On Thanksgiving Day, right after the Macy's parade, we watched the National Dog Show on TV. Such beautiful dogs! My pick was the Samoyed who won first in Working Dogs class. You can see him in a video on the Today Show. Of course, he didn't win Best in Show. I've never seen a Samoyed, the prettiest dog in the world to me, come out a winner in the shows on television.
On the Today Show, the Sammy was looking at the camera and smiling, as they do, while the other dogs climbed on their owners' legs. Are Sammy's too laid back?
Our Nicki, the first Sammy we owned, was too good. He wouldn't bark when someone knocked on the door. He just stood, watching the door intently, silent as a Basenji. Since we wanted him to alert us when someone drove up, my husband Barry taught Nick to bark. I laughed myself silly, watching and listening to Barry bark, ruff, ruff, ruff, as he stood in front of the door beside the shaggy white dog who gazed up at him obviously thinking the man had lost his mind.
Samoyeds are smart. Finally Nicki gave in to Barry's insistent instructions on how to be a good watchdog. He barked. I think he knew that was the only thing that would end his Master's ridiculous noise- making.
