Grooming Your Samoyed

This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, July 2014 issue.

Grooming Your Samoyed

The Samoyed breed is really not all that difficult to groom; they do not have the type of hair that matts easily, such as silky haired dogs. However, they still need regular, on-going grooming at least every 6 to 8 weeks. When the dog is shedding its coat, you really have to get that old undercoat out – the sooner the better. This process takes about a month, so work on getting it combed out, otherwise they will be dropping chunks of hair for many more weeks. If old coat is left in and the new the coat grows in, you will get matts and have a real mess. It will be most difficult to groom the dog. Also, if a dog that is loosing its coat gets really wet (or you try to bath him without getting all the loose hair out), you will get matts. Tis is why you always brush and comb first. As with any coated breed of dog, regular grooming is a must. An important rule of thumb is never, never, bath your dog before it is thoroughly combed and brushed out.

Another rule of thumb: never, never have your dog clipped or shaved down to the skin. If you do, your Samoyed’s coat may never grow back properly, it may come back in patches -such as chunks of longer hair and short hair – or be wispy and scraggly. If you’ve neglected proper grooming and you have a mess – find a groomer who will comb the dog out and not shave it. It will cost you, but it is better than what you may have ended up with if the dogs is shaved. If you want to own a coated breed of dog, keep them groomed. Te Samoyed – being a double-coated breed – will need to be thoroughly groomed on a on going basis. Tis means a complete comb out and bath at least every 8 weeks. If you don’t want to do your own grooming, I recommend that you plan to have a scheduled appointment with a groomer, and you do the touch up grooming inbetween (believe me, it’s worth it). If you are going to be showing your dog, then it would help if you learn to do a lot of the grooming yourself, or maybe along with a professional job periodically.

Grooming Equipment

If you plan to do your own grooming, a must is a grooming table. Brushes/Combs: Medium-sized, soft slicker brush (I prefer Chris Christensen’s® as well as their Poodle Buttercomb™). A pin brush is okay, too; All Systems has a nice Belgium comb. Tere are other good brands out there, but a Greyhound- or Belgium-type 7½” comb is also a must. For nails, you’ll need clippers and KwikStop®, or a grinder. For coat, include blow dryers, shampoo for white dogs, a bar of Ivory® soap (for non-show baths I use Bio-Groom’s Econo-Groom® Shampoo) and a KONG® Zoom Groom hand held scrubber in your kit.

Grooming a Puppy

You should be able to take care of the puppy coat for the first few months yourself, but it would be most helpful to introduce him to a professional as soon as possible. (Many towns now have dog wash locations, which make a good place to do your own grooming and blow drying) Equipment includes a grooming table with an arm and noose and a two motor blow dryer if possible. K-9® Dog Dryers are good – personally, I use a K-9® III Master Blaster and others. You should only need a medium-sized soft slicker and a Belgium comb to start off. Line brush the dog first. Tis is done by holding an area of the hair with your left hand (if you are right handed) and brush the hair away from the area you are holding (towards you). Tis way you get all the way to the skin and out. Repeat the line with line combing with the Belgium comb. For nails, every 2 weeks trim the white ends off the toe nails, have your KwikStop® ready in case you cut too short and the nail bleeds. Or buy a small grinder – I find that this works the best – they don’t get the pinching sensation and you can have more control on what you are removing. Brush, comb out and bath, flow dry. Tey won’t like much of it, but with enough times they will get used to it and be okay with the process, so you need to groom your puppy from the time they are small as much as possible while they are much more manageable.

Grooming an Adult

If you have a dog dryer, thoroughly blow the dogs coat all over, this will remove dirt and any loose hair as well as separate the hair. After I blow the dog with the dryer, I like to start out using the soft slicker for my brush out. Ten follow the brushing with the course Butter- or Poodle-type comb, which has wider teeth. Line comb the hair as well with the course comb (wide teeth, this is what you want to use on the tail also). Te Belgium comb is a finish comb; use it around head, legs and for extra fine finish combing. Your dog is now ready for the bath. Again, never, never, bath your dog before it is thoroughly combed and brushed out. You usually want to shampoo twice, wet thoroughly, apply first coat of shampoo, then a rubber-pronged scrubber is helpful to scrub the dog and work the shampoo in, I find that the bar of Ivory® soap works well on the legs and underbelly. Don’t be afraid to get the head wet, if you are concerned about water in the ears, put cotton in them. Rinse and repeat, really scrub the dog well and follow with a good rinsing.

If you are not showing your dog, you can also use a creme rinse. If showing, a creme rinse could make the coat too soft (though I have found that a light creme rinse is fine). For the show coat, some like to use a texturizer, towel dry, then start blow drying. Once most of the water is out you can use your pin brush and slicker to comb and dry at the same time. If this is a show bath, you will want to completely dry the dog with the blow dryer before crating. Once the dog is dry, then brush the dog all over and then line comb… your dog is now ready and beautiful! Once at the show, you will want to brush and comb your Samoyed out again, but the job will not take long or be difficult if you did the job right.