Samoyed

The Samoyed (in Russian Cyrillic Samoyedskaya Sabaka) is one of the oldest dog breeds.

The Samoyed would be one of the first breeds of domesticated dogs with the Basenji. It is also reminiscent of the arctic wolf Canis lupus arctos of North America or Canis lupus albus of northern Siberia. Of Siberian origin, it was used by the Samoyed tribe (nowadays mainly Nénetses) to pull sleds in particular. He had a considerable place within the tribe; both for childcare, for hunting and fishing, for pulling sleds and finally for herding cattle. Unlike other sled dogs, the Samoyed slept with his master in the traditional chum, protecting and warming him. Originally, there was actually a greater variety of coats: black, piebald, cream, biscuit, and white. White dogs were a minority among all these. It is for this reason that today even cream or even biscuit stains on the ears or the body are present and accepted. It is not uncommon to find a black hair among all its fur, a relic of their ancestors. This dog is white today because they are the whitest dogs that were brought back to Europe after the Siberian expeditions and that were selected until obtaining the current type. It was a very hardy breed, used during the first polar expeditions (south pole with Roald Amundsen), being able to withstand extreme temperatures of -40°C. The breed had in its beginnings 3 very distinct types: a smaller “fox” type, which the Samoyed tribe used more for the company of children and which was discarded from the start; a "bear" type, more stocky, nevertheless presenting often too sagging aplombs, originally used for hunting and which was however very successful in the United Kingdom was a time for its beautiful head and the characteristic "smile" of the race, as well as its small ears; a “wolf” type, more slender and muscular, with an ideal frame for the line. He had a lot of success in the United States, even if he was criticized for having too big ears. Today, we try to cross the last two types to obtain a "perfect" subject according to the criteria of the standard, but it is not yet easy to obtain the qualities of the two types and we can always see the differences. between "bear" or "English" and "wolf" or "American" lines.

Versatile dog par excellence, he shines just as well in agility, dog shows, cani-cross, as in sled teaming or ski-joring in winter and kart or bikejoring in summer (teaming with one or two dogs on a mountain bike or off-road scooter). He is considered a very good lead dog, the males, although imposing, are not as powerful as Malamutes and slower than Huskies. A 100% Samoyed team is therefore a good compromise between these two breeds, but it is unfortunately only rarely found in competition, although they have real qualities. The males will be harnessed just in front of the sled (wheel dogs, powerful) and the females in front, faster, as lead dogs, very attentive to orders. It can even be used as a shepherd dog on occasion, as the Samoyed tribe did with its reindeer. On the whole, he will be very gifted in the disciplines of movement and “pure” obedience will be a nightmare for him. For the sportsmen, the orders of directions for the coupling will be learned as of four months and one will make it pull from twelve to fourteen months only to avoid any problem of balances or articulations.