Striking Gold – The Complete Samoyed

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100 – June, 2022

By Debra Lampert-Rudman

A Samoyed has been creating big dog show excitement these days recently celebrating his 100th Best in Show. In fact, GCHP CH Vanderbilt ‘N Printemp’s Lucky Strike–“Striker” to his many fans and friends–shown by handler Laura King, is the number 1 dog all breeds. Adding to the excitement, Striker’s handler was recently named Handler of the Year! Some would say that Team Striker has really “struck gold”.

I recently struck ‘Samoyed’ gold, too…of a different, but very connected, sort.

If you’ve ever searched vintage book shops, thumbing through old books with interesting covers, you invariably have unearthed a pressed flower or an old photo–maybe even a long-forgotten love note. Rarely–very rarely–do you find not only a treasure trove of information inside a well-written book but a treasure trove of rare ephemera stuffed inside its covers!

I was lucky enough to be gifted a first edition autographed copy of The Complete Samoyed by Robert H. and Dolly Ward. This special book, whose compelling cover photo was taken by renowned mid-20th century ringside photographer Joan Ludwig, features three white Samoyeds with their trademark smiling faces: litter brothers Ch. Winter Trail’s Blazer, Winter Trail’s Rogue and Winter Trail’s Blitz bred by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Burr.

A peek inside the cover revealed that my copy of the Ward’s The Complete Samoyed was originally owned by, and I’m surmising gifted by the authors, to Thelma R. Brown, co-author with Curtis Brown, of The Art and Science of Judging Dogs and K-9 Structure & Terminology, books many dog fanciers still consider essential reading. I find it incredibly fascinating that the Wards and Browns were both not only accomplished husband and wife author teams but also apparently friends, as illustrated by the book’s autographed inscription.

FAULT FINDER FOR SAMOYED

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100 – June, 2022

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Posted by AnthonyA on Jun 7 2022. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.