My good friends Jim and Vada Binick commissioned this bronze of their family American Eskimo members Cassie and Strider- both national champions. They own and operate Kiva kennel.
In talking with Jim, a most excellent craftsman and thinker in his own right, we decided to sculpt a Native American Hopi Kiva, with ladder and smoke emerging. The smoke solidifies into a spirit dog. She wears an Egyptian pendant which we copied from an ancient Egyptian artifact of a dog wearing that pendant. The dog looked remarkably like Cassie, and must have been royal or spiritually special. Strider is cast separately and looks up at his mother emerging.