by Carie Stafford
“Your Highness” will be quite appropriate when addressing me.
My given name is Gracie, and I am a Samoyed, all of five years young. My Prince is Chinook, and he is a gracious six years old. We are the Samoyed breed also known as the “Smiling Sammies.” Why, you ask? Well, we are always smiling.
We are one of the fourteen ancient dog breeds from the Spitz descendants, part of the original primitive dog breed—no fox or wolf DNA in us. Our genealogy traces back to Siberia, where our breed was used as sled dogs, reindeer herders, and for warmth. We have a soft, two-layer coat. In the old days, they spun our hair to make clothes, hats, and gloves.
We stand out due to our large size and white “powder puff” appearance, as well as our curled tails and our dark-colored lips and permanent smile. We can come in colors of white, cream, bisque, and a mix of bisque and white. Best of all, we are hypoallergenic, and we do not smell. Now, that is what I would call a royal requirement.
Enough about what we are. Let me tell you all about me…oh, and I will tell you about Chinook, too, I guess.
Socializing is my favorite thing to do! If you stop by where I work at Discount Fabrics in Thurmont, I will talk with you and let you “ooh” and “ahh” over how beautiful and soft I am. Chinook is, too, I guess. We love to roam around work and check on how things are running. Those empty fabric tubes are so much fun to carry around and chew up. I usually have to hide those fun-to-chew prizes, because Chinook always tattles on me and then they are taken away. However, I do know where they keep the bag of treats and have been caught carrying those around. That Chinook is such a narc! “Mr. Perfect” is always worrying about what I am getting into.
Chinook is not always the “Mr. Perfect” he leads everyone to think he is, let me tell you. When Daddy comes home, they play rambunctiously. Chinook looks like a polar bear on its hind legs. When I was younger, Chinook used to carry me around by my collar and dig holes to bury me in. Though, I think he would start to feel guilty and then go get mom for help. Then I would surprise him by jumping out of the hole. He also gets a little bossy when I try and play with the doggy-froggy or the dragon; he doesn’t share very well. He can be so one-sided sometimes.
I could go on and on talking about myself. That is what royalty does, right? Stop by my work, and we can chat some more.
Gracie (The Diva) and Chinook (The Prince) sit majestically for their photo to be taken, as royalty does.
