Thursday, February 22, 2007 Older Editions

Westminster Show Off

By April Guilmet

Jay Leno, George W. Bush and Michael Chiklis are among Andover's best known celebrities. But Andover's latest celebrity walks on all fours.

Callie, a 2 1/2-year-old Samoyed otherwise known as Champion Alla-Kasam's Mystikal Spirit, took home the Award of Merit from last week's Westminster Dog Show, held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Award of Merit is the runner-up prize to the Best in Breed Award.

Nearly 40 Samoyeds, all of which are from champion bloodlines, competed, according to the Westminster Kennel Club's Web site. Only four, including Callie, won the Award of Merit.

"It was kind of unexpected," said Callie's owner, Diane Lewis. Both canine and owner like to keep the competition in the family. Callie's brother, Champion Alla Kasam's Catch The Spirit (otherwise known as Cooper) also competed in this year's show. Diane Lewis' adult daughter, Jill Lewis, serves as Callie's handler.

But for most of the year, Lewis said the dogs are simply household pets.

"They're our bed warmers," Diane Lewis laughed. "You just love your dogs and don't expect them to be champions."

The road to Westminster began a little more than two years ago when the Bayberry Lane mother and daughter, distraught over the death of their 16-year-old dog, decided to adopt a Samoyed from a rescue organization. Their search led them to a Samoyed breeder in Ithaca, N.Y.

"One puppy became immediately attached to my daughter and she promised me she'd help me show her," Lewis said.

The Lewis women left with not one, but two champion Samoyed puppies.

The fluffy, white breed was developed by the ancient Samoyed people of Siberia, according to the Westminster Kennel Club Web site. Nomadic in nature, the people depended on their dogs for survival and used them for herding reindeer, hunting, hauling sleds and guarding homes. Samoyed dogs typically slept in shelters alongside their owners, which breeders say accounts for their friendly temperament.

Jill Lewis, who took dog-handling classes at the Concord Dog Training Club, was recognized at Westminster for her handling skills, her mother said.

"Many breeders go a lifetime without getting such an award," said Lewis, who served as Cooper's handler.

In her spare time, Jill Lewis can often be spotted skijoring with her dogs in the fields at South Elementary School.

"You're on skis and the dogs pull you across the snow," her mother said. "Samoyeds were bred to pull sleds. They love the snow."

Next month, the Lewises plan on attending the yearly show sponsored by the Minute Man Samoyed Club in Springfield.

They also hope to return to Westminster next year, although Diane Lewis said she first plans on attending a dog-handling class and taking the dogs for some obedience training.

In show dogs, obedience training is often postponed until the dogs reach adulthood. The reason for this is, as Lewis puts it: "You don't want the dogs to sit when they're in the ring."