In 1985, after having to euthanize the family pet, I went to play bingo (to cheer me up). I won $500, which allowed me to buy my first purebred dog. Unfortunately, I bought him from a pet shop. Samoyeds were always my only choice of dog because my sister had a lovely Samoyed female who I fell in love with in 1974. So thus began my journey into dogs.

    My husband and I learned fast that pet shop puppies had their problems and, after several rescues and missteps, we bought our first show Samoyed in 1987. We were novices to showing, so we hired a handler to show Sandy. We WERE able to finish Sandy in Canada, but his U.S. Championship was done by a professional handler who taught us a million things about grooming, showing and dogs in general. Since 1987, we have finished over 30 champions and have bred 5 generations of champion Samoyeds. In all, our line goes back 7 generations – personally shown and finished by either myself or my husband.

    As far as showing goes, we have owned Best In Specialty Samoyeds, bred Samoyed National Best in Sweepstakes and Futurity Winning Samoyeds; bred several Samoyeds that were ranked in the Top 10 nationally for several years. Our dogs have been owner-handled in the conformation ring for over 20 years. We have multiple group winning and placing Samoyeds to our credit. We have bred multiple regional specialty winning dogs over the years.

    Along the way, we became members of the Samoyed Club of America (1988); Samoyed Club of Washington State (1989); are founding members of Willamette Valley Samoyed Fanciers and also members of Dog Fanciers Association of Oregon. We both have held many positions in the Willamette Valley Samoyed Fanciers over the years.

    We have also been proud to have owned and bred registered therapy dogs, and service dogs, as well as dogs that excelled in recreational herding.

    The health and temperament of our Samoyeds are at the top of our must have list. Mystiwind Samoyeds does temperament testing; checks for hip dysplasia (Certified through OFA); hereditary eye diseases (Certified through CERF); and hereditary heart defects (Certified through OFA); and screens for the PRA gene and ONLY breed dogs that are found to be clear. We also screen blood for liver/kidney function as well as thyroid problems.

    Our dogs are members of our family. We generally only have a few dogs at any one time. They live with us in our home and are not raised as kennel dogs. Our puppies (usually one or two litters per year) are also raised in our home. They are well cared for and socialized until they go to their new homes after 8 weeks of age. These puppies are screened for eye problems before they leave home, as well as have a physical exam by a vet.

    We hope you find this site interesting and informative and we welcome you to visit often.