Gold coloured Samoyeds at the crack of dawn (part one)
September 18, 2011:
We like to go for long walks with our dogs at the crack of dawn. Obviously the
dogs agree with us because they always are very happy when they can run just before the sun comes up.
And then, when the sun starts to rise above the horizon, suddenly the fur of the dogs turns into gold!
In this area dogs are allowed to run free without a leash. That is, at the condition that owners have their dogs in control, (which we have). Of course one can spot deer and hares at this early time but of course we don't allow the dogs to chase after them. Yes, it takes a considerable time to teach a samoyed the right behaviour (because they like to hunt) but it sure is possible. Yes, also with samoyeds! The dogs must feel like running across the tundra with sort of the same kind of vegetation. Grasses, mosses, dwarf shrubs and wet area's. When the sun climbs higher, the colours change and the fur of the dogs starts to look white again. That is... if you don't look at all the seeds of the grasses in their fur which they collected during their adventure. After arriving home again, they sleep for an hour or so (meanwhile their coat is drying). When they awake I give them a little brush and they are completely clean again (2011).

Samoyeds in the Dark

I always wondered what kept Samoyeds busy during the dark periods in their life when they were living in ancient times. The long dark winters on the Tundra... what did they do then, besides herding the reindeer? I wonder why we rarely see pictures of Samoyeds in the dark!

Well, the last two months I took my camera with me when I walked the dogs late at night. I noticed that they loved to run free in the dark woodland. They always stayed rather close to me an they never showed any sign of running away.

But what I also noticed is that they started hunting a lot! They listened whilst standing very still, the ears were moving to all sides (when you experience this, you are convinced that the Samoyed need well developed ears!) and suddenly they jumped onto a little mouse. Just like wolves and foxes do, with four feet from the ground, the body bended with the head down to the ground.
I yet did not succeed to photograph this beautiful jump but I will do my utmost and perhaps one day I can also show you that picture!

It's not easy to take pictures in the dark. The biggest problem is that you almost cannot focus on the animal. But with a little patience, a right estimation of the distance and switching off the automatic functions on the camera, I'm convinced that everyone is able to take pictures of Samoyeds in the dark!

Just some pictures of our Samoyeds
These are two of our female samoyeds.
At left Polarullens Aljana Aurora and at right, Aurora's daughter Koraal's Arctic Sunshine. We bought Aurora in Sweden at the Polarullens kennel.
Aurora is an alpha female. She is able to independently hush up affairs between other quarrelling dogs. She is a calm and reliable dog. She also is a well educated dog with good obedience qualities. Her daughter Sunshine is a very lively lady with excellent movements. She runs like a gust of wind and has energy for three. Like her mother, she always runs free (without a leash) and she too listens very well. Sunshine always keeps an eye on our movements and never runs away from us.

This is our female Aurora. Her official name is Polarullens Aljana Aurora.
We always call Aurora with her full name Aurora.
She is a very clever female who still wants to learn new things every day. She can open doors and take out her own food from the cupboard. She always walks without a leash, except in area's with cars around. She likes to hunt in the woods with her daughter but Aurora has a so called 'hard bit' and I'm afraid she will kill little animals like birds and rabbits, so I keep her under close control mostly by using hand signs, sometimes verbal. Aurora is a worker, always wants to have something to do, doesn't matter what.

This is our female Sunshine, daughter of our Aurora and Chatanika's Midnight Run from Denmark. Her official name is Koraal's Arctic Sunshine. We call her Sunshine but sometimes we also call her Sushi. Sunshine is looking more and more like her mother. She has a sweet and reliable character. She likes to run and run and run.... she just is very fast in running! Sunshine certainly is not a dog to always keep on the leash. So we are lucky she listens very well (also thanks to a lot of training of course). She is trained to carry out a half day's job as watch-dog at the office. She also likes to hunt and recently caught a rabbit. However, she has a so called 'soft bit' so I was able to set the rabbit free after Sushi presented the animal to me without harming it.

This is Dvina, daughter of our Sunshine and Igloo's Sparkelin’ Snowdust for Kaneeli from Germany (called Makalu). Her official name is Koraal's Dynamic Dvina (called after the dynamic Russian river Dvina). We just call her Dvina. Dvina very much looks like her grandmother Aurora. She has the same sweet and reliable character and is a very relaxed and stable dog. Like her mother and grandmother she likes to run and run and run.
Also Dvina seldom walks on the leash. She did (and still does) very well on training courses and learned all the commands rather quick. By following training courses at a good training school, a dog turns into a nice and easy going companion rather quick
Yes, also a Samoyed!