A New Year, a New Journey

Obviously I've not posted anything in a while to Misha's Blog. But that doesn't mean there hasn't been anything going on!

Last year Misha was shown very lightly. But she still managed to take a Reserve Challenge Certificate at the Three Counties Championship show in JUN, and a Best of Breed, then a Pastoral Group 2 placing at an Open Show.
For the third year running, Misha qualified for the Northern Samoyed of the Year competition, however due to her season timing we didn't attend.

We developed a bit of a problem with Misha just as we were entering the summer show season. It seems she got a foreign object lodged in her tear duct. We took her to two vets and the second one referred us to an ophthalmologist specializing in dogs. He did two flushes and inspections, and a sample sent to the lab. The sample was negative for disease or infection, as was the inspection for anything genetic, i.e. entropion (ingrown eye lid), trichiasis (ingrown eyelashes), etc. Misha got a clean bill of health regarding all that.
The specialist decided we needed to see an ENT and gave us a referral. We visited and she decided that given the history, and Misha's propensity for sticking her nose into bushes and rolling around in tall grasses, it must be a grass seed whose barbs had firmly taken hold.

The ENT wanted us to undergo a scan, meaning Misha would have had to been anesthetized for the third time in two months.
I'm afraid we said no. It was far too much in such a short span of time as far as we were concerned.
Then the ENT told us the solutions to the problem. The least invasive is a one centimeter incision into the tear duct. That's provided the little culprit is close to the surface.
The most invasive is drilling into the bone to create a new channel.
That ain't gonna happen! Too many people have been very willing to share horror stories of dogs they know having had this done. A vet a friend knows told her to tell me that if this were one of his show dogs he would refuse to have the operation.

We may show Misha, but she is our beloved companion, and her comfort is first and foremost to us. Showing is a hobby, not a way of life. This amounts to cosmetic surgery basically. The thing is, the ENT told us there is absolutely no guarantee the treatment will work, or that she will not be permanently scarred. Enough said. Why would we put her through this only to possibly have it crop up again?

It doesn't bother Misha. The eye tears at more times than at others. What has happened is the tears have produced a wet patch that has created bacteria and stained her coat near the eye red. If I can keep the eye dry, then I can treat the discoloured coat. I'm trying to do this as natural as possible, without resorting to peroxide and all sorts of dangerous concoctions. This is Misha's eye we are talking about.

However I do despair because I think the chances of Misha making Champion are gone. She is a fine bitch and deserves to be a champion. But let's face it, this is a beauty competition and she is considered 'marred'. Sure, if we were the 'right' people the chances she would get her tickets would be good. But, we aren't and we won't.
All those judges who came so close in awarding her a CC, but said, "Oh she's young, she has so many years ahead of her." were so wrong.

The real sad part is, this year Misha has taken off. Finally after more than two years of trying to get her to body up she has. She started to eat and filled out. No more willow-the-wisp Junior masquerading as a two and a half year old! Now at three years old Misha's ribs have sprung, and she is a full bodied, well muscled, gorgeous coated, strong moving, beautiful bitch with an attitude!

However, what will be will be. Nothing changes the fact that Misha is more of a joy every day that passes. Her temperament is second to none. She is loving, charming, and gentle. She is so friendly to humans and animals alike. She has a zest of life that is amazing to watch. How excited she gets when she thinks there is an outing in view. Her excitement is catching when she arrives at a destination she loves; whether it's Granny and Grandpa's or a particular dog walking venue.

She will talk to us in little chunters, expressing her happiness, and satisfaction. Misha has her routines for greeting us in the morning. After a walk she must come and say hello to whomever was left behind, and thank you to the person who took her.
During the course of the day she will walk by us and just nudge us as if to say, "I'm here, and I love you."
And the cuddles! A day is not complete without Misha asking to come on your lap for a cuddle.

I ask, who could possible want a better companion? This is the Misha we wanted, this is the Misha whose wellbeing means so much to us.

We will more than likely not be doing many shows this year. Crufts is out as Misha is due to blow coat anywhere from two weeks before to the day she is to be groomed for the show.
We don't like showing a dog out of coat, or coming out of coat, so we will be giving the show a miss.

Then, hopefully, come MAY we will be breeding Misha! Oh the excitement! Oh the terror!
We've never bred a litter, I've certainly never thought about it before. But, I think with a Samoyed as fine as Misha, we need to keep her genes alive.
Of course the entire reason why we decided to breed is because we want a Misha puppy. :)