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The economy in the former Soviet Union is in very sad shape. To bolster their income, the independent Russian states have started issuing topical stamps in the hope that the world market will buy them and not require the associated postal services.
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This pair is another dog-cat combination that the UAE went crazy with for awhile (the third is below). The buff dog with the shorthaired kitty was supposed to be a Cocker and the one with the longhaired kitty was to be an English Cocker. The second one is your guess, but for a complete collection, you need one of each of these as well.
Ajman is the smallest of the United Arab Emirates. It is immediately to the north of and mostly surrounded by Sharjah. Like most of the country, Ajman is in the process of changes which amount to a transformation. The central area is rapidly being modernized and it is clear that Ajman has no intention of being left behind the other Emirates. It is here that the Victory speedboats are built and Ajman is determined to enjoy a share of the United Arab Emirates' victories for itself.
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This whimsical stamp was issued by Ajman, one of the United Arab Emirates. It is listed as a Cocker Spaniel Puddy, but I am sure that they meant Puppy. There is no date of issue and it is interesting that Ajman has apparently put out more Cocker stamps than any other country.
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The collapse of the Soviet Union has created a gold mine for stamp collectors. The local governments have issued some wonderful stamps in an effort to sell them to the world market and not even have to provide the associated service of mailing letters with them. This is a real boon when you see the number of Russian stamps issued below. Altai is also from the Russian block and is in southeast Western Siberia. It was noted as the largest agricultural producer in the Soviet Union.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union is bringing to light the enormous diversity of the indigenous people who were kept under its rule. The Altaics were a nomadic, herding people for millennia. They had a native language and customs. Several related groups are now considered more self-ruling, such as Dagestan, Kyrgyzstan and Altai. In 1997, Altai started to issue unique stamps and some of them were of different breeds of dogs. By 2000, they issued this attractive Cocker Spaniel Dog stamp for our collections.
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Azerbaijan is on the west side of the Caspian Sea, next to Armenia and just north of Iran. Its tragic civil war has kept it in the news for some time. The wonderful stamp above was issued in 1998.
With the collapse of the Soviet empire, we are given the opportunity to have diverse new countries issueing attractive new topical stamps.
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The Bulgars, A Central Asian Turkic Tribe, merged with the local slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Bulgaria regained its independence in 1878, but having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, it fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a Peoples Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990. The country is slightly larger than Tennessee. The capital is Sofia.
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Buriatia is in southern Siberia near Lake Baykal on the Mongolian border and such the Buryat people are Buddhists as well.
The collapse of the Soviet Union has created a gold mine for stamp collectors. The local governments have issued some wonderful stamps in an effort to sell them to the world market and not even have to provide the associated service of mailing letters with them. This is a real boon when you see such lovely examples as this stamp put out by Buriatia in 2000.
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This lovely stamp also was put by Buriatia in 2001.
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Chad is in Northern Africa between Libya and the Republic of Central Africa.
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The Czech Republic is a landlocked republic in Central Europe, comprosing the historic regions of Bohemia and Moravia and Silesia. The new state a democratic republic known as Czechoslovakia was broken up during World War II, but was re-established at the end of the war in 1945. From 1948 to 1989 the republic was ruled by a communist regime. In November 1989 the Communist government was ousted and Czechoslovakia again became a democratic state. During the 1990s, political and economic conflicts developed between the Czechs and Slovaks, and leaders of both groups decided to dissolve the Republic. In January 1993 Czechoslovakia was replaced by two independent states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic has relatively few natural resources and is heavily dependent on imported energy and raw materials. It has a humid, continental climate with cold winters and warm summers. Prague is the Capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. The official language is Czech, a language of the West Slavic subgroup of slavic languages. The principle religion is Christianity. About 40% Roman Catholic. Protestant 3% and about 5% are atheist. Prior to World War II the country had a large Jewish population. Most of the Jews died in the Holocaust, the Nazi campaign to exterminate the Jews of Europe. Pork is a staple in their diet which resembles that of Germany. Traditionally the Czech lands have been among the most economically developed regions of Europe.
