Genealogy My Way

As I have mentioned, my Mom is really into genealogy.  She can tell you all about my ancestor who was a Veterinarian and loved animals just like me.  She can tell you about my ancestor who served for 6 years in the Revolutionary War and had his discharge papers signed by George Washington.  She can tell you so many stories it'll make your head spin.

I... well... I can give you a link to my Mom's blog.  

Or maybe throw out a few of the major ones I've heard about from her, with no guarantees of accuracy.  

  It's not that I don't think it's interesting, I really do, and I am very grateful that she is recording all of this history that I can sit down and look at whenever I want.  It just doesn't captivate me the way it does her.

You know what DOES captivate me?

Don't worry, I'm going to tell you whether you care or not.

This year has been stuffed full of "dog firsts" for me - first CGC tests, watching my first Specialty show, first Rally trial, first Rally title... and I'm currently staring down the barrel of a possible "first show dog" sometime around the beginning of next year.  I've only become seriously interested in Samoyeds (properly pronounced "Sammy - Eds") in the past year, but I have been exceptionally fortunate to have fallen into the lap of some positively awesome mentors. I couldn't possibly be more excited about every last one of my 'firsts'.

I'm a research kind of girl, and "my breed" has been fortunate to have had a number of diligent stewards over time who have ensured the recording of our dogs' histories (much like my Mom has for my family).  Digging into this research has awakened my very own "addiction to genealogy", it's just a little different from my Mom's.

Scenes from my desk:

The thing that most captivates me about the "family tree" of these dogs is that I can trace Rico (the sire of my possibly-maybe-if-everything-works-out future puppy) back about 15 generations, depending on the line you follow, to the very dogs of the Siberian Tundra who were purchased from the native Samoyede people to lead both North and South Pole expeditions.  I think THAT is wicked cool.

I'll tell you about just a few of these amazing dogs.  

If you look back 4 or 5 generations in Rico's pedigree, you will find Wolf River's Drumlin and some of his sisters (whelped 3/19/80, a year and a few days before I was born).  You'll find Drumlin in the pedigree of nearly every Sammy I like.  He's a part of some beautifully moving dogs.  If I'm not mistaken, the last of his frozen semen was used recently to produce a little boy in Oregon who's growing up with some big paws to fill.  

Another 5 or 6 generations behind Drumlin you will find Rex of White Way, whelped in 1946.  Rex was a hero not only for the beautiful dogs he produced, but as a result of multiple rescue operations he participated in.  In 1949 he assisted in a plane crash rescue in Truckee, California and in a 1952 train rescue in the Sierra Mountains.  He set world records in weight pulling by dragging 1,870 pounds through sleet and snow in 1953.  Rex's dam, Whiteway of Kobe was imported in 1939 to establish White Way kennels.

Trace Rex's pedigree back another 5 or 6 generations and you will come across the immortal Kara Sea.  This boy is considered by many to be the holy grail of Samoyeds, whelped Feb 7, 1924.  Kara Sea's son gave rise to Snowland kennels who, along with White Way, is considered to be the most influential Samoyed kennel in the US.  

Have a look at Kara Sea's pedigree.  Where the lines stop, the native dogs begin.

You're looking at the beginning of the Samoyed breed as we know right here.  (Of course, the natives who developed them know much more of the story.)

Once you've come to Kara Sea, you're almost to the very beginning.  Kara Sea's great grand sire was Antarctic Buck, a member of the Borchgrevink South Pole Expedition purchased from the Samoyede natives in Russia.  Another of his great grand sires, Houdin, was a member of the North Pole Abruzzin expedition.  On his Dam's side, the maximum number of recorded generations is only 7, where you will find Musti and Whity Petchora, the beginning of pure white dogs imported from Russia.

It's no revolutionary war story, but I think it's crazy cool!