Seko, my first Samoyed love
Growing up, our family dog was a Samoyed named Seko, who my dad brought home when my mother was pregnant with me. My dad loved that dog as much as I did. I grew up with Seko and she lived to 15 years old - not a bad age for a Samoyed!
Me and Seko, besties for life - 1976
The Golden Era
We weren’t allowed any more dogs after Seko, so when I got married, had Riley and bought a house, I wanted a dog of my own. We settled on a Golden Retriever back then, partially because my ex didn’t want all the fur that a Samoyed brings (….little did he know how much a Golden sheds) and a Golden is a great family dog. Boston was my baby boy for many amazing years.
Boston on puppy selection day - 2006
Riley and Boston, best friends - 2006
Me and Boston - 2007
Enter Poppy.
After a break up and a reviving trip to India, I contacted Vanderbilt Samoyeds’ Judi and Blair. I put in my application for a puppy and emailed back and forth about what sex I preferred, the parents of upcoming litters, and then I saw that they had an 8 month old puppy ready to go home. Her pictures were adorable. I asked what her name was – Poppy. I was smitten with her.
That's my girl on the left
Without telling Riley, I drove to the breeder and met Poppy. I still hadn’t decided if she was the one for me or if I would wait for a new puppy. I sat down on the dark leather couch while Judi and Blair talked to me about Samoyeds and Newfoundland and then they brought in Poppy (CKC name Cherry Pop Tart, Poppy for short).
OMG. She ran and jumped all over me, squirming and licking me in the face (which normally I hate), Poppy was so cute and so sweet that I fell in LURVE with her immediately...I may have actually yelled SOLD!
Fast forward to the best part of the day.
I had prearranged to have my friends Amit and Vi, who lived nearby, keep Poppy for an hour while I collected Riley from home under the pretense that we needed to take pictures of my clothing challenge with Amit (that’s another story). Riley was moody because he had to stop playing video games and had his grumpy face on for the entire 10 minute drive to the house. We went around back and met Amit in the yard; out comes Amit’s wife with the whitest, fluffiest cloud I have ever seen. Riley could not believe his eyes. He really thought Poppy was their dog – the look on his face when I told him Poppy was ours…the best ever.
And then Poppy started wrestling with Amit’s Doberman, Boz, and bit him in the face, showing us her true face-biting colours.
Face biting goodness! - 2019