Stella Maris SamoyedsBearcreek, Montana
A few dogs, one house.
Stella Maris is a small preservation program in the Beartooth foothills. Everything here happens under one roof — which is the whole reason it works.
A note from Annamarie
My father raised Brittanys. I grew up inside the world of puppy-rearing, and a good mentor swept me into conformation and field trials before I was old enough to know what a lucky start that was.
We spent some years raising farm dogs. Then we fell head over heels for a Samoyed, and we’ve never looked back.
This is still a small program — every dog we own is asleep somewhere in this house right now. I want puppies that are stunning to look at, yes. But I also want them structurally sound, intelligent, an improvement to their breed, and wholehearted about their families. Those goals don’t compete. They just take longer.
— Annamarie
Credentials
Who vouches for this.
Anyone can call themselves a breeder. These are the programs and clubs that hold us to something, and every one of them can be checked independently.
AKC Breeder with H.E.A.R.T.
Health, Education, Accountability, Responsibility and Tradition. Requires continuing education and a signed commitment to the AKC Care & Conditions policy. Current through March 2027.
AKC Canine Good Citizen
The AKC’s temperament and manners test — polite with strangers, steady in a crowd, calm under handling. The least glamorous title in dogs and the most useful one for a family pet.
CHIC Certified
A CHIC number is only issued once the full breed-required health panel is complete and the results are public — including the ones you would rather nobody saw.
Samoyed Club of America
The national parent club for the breed, and the body that writes the standard our dogs are judged against.
Yellowstone Valley Kennel Club
Our local club. Where the showing, the mentoring and most of the arguing happens.
Puppy Culture Breeder
A structured early-rearing programme followed week by week, not a phrase borrowed for a website.
What we are trying to do
Leave the breed better than we found it.
Our goal is puppies that are not only stunning to look at, but an improvement to their breed — intelligent, structurally sound, and wholehearted about their families. That is the actual measure, and it is a slow one. You find out whether you got it right five years later, in somebody else’s living room.
It is why we breed rarely, test everything, stay in touch for the life of the dog, and take one back without argument if a home ever falls through.