Am./Can. CH Charisma-Omni Front Page News BISS

(CH Charisma's Hung the Moon BISS X CH Wintermist's Shades)
 

Cerf Clear
OFA Good

I saw Page for the first time as a yearling in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I saw her sleeping in a crate.  It was love at first sight.  She looked like Sleeping Beauty. And when she opened her eyes, my heart was hers. I wanted those beautiful eyes looking into my soul every morning forever!

All Sammies are gorgeous, but some dogs just go into your heart in a different way.

We negotiated on what was right for her, and I won. It was a matter of great timing. She was obviously a top quality 'specials' bitch, meaning she had the potential to win far more than her Championship.  You can 'guess' on a puppy, but at a year you know! Why should they let her go? Her sire was winning, a multi-specialty winner himself, taking most of their time. They had 9 dogs, and Page was the kind of girl who needed someone of her own to love.

They told me they finally decided to let her go because the thought of her spending every night of her life on the corner of a bed was what they wanted for her. A few years later, they redid the breeding and got their own version.

She needed to grow back into coat, and I took her out once in the meantime just to get some ringtime with her.  The judge LOVED her, but she was a wild and unruly child!  A bit more training, and she went in and got her 1st major (a large entry win) immediately.  For the record, that is unusual to win so fast. The next weekend was a specialty show for JUST Samoyeds.  She beat all the girls in a large entry, and then all the Champion girls to go Chicagoland Specialty Best of Opposite Sex.  A big win that made her a Champion! A 5 point major, which is the largest possible!

But bigger wins were to come. By the time she was two, she had a dozen Best of Breeds.  Then came the group placements, beginning to beat other breeds, and eventually several more Specialty BOS wins (I forget how many, 5 or 6). 

Finally, on May 14, 1999, she beat them all! Best of Breed at the SAMS specialty here in Minneapolis!  AND ... her daughter, CH. Hawkwind's Full Magenta Moon, went Best in Sweeps!  Yes, it was OUR day!

Since then, both her daughters, Indigo and Madonna, have garnered 5 point specialty majors, Madonna going Best of Winners at the national (the largest Samoyed show of the year) with a bitch entry of 167. Both these girls are also multi-Best In Specialty Show winners.

So there's lots to brag about in the show ring, but what is so special about Page has nothing to do with the ring.  She tries to outsmart me, which is every Sammie girl's job!  But her desire to please is also supreme.  She has more 'heart' than any Sam I've ever known.  She will work hard, and play hard.  She does NOT like exercise, unless I ask her to do it.  So part of 'play' is when I throw a tennis ball ... downhill ... and she runs and brings it back ... uphill. I laugh and give her a cookie, which is usually part of her morning meal. She will do anything for food!  So we play games.

She wakes me every morning by 'staring' at my face until I wake up. Her heart belongs to me, and mine to her.

Page gets along with every dog on the planet.  I have let her go into a group of unknown dogs and I know, every time, she will wag her tail and befriend them. She has a stunning temperament which is true to the heritage of the breed.

She is also the most determined dog I have ever met! 

If I put a cookie or rawhide in a cupboard, several days later she will be sitting and meditating on the door.  Then she'll look at me, and to the door.  "Look, silly, I know that it's still in there and I want it, please!"

As if anyone could refuse!

In 2003 Page was awarded the SCA Top Brood Bitch for the quality and achievements of the girls she's produced. A HUGE honor!

I take her out every once in a while to show, mostly because she just loves it so much!  She knows exactly how to turn on the Southern charm and, with a constant wag of her tail, she says, "Give me the biggest ribbon you've got!"

Among Page's children:
CH Hawkwind's Full Magenta Moon
CH Hawkwind's Dark Side of the Moon BISS
CH Hawkwind's Like A Virgin BISS
Hawkwind's New Moon Rising NA OAJ
Hawkwind's Mirage
Hawkwind's Vision of Cochise

Page left us July 31, 2007. While I see her in all of her children and grandchildren, the space she left will never be filled again.