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Dominica was the last of the Caribbean islands to be colonized by Europeans, due chiefly to the fierce resistance of the native Caribs. France ceded possession to Great Britain in 1763, which made the island a colony in 1805. In 1980, two years after independence, Dominca's fortunes improved when a corrupt and tyrannical administration was replaced by that of Mary Eugenia CHARLES, the first female prime minister in the caribbean, who remained in office for 15 years. It is slightly more than four times the size of Washington, DC. The climate is tropical and the terrain has rugged mountains of volcanic origin. It is known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" due to its spectacular, lush, and varied flora and fauna, which are protected by an extensive natural park system. The official language is English. The capital is Roseau.
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Fujeira is one of the seven Emirates that combined in 1974 to form the United Arab Emirates. This set of dog stamps predated that union in 1970. The name Fujeira refers to the spring of water beneath one of the mountains.
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Near the southern tip of Spain a peninsula forms a finger of land that points to the coast of Africa, 14 miles (23 kilometers) away. That peninsula is Britain's crown colony of Gibraltar. It includes the famous Rock of Gibraltar, which stands at the western gateway to the Mediterranean. Since 1704 when the British captured it, Gibraltar has been a fortress. It is Great Britain's chief naval base on the route through the Suez Canal to the Far East. The peninsula is about 3 miles (5 kilometers) long and less than a mile wide. Its area is 2.25 square miles (5.8 square kilometers). The rock is mostly limestone with cliffs and sandy slopes. Its greatest height of 1,396 feet (426 meters) is reached near the southern end. The city of Gibraltar, mostly on level ground on the west of the rock, lies on the deep Bay of Gibraltar. The harbor is a port of call where ships take on fuel, stores, and water. Vast reservoirs for rainwater have been blasted out of solid rock, and artesian wells have been drilled in the rock's tunnels.
The climate is Mediterranean with mild winters and warm summers.
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Grenada is described as a spice island, since it produces large quantities of cloves and mace and about a third of the world’s nutmeg. It also grows cacao, sugar, bananas and a wide variety of other fruit and vegetables. Some of its beaches, specially Grand Anse, a dazzling two-mile stretch of white sand, are very fine, but the rest of the island is just as beautiful, rising from a generally rugged coast to a spectacular mountainous interior. The island is green, well forested and cultivated and is blessed with plenty of rain in the wet season. Grenada is the most southerly of the Windward Islands. In contrast to other Windward Islands which have had a similar history of disputed ownership between the French and English, the French cultural influence in Grenada has completely died out. The population is very young; 38% are under 15 years old and nearly 26% are in the 15-29 years’ age bracket. Grenada has two dependencies in the Grenadines chain, Carriacou and Petit (often spelt Petite) Martinique.
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Like the rest of the Channel Islands, Guernsey is steeped in history. Up to 6,500BC, the islands were in fact part of the French mainland until the Ice Age came to an end. Discoveries in the 20th century have shown evidence of mankind dating back to 5,000 BC (New Stone Age) when tribes, possibly from Spain moved here. All around Guernsey are traces of neolithic man, including defensive earth works, menhirs and dolmens. There are burial chambers built above the ground and several survive in remarkably good condition.
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Hakasia is located in the south of Serbia, next to the Sayan-Altay Mountains and Yenisey River and the the north Altay Republic. Its capital is the city of Abakan. The real name of Hakas people who speak Turkish is Koray people. They are composed of four tribes. Hakasia is devoted to its own language, culture and traditions and there is a university, technical institute, and institutes for linguistic, historical and literary researches in Hakasia. There are also various cultural and artistic institutuins, 4 theatres, library and museums as well as music and art schools. Hakas Turks are Christians, but they continue their Shamanist beliefs and traditions. Agriculture, stockbreeding and timber productions are the means of subsistence in the region. Breeding of sheep horses, cattle, and beekeeping are also the signicant means of subsistence.
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Ingushetia is one of the 21 Russian republics, which are the administrative units with the greatest amount of autonomy within the Russian Federation. It was part of a joint Chechen-Ingush autonomous republic from 1936 until 1991, when Chechnya declared independence and the Ingush separated from the republic.
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Kalmykia is a republic within the Russian Federation. The Kalmyks settled the Volga River region in the seventeenth century. A Mongol people, they were originally Buddhist in faith. Annexed to Russian in 1771, a Kalmyk Autonomous Province was created by the Bolsheviks in 1920. This was abolished during the Second World War, when, in common with many other ethnic minorities, the Kalmyks were deemed to have displayed insufficient enthusiasm for fighting for Communism. The customary mass deportations followed. An Autonomous Republic was re-established in 1958.
