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In the News...2004

December 24, 2004
You've heard of a one horse open sleigh... well, this would be a pint sized one Samoyed open sleigh.

December 18, 2004

Today we got a picture of Jade and Onyx's brother, Chi (Hawkwind's Dreams of Malachite) from his owner Jennifer Sullivan! We have Chi's nieces and nephews in the nursery. Chi is out of our own CH Seamist's Amethyst of Hawkwind and CH Wolf River's Raptor Ridge. We're tightly linebreeding on these beautiful dogs!

"Chi" is maturing nicely, don't you think?! Following is last year's Christmas card when he was that adolescent age, and after that my FAVORITE picture of Chi at those big ear stages puppies go through. His heart belongs to Madeleine!! That's a 'melt your heart' picture!

December 11-12, 2004
Quick trip up to Granite City Kennel Club. Saturday Hawkwind's Mont Blanc (Summit) has his first time in the ring acting like he was born to be show dog! Hawkwind's Alabaster Carrara, Summit's sire, goes all the way to WD, BOW, BOS over specials for  his first major. Not bad for his novice owners first time in a show ring!

Hawkwind's Egyptian Blue Topaz is RWB under Helen Miller Fisher on Sunday.

Madonna (CH Hawkwind's Like A Virgin BISS) goes Best of Breed both days and Group 3.

Now to stay home and raise PUPPIES!!! Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

December 8, 2004

We always strive to bring the strongest Samoyeds into the world, with the best genetics we can find, as well as dogs who are gentle companions to humans and each other.

Today we are pleased to announce the birth of puppies only 15 generations out of the original sled dogs of the arctic expeditions. Working in close association with the Wolf River lines, we believe the puppies in our bedroom at this moment are what the breed was, essential companions to the nomadic tribes near the arctic. Strong and very structurally sound.  Healthy. Resilient. Loving.

We believe by retaining the historical traits of this ancient breed we are able to have Samoyeds who are of extraordinary temperament, exhibit loving natures, and unusually high intelligence.

These are dogs who are often 'accused' of being half human, and in whose eyes you can see the very best parts of both yourself and them...

I'll get more notes out soon, probably more in a private emails. We have more puppies than expected (so much for xrays....) so at the moment we are very busy.

If you're considering a puppy, first step is to fill out a questionnaire. If you HAVE a Samoyed with you, please stop and look into their eyes and tell them how very special they are to you. Don't let life go by without moments to cherish such as these.

I'd like to thank all those who are part of my joy today. They know who they are.

And now I'm going to play with the Amethyst and Raptor Ridge grandchildren. To see pictures, go to Nursery/Current Litter. Look at this proud mom!

This poem has been circulating the internet lately, and just in case you haven't seen it, Here is Godspeed.

Like a mist, consciousness drifted over the drowsing group. Here and there  a
muzzle lifted so the owner could scent-scan the air. A dozen pairs of ears  
swiveled and then pricked. She was coming. One by one, they sensed her  
approach.

A heavy tail thumped as a Samoyed gazed down the starry path. It had  been a
long time for him, this waiting. No matter, the feel of her caress was  fresh
and unfaded. He had slumbered for over forty years, paws twitching,  dreaming
of her arrival and of dashes of mountain trails. He never knew when his  
breath had frozen mid-dream. He had just continued his sleepy vigil.

"She comes." The knowledge passed from dog to dog. A shaggy form rose and  
yawned. How many steps had he taken at her side through busy happy years,  
through lean and bitter years? Nearby, a nervous whine escaped the wolfish  throat
of a more anxious creature.

A shifting weight from paw to paw betrayed the restlessness of the show  dog.
His immaculate coat showed now rumpling from his long repose. Beside him, a  
little bitch crept forward to peer between the shoulder of those in front of  
her.

Across the broad expanse, dogs were rising, throwing off the effects of  
their deep slumber. Ice crystals from New England, the Rockies, Alaska, the  
Arctic and Antarctic were flung into the air to mingle and fall with a minute  
tinkling sound.

They all knew she had loved them. The unchangeable law that a dog's life is  
of short duration compare to man's had doomed her to countless partings. Her  
dogs would be waiting, the old timers said, to pull her sled throughout  
eternity. The musher's legend had comforted her and years later when she was  frail
and aged, she would think of her dogs resting expectantly, timelessly  until
the reunion should come. Could such a lovely thought come true?

