WOODLAND KENNELS was recently represented by Riley, an 11-year-old Samoyed, who took Best in Show in the Samoyed Club of America’s National Specialty last October.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but you can help him take first place in a dog show.
Riley, an 11-year-old Samoyed from Woodland, took Best in Show in the Samoyed Club of America’s National Specialty last October. His owner and trainer, Jim Cheskawich, said Riley did much better than he expected.
“There were all these other dogs out there,” Cheskawich said. “I would have been happy with an Award of Merit.”
Riley competed against 316 Samoyeds from around the country. The dogs were judged against a breed standard for movement, balance, eyes, and other features.
Riley’s victory was unexpected in part because of his age, according to Cheskawich.
“Most dogs retire at five or six,” Cheskawich said.
At 10 and 1/2 years old, Riley was well above the average. However, Riley comes from a history of winning dogs. His father, Ono, won the national championship in 2000 and was considered “The Dog” of a generation. Riley appeared in a few dog shows when he was younger and won the Rose City classic in 2004.
Cheskawich is also no stranger to dog shows or the Samoyed breed. He has entered dogs to compete in shows since 1991, and he judges dog shows with his wife, Celinda. He is currently working on a book about Rex of White Way, one of the world’s most famous Samoyeds.
After winning the Rose City Classic, the Cheskawiches had Riley neutered, which meant he could not compete again until he turned seven. Even then, he was limited to specialty events and couldn’t compete outside his breed.
Riley went into retirement shortly thereafter. The Cheskawiches decided to pull him out of retirement in 2011 “to see what he could do.” Riley received a Best of Opposite Sex award at the August 2010 Washington State Samoyed Specialty. The award is given to the best dog of the opposite sex of a show’s winner.
The Cheskawiches decided Riley could still be competitive and entered Riley in eight events the following year.
“We had no idea what was to come,” Jim Cheskawich said.
What came was a slew of victories. Riley was named the Best Veteran in every show and Best in Show twice. Riley’s victory at Nationals was his last. Jim Cheskawich said Riley will be invited to participate in the next level of competition, his working group, but will be ineligible because he can’t compete outside his breed.
Riley is retired once again and living at Woodland Kennels, which is owned and run by the Cheskawiches. Riley makes appearances at Meet the Breed events at Portland dog shows, local schools, and assisted living and Alzheimer’s homes.
The Samoyed Club of America is a national group that encourages quality breeding of pure-bred Samoyeds and promotes the American Kennel Club’s breed standard for Samoyeds. It also conducts specialty shows, obedience trials, and other events for Samoyeds and encourages public education about the history, care, welfare, and training of the breed.
The Samoyed breed is native to Siberia and is known for its heavy white coat, black lips, and ‘Samoyed smile.’ They were bred as work dogs and are intelligent, gentle, loyal, and energetic.
