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We are Amanda & Phil Cash and this website is all about our favorite topic 'Samoyed dogs'.
In particular our own Samoyeds:
Summer, Thor, Kira, Taeus, Anika, Togo & Solomon
Who share their home with Jess & Sir Hopsalot
The History of the Samoyed
Samoyed dogs originate from North-Western Siberia. In a vast area of tundra east of the Ural Mountains between the Arctic Ocean, White Sea and the Yenisei River. They were bred by a number of nomadic tribes such as the Ostiak, Dolghan, Tungu and Urak who were known collectively as the Samoyed people as they all inhabited roughly the same area. They were very much multi-purpose dogs being used for herding and guarding reindeer (being more of a vocal alert than aggressive defense) and pulling sleds. Their fur could also be collected and spun to provide warm clothing.
Although not that many people seem to have heard of Samoyeds they have contributed to some great historic events, such as the first Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.
The early Arctic expeditions to use Samoyeds include:
Jackson on his Jackson - Harmsworth expedition to survey Franz Josef Land in 1894 and then Dr Nansen used them on his 1895 expedition to the Arctic.
The Antarctic expeditions include:
Borchgrevink on the first exploration of the antarctic continent in 1898 and then Shackleton in 1907.
So the next time your little darling is hauling you up the street on your daily constitutional, don't get cross, just smile to yourself and be proud of his/her heritage and the great contribution they made to early exploration. Who knows, in their eyes they may be taking you on just such an adventure now!
The Polarspirit Samoyeds
The Polarspirit Samoyeds have now moved to a small village near Lincoln in the UK.
As you may have already guessed, we chose Polarspirit as our affix in recognition of the above role Samoyeds played in the first Polar expeditions.
Summer
13/06/1996 - 13/05/2007
You were everything and so much more than we could ever have hoped you would be,
our sweet, sweet Summer.
We got our first Samoyed in August 1996.
Ch Summer Symphony At Polarspirit ShCM
Summers' Championship Show Awards include:
2nd in the Group, 3rd in the Group, 4th in the Group,
4 Best of Breeds, 4 CCs, 3 RCCs, 1 Best Opposite Sex &
2 Reserve Best Bitch.
Bred by Pam and Graham Chant.
Thor
(19/12/1997 - 17/10/2002)
A short but full life that radiated happiness to all that knew him.
A truly special boy that we were very lucky to share our lives with.
We got Thor 18 months after Summer in February 1998.
Ostyaks' Thors Reflection At Polarspirit
BVA/KC Hip Score 2 : 6 = 8
Bred by Carol Fox.
Then another 18 months later in August 1999 we got Kira.
Ostyak Snowflower At Polarspirit
Bred by Carol Fox.
In January 2003 Taeus joined our family.
Amarige Antaeus Of Polarspirit JW
Taeus' Championship Show Awards include:
1 Best of Breed, 2CCs, 6 RCCs & 1 Best Opposite Sex
BVA/KC Hip Score 4 : 3 = 7
BVA/KC Eye Tested = Clear
KC DNA Profiled
Bred by Jane & Paul Farrington.
Just a few months later, at the end of April 2003 we got Anika.
Smiliesam Shalimar Of Polarspirit
BVA/KC Hip Score 5 : 3 = 8
BVA/KC Eye Tested = Clear
Bred by Hazel Fitzgibbon.
On December 31st 2006, Anika had her first litter, sired by Ch Roybridge Ruff Diamond JW Sh.CM.
From this litter we kept Togo.
Polarspirit Balthasar
Togo has only attended a few championship shows so far but has already
achieved some very good wins!
Bred by Amanda & Phil Cash.
On January 16th 2008, Anika had her second litter, this time sired by our own dear Taeus.
From this litter we kept Solomon.
Polarspirit Boulevardier
Bred by Amanda & Phil Cash.
Showing The Dogs
We only show those of our dogs that most enjoy it and they have managed to achieve some very good wins! Summer was a Champion and also gained her Show Certificate of Merit. She has won Best In Show 4 times, 4 CCs, 3 RCCs, 4 Championship Show Best of Breeds and gone on to be placed in the Championship Groups 3 times, getting Group 2, Group 3 and Group 4! Taeus has won Best In Show, 2 x Best Puppy In Show, Reserve Best Puppy In Show, Best Opposite Sex in Show, 1 Championship Show Best of Breed, 2 CCs, 6 RCCs, Puppy Group 3rd at Darlington Championship Show and gained his Junior Warrant. They have also both won classes at Crufts. We were only in the show ring for four months last year but Togo made his debut and in that short time has already won the days Championship Show Junior Stakes twice, both whilst he was still only 7 months old! Solomon is obviously far too young to go to any shows at the moment but we hope to get in the the ring when he is old enough. You can view the dogs wins by clicking on the relevant choices on the menu bar to the left.