Closer. She was very near now. A small fox of a Siberian stirred and  climbed
to her feet. She was dwarfed by a grey giant who had pushed to the front  of
the crowd. They shared a question, "who will lead to the mistress?"

The answer came as a massive paw extended and flexed. Tawny fur quivered as  
the dog stretched and shook off decades of sleep. The mistress' first lead dog
would be her leader now.

The great dog went to stand far ahead of a grey-weathered sled. Slowly,  
tentatively, the multitude found their places. The legend was coming alive. A  
promise was being kept.

A chubby, clownish face turned to look back. It split into the trademark  
Husky grin. All stood ready.  She was here.

The mistress stepped across the threshold and paused. Her breath caught.  Her
heart thumped and last beat. The scene cleared before her as years fell away  
from her eyes, her body. It was true - all as it had been foretold.

A team of a thousand strong stood before her. Sled dogs of every  
description...each a well-loved friend eager to away, to race down the trail. A  querying
bark from the golden dog broke her reverie. She smiled.  With the  swift,
free motion of a youth, she stepped upon the runners and placed her hand  on the
driving bow. Team, sled, and driver sprang ahead and vanished in a flurry  of
snowflakes and windrush.  Godspeed.

Author Unknown ~

November 8, 2004

Madonna/Siku kids are 5 months old! Here's Paavo, the red boy. Second picture is Shadow, the blue boy.

Hawkwind's Valkea Enkeli  (Paavo)

  Hawkwind's Whiter Shade of Pale  (Shadow)

October 23, 2004

Cobalt: sidegait.

Hawkwind's Cobalt Moonstone (Cobalt) goes WD/BOW under Douglas Shipley. Just coming into coat is Am/Can CH Hawkwind's Like A Virgin BISS (Madonna) who still manages to go Best of Breed! Now to grow a little more coat and plan a few upcoming shows ... along as waiting for puppies coming in December!!! See Nursery page.

October 20, 2004

Rejoicing as the last OFA on the Amethyst X Ridge kids comes in! CH Hawkwing's Emerald Jade (JADE) is OFA Excellent. Show wins are one thing, but healthy dogs are why we breed! This litter of 4 is 2 OFA Goods, and 2 OFA Excellents. All Hawkwind puppies are cleared as babies and we've never found an eye fold. No case of cataracts or PRA or glaucoma either. Further, we've produced now 3 Excellents, but nothing less than a GOOD as well. A record to be proud of!

September 21-25, 2004

The NATIONAL!

The biggest Samoyed event of the year!

This year in Topeka, Kansas.

We collected our Top 20 Invitational Ribbon for CH Hawkwind's Like A Virgin BISS. Madonna was not able to compete due to a serious lack of coat! Congratulations to Lhotse who won the Top 20 event!

  Chi on the down and back.

Congratulations to Hawkwind's Dreams of Malachite (Chi owned by Jennifer Sullivan) for his 4th place novice weightpull win. Chi also did wonderfully in herding on Monday!

Big congratulations to Milan Dodig's girl, Ariel! Hawkwind's Aqua di Mare won her 15-18 month class in Futurity and went onto Best Intersex. That is the best of the boys and girls in that age bracket.

Hawkwind Rocks the Gene Pool (Allele, owned by Robinette Dunahugh-Ralston) and Hawkwind's Moroccan Marble (Rocco owned by Steve Kuehn) each made cuts in each of their classes.

Granite...a Sullie daughter.

Hawkwind's Cobalt Moonstone (Cobalt owned by Duane Jensen) won his breed class, 12-18 month puppy.

Cobalt at 15 months old.

Hawkwind's Alabaster Carrara (Siku owned by Mona Rauen) won 2nd in a tough AmBred class.

Rocco again made the cut. Great job boys!!

On bitch day Hawkwind's Palomino Onyx (Onyx owned by Andrea Dunkle and myself) and Hawkwind's Egyptian Blue Topaz (owned by me!) each made the cut. Again, so did Allele! Actually, Allele made cuts every time she stepped into the ring!

