BISS CH San Juan Orion the Light of Dawn, IT RN

(Jul 1, 2011- Dec 20, 2023)

We recently lost Orion at age 12.5, we miss him dearly. He was the sweetest, most empathetic and intelligent boy and we are proud to have him behind all of our other dogs here at Icecrown Samoyeds. I won’t change what I wrote about him below and just preserve this page as a memorial for him.  

Orion is an AKC Champion. He was the Best in Specialty Show winner at the Denver Samoyed Specialty 2015. He also has the IT title which means he was herding instinct tested and passed. He has completed 2 legs towards his Coursing Ability (CA) title, he needs one more leg for the title – though I think he decided that chasing a lure is too easy and playing with other dogs instead is a lot more fun! Currently we are working towards his Working Samoyed (WS) title as well. He also has a Rally Novice (RN) title for competing in Rally, currently working on his Rally Intermediate title.

Orion is an incredibly sweet, intelligent and fun boy. He has sound structure, clean movement and a correct, easy to care for coat with a huge mane. He captured our hearts from the first moment we met him! Orion is a very fast learner and an eager worker. He is always very gentle with little puppies or little kids! He is sensitive to the emotions of people around him, whenever I feel sad I can always walk over to him and give him a hug and he will just put his head on my shoulder and let me embrace him for as long as I need – that always makes me feel better no matter how bad my day has been! And whenever we’re happy or celebrating something he always starts wagging his tail and smiling even if he doesn’t know what everyone is so happy about.

He is a very easy boy to live with, he knows when to relax and when it’s work or play time. He can be a little talkative at times but he is one of those rare Samoyeds who almost never barks – instead he has a big range of howls and whines he uses to communicate. He loves being with his people – whether we are just going to the shop or going camping it’s always the best day ever for him as long as he is going with us!

OFA Hips: Good
OFA Elbows: Normal
OFA Eyes: Normal, Gonioscopy (glaucoma predisposition): Normal, not at risk.
Cardiac: Normal
Degenerative Myelopathy, (DM): Clear, non-carrier
X-Linked Hereditary Nephropathy, (XLHN): Clear, non-carrier

You can view Orion’s OFA results here and his genetic testing results here.

Orion’s Gallery