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Karakalpakia, now under the domain of Uzbekistan, is on the edge of the shrinking Aral Sea, which has recently revealed a shocking scale of environmentally induced disease. Women and children are most severely affected from the spread of pesticides and other pollutants as the lake - once the fourth largest in the world - has turned into a desert, its waters siphoned off to irrigate vast cotton fields and rice paddies in Central Asia. Over 20 per cent of the young women, aged 13-19, have kidney disease, and another 23 per cent suffer from thyroid dysfunctions. And many women have high levels of lead, zinc and strontium in their blood. Although the Aral Sea probably has less than 10 years of life left, if nothing is done to salvage what remains of it, the 1.1 million residents of Karakalpakia are under immediate health threats. If nothing is done to improve the health of the people we may be witnessing the end of another entire society as a result of human folly. This stamp was issued in 1998.
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The Republic of Karelia is a remarkably beautiful land of white nights, boundless forests, and blue lakes. It is located on the border of Western and Eastern Europe, on the border of cultures and religions. Severe beauty of its nature, the climate, not too favourable in these latitudes, the coexistence and intermingling of various peoples inhabiting this land for centuries all that conditioned the character of the people living here: very laconic, self-assured, contemplative, and tolerant people. It also accounts for the fact that there is no national strife and terrorism in this land.
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This stamp as issued in 2000 by Karelia.
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The Komi Republic is situated in the extreme North-East part of Russia. It is a multinational state, since the population of Komi Republic is estimated at 1.2 million citizen and consists of 100 nationalities. The Komi Republic is now a democratic legal state included into the Russian Federation. The republic has unique stocks of mineral resources thanks to their location, diversity and quality.
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Mongolia is located in Northern Asia, between China and Russia. It is slightly smaller than Alaska. The climate is desert, large daily and seasonal temperature ranges. The Gobi Desert is located in the south-central region. Mongolia has dust storms, grassland and forest fires, drought, and "zud" which is harsh winter conditions. The people have limited natural fresh water resources in some areas. The capital is Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia achieved its independence from China July 11, 1921. The unemployment rate is 20%. Mongolia is totally landlocked, therefore economic activity traditionally has been based on agriculture and breeding of livestock.
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St. Kitts & Nevis are located in the northern part of the Leeward Islands in the eastern Caribbean. Like no other islands in the Caribbean, they seem to embody a kind of lush tropical paradise usually associated with the South Pacific. The atmosphere here is luxuriant, an intoxicating blend of sunlight, sea air and fantastically abundant vegetation. On Nevis, the ground rises upward into a cloud forest filled with elusive green vervet monkeys and brilliant tropical flowers. Nevis was named after the spanish word for snow, not because there was any, but because of the white clouds that encircle the single peak of an island.
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The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. About 80% of the population lives in cities; Wellington is the southernmost national capital in the world. The seat of government in New Zealand was moved from Auckland to Wellington in 1865, largely on the basis of Wellington's central geographical position.
Auckland is New Zealand's largest urban area with population of just under a million people. It is NOT the capital, although it was at one time, until the capital moved to Wellington. Auckland has more boats per capita than anywhere else in the world, and is the current residence of the America's Cup. It is a water lover's paradise, with some of the best beaches, swimming, diving, fishing, sailing, windsurfing and watersports in the country. New Zealand consists of the North Island (Auckland is located here), and South Island.
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Nicaragua is a Central American country that has had a turbulent recent history. In the 1980s, the country was racked by a civil war between the leftist Sandinista government and US-backed Contra rebels. Unemployment soared and annual hyperinflation reached 24,000%. Today, President Arnoldo Aleman, a right-wing businessman, is struggling to rebuild a country once defined by the Cold War conflict. To some extent, he’s succeeded. Although most Nicaraguans remain mired in poverty, economic growth has averaged nearly 5% a year under Aleman.
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As far as I know, Pabay is not a country. It is one of three uninhabited islands off the coast of Great Britain -- no doubt they make some of their money off of issuing topical postage stamps. Anyway, it is nice that they did a good stamp of a !
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Para Timor produced this lovely body pose and headstudy in 2000.
East Timor is an area of Indonesia that recently voted to become independent. There is much unrest still since the current government does not want to give up power.