Best of Breed on Saturday was a wonderful array of about 180 sams!

Sera

Congratulations to CH Seamist's Sweet Seranade on her First Place Veteran class win! Sera is the grandmother of Jade, Onyx, Chi and Siku,  out of Sera's daughter, our own Amethyst.

To top it all of, for the FOURTH year in a row a Hawkwind girl got an Award of Merit! AOM's are given to the judges selection of the top 10% of the breed. This year it's the third Hawkwind girl to do it:

CH Hawkwind's Emerald Jade.

Here's some of the girls in later cuts.

Big congratulations to CH Wolf River's Raptor Ridge, the sire of the 2004 national Best of Breed winner:

CH Wolf River's Moonlight Ridge WSXM  CGC JHD HCT (Lightning) www.wolfpacks.com

In addition to Lightning, Raptor Ridge is the sire of Jade, Onyx, Siku, Chi, Cobalt, Topaz, and Ariel!

Congratulations to Kay Hallberg, who is the breeder of the 2004 national Best of Breed. Interestingly, behind both BOB and BOS are two other Wolf River bred dogs: CH Wolf River's Eagle is Lightning's grandfather (sire's side), and CH Wolf River's Drumlin is grandfather (dam's side). Those two dogs are in Lhotse's pedigree in exactly the same place, but just one more generation back.

September 5, 2004

Sunday:
RWD Hawkwind's Moroccan Marble
WB/BOW Hawkwind's Palomino Onyx
BOB CH Hawkwind's Emerald Jade

Still vacillating on this last boy, purple, from Madonna's litter. Looking for just the right home....see Nursery for more pictures!

September 4, 2004
Getting ready for the national .... went to the Des Moines shows.

Saturday:
WB Hawkwind's Palomino Onyx
BOB CH Hawkwind's Emerald Jade

August 2, 2004
Puppy eye checks and 8 week evaluations. All eyes cleared, no folds or problems. As usual. Now to let them grow up a little bit and make decisions on who goes where!

July 18, 2004
Babies got a bath, and really are enjoying playing in the big yard. Blue's ear is the first one up!

July 15, 2004
Babies growing fast. Eating solid food, playing more and Granite is enjoying being an aunt!

July 10, 2004
Puppy day! Those on the waiting list got to see that babies!! Kids are growing up! Active and showing personalities. 4 1/2 weeks old. Thanks to Karen for this shot!

June 26, 2004
Babies getting more pictures taken....

June 25, 2004
16 day baby pictures up on the Nursery page under About Hawkwind. Puppies eyes opened today

June 20, 2004

Happy Birthday to the Indigo kids! At one year old, here's a headshot of Hawkwind's Cobalt Moonstone.

June 12 &13, 2004

We had a great time at a lovely show site. A bit hot and some rain, but well timed! Sun shining for the dog show and cleared up enough for steaks on the grill at sundown. Really nice kennel club and everyone had fun!

Sat: Hawkwind's Moroccan Marble "Rocco" goes WD/BOW at Fort Dodge, IA for 2 points. Sister, Hawkwind Rocks the Gene Pool "Allele" goes RWB. These are the Sullie X Shale kids just starting their championship trek.

Sunday: Littermate Hawkwind's Roserock Granite "Granite" goes WB/BOW for 2 points. "Rocco" is WD again! All wins from the puppy class!

June 8, 2004

PUPPIES ARE HERE! Four boys and one girl! Happiness reigns! Everyone is doing well!

Pedigree:
                    CH Wolf River's Eagle
            CH Wolf River's Raptor Ridge
                    CH Wolf River's Sand ROMC
Hawkwind's Alabaster Carrara
                    CH Wolf River's Diamond Dust ROMC
            CH Seamist Amethyst of Hawkwind
                    CH Wolf River's Sweet Serenade

                    CH Polar Mist Break the Bank
            Can CH Vanderbilt's Breakin Trail
                    CH Wolf River's High As A Kite ROMC
CH Hawkwind's Like A Virgin BISS
                    CH Charisma's Hung the Moon BISS
            CH Charisma-Omni Front Page News BISS
                    CH Wintermist's Shades

This breeding is two of the prettiest Samoyeds we have. I call it the white on white litter: Alabaster Carrara to our white virgin queen, Madonna. Yes, they are both white dogs. (Quit asking me that!)
 

