab except for their face....they look pretty sad for awhile,,,,but then it comes back in like a fresh puppy coat...
That picture of Prince,,,,although he wasn't really groomed at the time,,,I'll bet he hadn't had a bath in a couple of years.....
now don't choke there ella,,,,or ladies....you have to remember how the Lord,,,designed these dogs.....to live in the wilderness,,,,in the really bitter cold.......no nice hot baths there.....but daily brushing keeps out the dirt,,,,keeps the oils through their coat,,,,and keeps them looking a cream colour,,,,they're very rarely actually "white",,,,,if they're really sparkling white,,,,usually their pigment is off somewhere,,,,and they'll have more of a light coloured nose instead of the nice black one....
and if they get wet,,,like out in the rain....their coat always smells like 'wool'...,,it doesn't 'stink'......and they never get wet to the skin,,,,nothing penetrates that deep double coat,,,,,unless you soak them down....and it's about a 4 hr grooming job,,,,,just for one Sammy....
it's only at the dog shows,,,,that they get powdered and sprayed to sparkle and look pristine white.....
I'll try to post one of Princes Breed wins,,,,or his Mom's our first Sam "Frosty",,,,,and you'll see them,,,,,dressed to the nines....
So,,,,we wanted a northern breed when we started....we even took them sledding up north on the island where they get a little more snow,,a little longer..... but that was 20 yrs ago,,,,when all that stuff was 'fun' for me.......we eventually got a sled,,,,,but just had fun at home,,,and rarely for us.....
I've got a couple of stories about Bear and Prince when we tried to get them to 'pull'
but another time for that...
now it's way too much work......
but temperment......I really don't think you could find a sweeter, more loving dog - ok I can hear you all now....and I somewhat agree,,,,
but the Sams are so loving....that they're terrible guard dogs....they'd let somone in the house and they'd go in anyone's car....not a hesitation,,,total trusting and loving.....and yet,,,,protective too,,,but I think that's inherent in all dogs natures,,,,they are our unconditional friends and protectors...
OK,,,my coffee's cold,,,,and I need to go make some bread,,,,,the machine type folks,,,,,I gave up kneeding a long time ago....but my grandmother got me into 'fresh baked bread' for Sat,,,along with oven baked beans.....(not too consistent with the beans though)
so I'm off....
hope you enjoy our coffee house Ella,,,,,come here and visit and share your stories,,,anytime....
with love to all
pp xoxoxo