We did take Thor, Kira and Anika to a few shows each so that they could try it out too but as they didn't enjoy showing as much we chose to retire them from the ring. The dogs enjoyment is always our highest priority. It does not matter how good the dog is, I will not show it if it doesn't enjoy the experience. Thor and Kira both won Best Puppy In Breeds and Reserve Best Of Breeds, Kira also won Puppy Group placings but for these three action packed dogs their fun lay elsewhere - in far more active sports and so this started us out in sled/rig racing.
Obedience Training
Before we moved away from Wiltshire we used to take all the dogs to weekly Obedience classes. They really loved it and they were quite good too. All three were in the top class and they'd probably have been even better if we had done our home-work more often, (but don't tell the trainers we didn't do our home-work). We don't compete at obedience as this doesn't really appeal to either myself or Phil but we did take part in an obedience display that our club did at the West Wilts Show which is held in Trowbridge park every other year. Summer even had a couple of solo bits she had to do and she didn't let me down at all, she was an excellent ambassador for both the club and breed. Sometimes an audience can be just too much temptation for a Sam and they get the most devilish sense of humour!
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During the 3 day West Wilts Show, Summer, Thor and I took our turn to man the club stand, which they absolutely adored doing. I sat them on the top of their cage and displayed a notice underneath giving their names and inviting people to come over and say hello to us. The dogs were most impressed at everybody wanting to come and make a fuss of them while I told them all about the club, Samoyed heaven. |
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Sled/Rig Running or otherwise known as Mushing
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Before we had Kira we started training just Summer and Thor using a bicycle, (fitted with a padded protective bar at the front to form a brush bow to keep the dogs safely away from the front wheel). |
When Kira was old enough to join the team the dogs were all fitted out with new harnesses and Phil made our first rig. This rig has now been going strong for about 5 years although Phil did manage to crash it a few weeks ago and slightly re-shape the brush bow!
We initially took all three dogs on training runs but, in time, Summer proved to be somewhat intermittent with her desire to be part of a sled team (as many Samoyeds often do). Sometimes she loved it and at other times she would flatly refuse to take part, preferring instead to run along by the side of the others, out of harness. A lot of this is to do with the fact that Summer has decided that getting muddy is not for her. The occasional mud face pack - well, that was fine as all girls should follow a good beauty regime but having to run through muddy puddles and get totally covered, well, that was just too much! She did take part in a couple of races and quite enjoyed them. However, she only pulled where there were spectators nearby to see and admire her. This meant that her contribution towards helping the other dogs pull was for such a tiny fraction of the race distance that it was better for the other dogs if we dropped her from the team and entered just Thor & Kira into the 2 dog classes instead. Summer didn't mind as she still came along to the races with us. For more information on Team Polarspirit and their recent running/racing select the 'Sled/Rig Running Page' option on the menu bar to the left.
If you are thinking about making your own rig remember to make sure that you contact the various organisations who run the sled dog races first. This way you can check that the design of your rig will meet with their rules and regulations. You wouldn't want to turn up for your first race and find that you cannot take part as your rig did not pass the safety inspection that is required prior to every race!
Agility
It has been some years now, since we first did Agility with Summer but now all of our adult Samoyeds are doing agility training again. We do this mainly during the spring and autumn months when it isn't too hot for the dogs or clashing with the race season. We are very lucky to be able to use an arena that is fully enclosed and where we have the whole area to ourselves which is great as it allows us the freedom to train the dogs in a way which suits us and them specifically.
Summer still loved doing agility when she was ten years old. At last, she was far better behaved than she ever used to be when we did agility with her before, when she was about 18 months old. See Sams do grow up eventually!
Here are a couple of shots of the dogs doing agility. To see more photos click on the 'Agility Page' option on the menu bar.
Other ways of keeping fit
| You may be wondering what else the Polarspirit dogs do to keep fit on days when it is too hot for either sled racing or agility?
Well, they all love to swim! |
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| And after all that swimming, the dogs take some time out to model this years latest beach/swim wear fashions... |
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If you'd like to contact us, we'd love to hear from you. Our email details can be found at the bottom of the menu bar to the left.
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Copyright © 2006 - Polarspirit Samoyeds