June 5, 2004

Local dog show today. Lake Minnetonka. Hawkwind's Cobalt Moonstone, "Cobalt" goes WD for 2 points and gets Best Puppy. Mom, CH Hawkwind's Dark Side of the Moon BISS, "Indigo," just coming into coat, is Best of Breed.

June 3, 2004

Just for education, this is an almost perfect Samoyed head, just like his dam, Amethyst. Earset: Perfect. Dark brown eyes, almond shaped, and slanted to the outside corner of the ears. Gorgeous dark pigment. Lips curved up in a Samoyed smile and featuring a lighting up of the face that is PURE Samoyed!

Madonna (CH Hawkwind's Like A Virgin BISS) has been bred and we're anxiously awaiting news if she's pregnant. She's been retiring to her crate to sleep. A LOT. Good sign!

Info on Madonna's breeding is available by emailing us at Hawkwindsams@cs.com. It's, as usual, a Wolf River linebreeding. This time we're breeding into Diamond Dust offspring for beauty AND soundness! We expect this to be the prettiest litter, regarding headtype, that we've ever produced. True arctic beauty!

April 17 & 18, 2004

Short drive down to Mason City for the weekend shows garners Madonna another couple Best of Breeds. Entries over 30 each day. Cut in group.

The babies are 6 months old now! The litter theme meant all puppies had to have 'Rock,' or a version of it, in their names in honor of their dam, Shale. Our thanks to the Elford's for sharing this exceptional girl! These kids are another tribute to Sullie's value as a stud dog. See the sister, Ruby on Sullie's website, www.echosamoyeds.com.

Hawkwind's Moroccan Marble, "Rocco," is pure puppy in the ring. WHEN he has 4 feet on the ground it's fun, but frankly it's still a rare event! When he's showing off flying sidegait, that's fine ... but sometimes it's just shenanigans! This boy loves life with all his heart! And his heart is HUGE!

Hawkwind's Roserock Granite, "Granite," is poised and wonderfully behaved showing exceptional timing in her sidegait. She's just the sweetest girl who does anything and everything asked of her!

But it's Hawkwind Rocks the Gene Pool, "Allele," who steals the show going RWB to the major in her first outing! (That means she defeated 15 bitches her FIRST steps in an AKC ring!) Congrats to Allele and her owners, Robinette and Scott Ralston!

April 3 & 4, 2004

At the local Minnesota River Valley shows Madonna goes Best of Breed both days with 30+ entries each day. Made a cut in group.

Onyx was entered only Sunday, but easily swept up the major. That's her second one and maybe time to bring her out more often. She still thinks it's just a hoot to go to a show and enjoyed herself immensely. She even somewhat did what was asked of her instead of being her clownish self. Once she tried to jump over another sammie.... She does have the legs to do it, but agility is a different sport, my dear! She has that flawless, fun loving temperament that makes her a joy to play with!

We're close to making some breeding plans for our girls for 2004...

February  2004

Amethyst has been rebred to CH Wolf River's Raptor Ridge with puppies due March 23. See Nursery page and scroll down to when we did this breeding two years ago. Taking reservations now.

February 1, 2004

 
Puppy update on Shale/Sullie kids:

• Pink girl, Allele, is in a show/working home and has been herding already..
• Purple boy, Rocco, is in a show home to be specialed and spoiled!
• Gold girl, Granite,  is here at Hawkwind.
• Magenta, Massimo, is in Iowa, maybe for showing.
• Blue girl, Tonga, is in upper Wisconsin with a Hawkwind kennelmate.
• Red girl. Ruby, is in Ohio at Echo Samoyeds.

 
January 18, 2004
Des Moines Kennel Club: Sweep of the ribbons.
Winners Bitch: Indigo daughter, Topaz.
Winners Dog/BOW/BOS over group winning specials:
Indigo son, Cobalt.
Best of Breed: Madonna

Judges comments on Cobalt: "I RARELY see such an exceptional front end in your breed."

January 3 & 4, 2004
Land O Lakes shows. Indigo gets Best of Breed both days. Cut in group.