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Poland is located in Central Europe, east of Germany and is slightly smaller than New Mexico. Climate is temperate with cold, windy, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms. The terrain is mostly flat plain; mountains along the southern border; Natural resources consist of coal, sulphur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, and arable land. Natural hazard of the area is flooding. The situation has improved since 1989 due to decline in heavy industry and increased environmental concern by postcommunist governments. Historically, an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain.
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Romania is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea. between Bulgaria and Ukraine. It is slightly smaler than Oregon. The climate is temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog, sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms. They have the following resources petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron, ore, salt, arable land, hydropower. They also have natural hazards of earthquakes, most severe in south and southwest; Geologic structure and climate promote landslides. Environment current issues include woil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; the capital is Bucharest.
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These are included simply because they were the only overprints that were available in past years, in this case 1993. There was a limited number released to the outside world and then they were all gone. These scans are for historical significance only since the originals are absolute collector's items now. Be sure to get a set of the new overprints. As far as I know, there were 100 of each overprint available and the small number of those that I was able to get will be gone very quickly.
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Sharjah is the third largest of the seven states, which forms the United Arab Emirates that became fully independent in 1971. From that time, it has attracted attention -- first because of its oil reserves and its strategic location but now in addition to those, because of its program of economic and social development. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, the UAE has witnessed the creation of a truly modern welfare state. Education, health care and social services are available to all citizens.
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Somalia, also called the Somali Democratic Republic, is located on the Horn of Africa, the easternmost part of the African continent. Although it gained its independence in 1960, nearly constant unrest has kept it from establishing a lasting presence in the area.
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Tanzania, the largest country in East Africa, is renowned for its magnificent wildlife, lakes, mountains, and scenery. The country boasts a wealth of natural attractions, including the famed Ngorongoro crater and the formidable Mount Kilimanjaro. It is also home to magnificent game reserves: Gombe Stream National Park, with its chimpanzee sanctuary; and the breathtaking plains of the Serengeti National Park, which hosts the annual migration of at least two million wildebeest with leopards and lions hot on their heels. Add to this the lovely beaches of the exotic islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia. Tanzania recently issued a couple different sets of dog stamps, including this one.
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Touva (often spelled Tuva) is a country in the southern area of Siberia. It's a unique place with the landscapes ranging from the desert to the permafrost, and local fauna-from camels to reindeers. Touva is known as almost the only place in the world where shamanism, a very ancient religion, is preserved, kept and cultivated in its original form.
The republic of Touva lies at the upper reaches of the Siberian Yenisey River and forms a barrier between Russia and Mongolia. Since its independence from the former Soviet Union, Tuva continues to struggle to work on the appropriate way to safeguard and develop its own identity and sovereignty going through the difficult changes from a command-orientated planned economy towards an open market economy. Like so many other former Russian states, the diversity of the people is starting to be felt as the original culture, traditions and religion are gaining more followers.
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Turkmenistan is on the east side of the Caspian Sea, just above Iran.
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What a lovely stamp by Udmurtia in 2000. Udmurtia is approximately midway between Moscow to the Urals. Its land is a hilly wooden plain with numerous swamps, springs and rivers. Its climate is considered a bit too wet and not healthy. Summer is short, rainy and cool; autumn is very cloudy (often there are almost no sunny days from October till January), foggy and rainy. This not very friendly land was originally inhabited by Udmurts (or Votyaks). These peaceful and quiet Finnish people maintained their culture heritage there at least for five thousand years. Their religion is also ancient. They worship the God (called Inmar, The Highest Being) and His assistants governing various elements. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Udmurtia became one of the local republics and as such they now issue stamps including this lovely Cocker Spaniel.
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Umm al Qiwain is another of the United Arab Emirates.
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What you can't see about this incredible stamp is that it is 3-D! When I first
saw this set, there were many of them available. I thought that there would
always be a lot of them. I have not seen another one for about five years now.
I guess those that were available were snapped up. I have five copies, but they
are on the endangered species list.
