Sasha was the daughter of Tsar Nicholai of Kodiak and Silveracres Ananda. Her first home was in Winter Park, Colorado. Her last was in Oregon. Sasha loved to play in the pasture, and to listen for little critters in the ground, especially mice. In this behavior she was most like a wolf.

Samoyeds love the cold weather and the snow. They don't like the heat. They do love playing in water, as long as they are not immersed. She knew she was born of royalty. She was the "alpha" dog, and although always easy going, she was the queen to all other dogs.

What a lot of laughter came from all who watched her play in the Bow River in Canada. She would stand in it to her midsection, then paw at it. She would bark and bark, with her mouth full of water, all the while pawing at it, as if to splash backwards. In the summer, we would fill a kiddie pool with water, and watch her paw and splash until all the water was gone.

Her best friend was Nikki, a black Bouvier des Flandres, who also lived with us. Nikki belonged to my daughter Michelle and her family.If you have ever loved and lost a dog, you might want to add a name to gonetodogstar.com. Sasha's on page 31.

Scientists believe that the the Arctic Samoyed people had these beautiful white dogs long ago, but that they originally might have come from Asia (Mongolia). The Samoyed people have close personal relationships with their dogs, and also have working relationships with them. The dogs are very strong across the chest and can pull sleds with ease. They have been used often in the Alaskan Iditarod.

Samoyeds have two layers of fur, a shiny white water repellant outer coat and an inner fluffy coat that the northern people sometimes wove into clothing.