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Venda is a part of South Africa. Under acts of the South African Parliament, land ws set aside for blacks in psudeoindependent territories (originally called "Bantustans"), allegedly to allow black self- government and cultural preservation. Venda was designated for Venda-speaking people. In reality the homelands allowed the white government to control blacks and exclude them from the political process. In 1973, Venda was granted "self-government," and in 1979 it became the third homeland to be granted "independence" from south Africa. As an independent state, all residents of Venda were treated as foreignors in the remainder of South Africa. The UN Security Council condemned the homelands policy as an attempt by the white government to further apartheid and Venda was not recognized internationally as an independent state. Venda was reabsorbed into South Africa in 1994.
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Most people know Yakutia from the game of Risk along with Kamchatka and Irikutz. Actually, Yakutia is the largest region in Siberia, known as Sasha-Yakutia. These two lovely stamps were issued in 2000.
Cocker Spaniels Souvenir Sheets
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Grenada is described as a spice island, because it produces large quantities of cloves and mace and about a third of the world’s nutmeg. It also grows cacao, sugar, bananas and a wide variety of other fruit and vegetables. Some of its beaches, especially Grand Anse, a dazzling two-mile stretch of white sand, are very fine, but the rest of the island is just as beautiful, rising from a generally rugged coast to a spectacular mountainous interior. The island is green, well forested and cultivated and is blessed with plenty of rain in the wet season. Grenada is the most southerly of the Windward Islands. In contrast to other Windward Islands, which have had a similar history of disputed ownership between the French and English, the French cultural influence in Grenada has completely died out. The population is very young; 38% are under 15 years old and nearly 26% are in the 15-29 years’ age bracket.
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Sierra Leone was a British colony to which freed slaves returned in the late 1700's. After Independence in 1961, a small political elite, who exclusively profited from the lucrative trade in diamonds, dominated successive governments. Little of this national income trickled down to benefit the rest of the population. After much fighting and insurrection the UN was finally convinced to send a peacekeeping force that was in the news for many months.
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Romania issued this headstudy in 1971. The artist is listed as E. Palade. It is
interesting to compare all of the headstudies of buff Cockers put out by different countries in different decades. $4.95 each
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Another lovely buff portrait, this time from Fujeira, one of the United Arab
Emirates. It was issued in 1970, but still available. $4.95 each
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This unique stamp is from Mongolia. It is printed on a diaganol with a wonderful
soft expression. I have only one and don't know where to get more. It is mounted
with gold leaf in a solid brass frame for $29.95, one only.
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Last, but surely not least is this lovely headstudy put out by New Zealand in
1982. The one example of it that I have is mounted with gold leaf backing in a
solid brass frame for $24.95.
My thanks to Sharon for her help with dating and details. I will eventually
convince her to add the last few souvenir sheets and unique items that she
has in her collection.
We are fortunate to have a service that will gold leaf and frame
your stamps for a very reasonable price.To see more samples, Click Here.
If you want to buy one, a set or just to comment, please email me at
Francie@borzoi.com
or call 1-800-658-6699 toll free
(for locally, or out of the US: (512) 280-1867) for current availability.
* We can take visa/mc/amex/disc or a check, but they are first come first served,
so let me know if you are interested.* We do have discounts if you want to buy more than one.
* We have a couple of copies of some of these cards, and since they are much more fun when you have a "set", we would be happy to give a discount for multiple purchases. This can make a set of interesting breed cards quite reasonable. Truly one of the cheapest unique treats for yourself or a friend (great for club trophies as well!)
* It is absolutely true that you will often find some of these stamps at very reasonable prices -- some can be had for under a dollar. On the other hand, if you add in the gas, hours, and hassles that it has taken to find them, you may find it easier to just get them from us while we have them :*) I don't always count on getting more in the near future. I get them when I can find them and the stock is not always constant.
* I do have other breeds available. Let me know and perhaps I can do a page for your breed.
Would you like to be notified when we update this page? Simply type in your email address below and send it by pushing the "send" button. We will keep your name on file and notify you only when this page has been changed. Thanks!
Our Policy on Privacy~*~ Francie Stull ~*~
8708 Grelle Lane, Austin Texas 78744
Toll free (800) 658-6699, (512) 280-1867
last updated: February 10, 2001
* Top of Page * Index of Breeds with Stamps and Cards *
* Cocker Spaniel Tobacco, Tea and Playing Cards * Kristull Ranch Homepage
The following links open to a new window so that you will not lose your place on this page.
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How about CockerSpaniel.info or AmericanCockerSpaniel.info? They are all available at:  
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