Your Samoyed’s beautiful white coat requires regular maintenance to prevent skin problems and hair damage, and to keep it consistently attractive and beautiful. The length, thickness and structure of the coat may vary. Some coats require more frequent maintenance, while others need less grooming. The longer and thicker the fur, the more frequent the grooming it requires! Your dog’s coat is covered with a special oil layer that repels dirt. Simply let your dirty Sammy dry off, brush him thoroughly, and the coat will be good as new! The Samoyeds are washed when their coat feels and looks dirty. In a household with one dog, this can comfortably be done in every 3-4 months. In a household with more dogs, washing could be needed in every 1,5-2 months. Remember, this breed’s coat is not trimmed nor cut. I’ll discuss what and how to trim with scissors below.
How to train your Samoyed puppy with grooming
Obviously, a young Samoyed puppy isn’t thrilled about his owner “attacking him with a comb.” Brushing and combing isn´t painful for your pet in any way but getting him used to it takes time. Start this training as soon as you take your puppy home. Practice brushing and touching his body every day, at first 5-10 minutes, gradually extending the time spent on the procedure. Brush his fur and touch him all over his body. Give plenty of praise to your puppy during brushing and stay firm if he doesn’t like your actions. Eventually, he learns that grooming is here to stay and accepts it.
Puppy’s soft fur mats easily, so brushing is important. Brush the puppy’s coat (with a dense and sufficiently long-toothed brush) layer by layer against the direction of the fur, so the soft undercoat gets properly brushed. The dense undercoat lifts up, allowing the dog’s skin to breathe better. In addition to brushing, also practice combing your puppy. Combing is especially needed during shedding periods, and without practice, your puppy may not like this activity at all.
Tools
Among your pet grooming tools, you should have one slicker brush with shorter bristles, one slicker brush with longer and stronger bristles, and a comb. A good slicker brush with shorter bristles is the Doggyman Slicker Brush in size M. I use it myself for brushing puppies and for grooming adult dogs’ legs and tails. For grooming adult dogs, I use a slicker brush with longer and stronger bristles. I have provided my puppies with a Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles brush in size M to take home. The comb can be, for example, the Show Tech The Big Brother Comb 25cm or similar. When it comes to the comb, it’s important that the tips of its teeth are not too sharp or too dull.
Brushing
The biggest mistake that people make when brushing a Samoyed is that they brush only its outer coat layer while leaving the undercoat layer untouched. If you haven’t broken a sweat while brushing your white fluffball, then you probably haven’t properly brushed him “to the shin.” Combing and brushing thoroughly through an adult dog’s full coat down to the skin takes about 30-45 minutes. I personally like to comb and brush my dogs roughly once every couple of weeks to keep them looking beautiful, clean, and fluffy. During muddy periods, a handy tool is a hairdryer, which is great for blowing out dripping mud from the fur. Just be careful to which wall you’re directing that mud stream towards! A lazy owner can quickly turn white coat that’s already starting to turn gray back to white again with simply a hairdryer and without actually washing the dog. Kennel Flying Snowflake has a video tutorial on brushing techniques, however it is in Estonian language. Nevertheless, you can turn down the volume and just observe the hand movement.
I start the brushing process from one of the hind legs. I take my Doggman slicker brush, grab the leg approximately from the heel with my hand and brush the fur on the thigh with strong strokes against the direction of its falling. Then, I push the fur from the heel upwards with my hand, against the direction of its fall again. I leave the fur under my hand, and start brushing it out layer by layer from under my hand, moving slowly upwards. In case you feel the Doggyman slicker brush is not enough, you can always go for Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles. The most important technique for brushing a Samoyed is to push the fur upwards against the direction of its falling with your hand, leave it under your hand, and then start brushing it out from there. Make sure you brush your dog all the way down to the skin.
I brush one leg several times and then move on to the other hind leg and repeat the procedure. When brushing the hind legs, it’s important to brush as well the heels because they wear out and mat the most. I first brush the heels and then comb them. Brushing first and then combing the same spot is a good technique for the whole body to give it extra volume and fluffiness. The parts of fur hanging from the thighs are called the pants. In some dogs, pants tend to grow very long and hang ugly. To give the pants a nice curved shape, simply pull the excessively hanging fur out with your fingers. No, it doesn’t hurt him.
Using the basic technique of Samoyed brushing, I brush through the entire body as well as the underside of the belly.
Tail is the only part of the body where I do not use the basic Samoyed brushing technique. The tail is the only part of the body where the brushing happens in the direction of the falling of the fur. The tail mats easily, and people do not pay enough attention to brushing the tail. Some people even fear accidentally pulling out too much tail hair. However, the latter should not be feared.
The long fur on the front paws is called flags. I always groom this area with both a brush and a comb. First, I brush it thoroughly, and then I comb it carefully with a comb as well. I lift the paw, pull the fur against its falling direction, and start brushing it out from under my hand again.
Lastly, I groom the area around the head and the chest. Fur around the head and behind the ears gets easily tangled, especially with puppies and young dogs. For this area, especially in males, I use a stronger brush. Again, I pull the fur back with my hand and start brushing it out from my hand.
Shedding
Shedding is the period when a dog sheds its undercoat. Sometimes, a part of the outer coat is also shed. These may occur together or in different stages. Females usually shed their coat a month or two before the heat. Males mostly do it once a year, timing it very individually. During this period, it’s very important to comb (specifically comb and not just brush) your dog daily until the old fur is fully removed. The sooner you get rid of the old fur, the sooner this “snowfall” ends. Typically, people make the mistake of not combing their dog thoroughly and diligently enough, which makes shedding seem like a very long process, the dog looks scruffy, and the home is full of fur. Regular combing speeds up shedding and reduces hairballs on the floor! Another mistake made is methodical: during shedding, the dog is not combed, but rather attempted to be brushed as usual, but this doesn’t get rid of the old fur. Shedding is precisely the moment for which it’s necessary to train your pet with combing in addition to brushing. Dead fur is removed from the dog’s coat with a comb by pulling and dragging firmly along the body. Watch our kennel’s video tutorial on how to do this:
Shedding can be accelerated by bathing. Before starting to bathe the dog, it’s very important to comb the dog thoroughly or blow with a hairdryer to remove the loose coat. Dead undercoat mats horribly when wet, and it’s very difficult to remove during drying. Personally, I usually wait until most of the old coat has come off before washing my dog to remove the last bit of old fur.
Trimming around and under the paws
Trimming under the paws means cutting the hair growing between and under the toes. It also entails cutting/trimming the hair that has grown long and protrudes from the sides and top of the paws. The hair underneath the paws is cut to prevent the dog from slipping on the floor and to avoid snow and dirt accumulation. Trimming the sides and tops of the paws is also done for beauty reasons because overgrown hair in those areas looks ugly and reflects the owner’s negligence. Nails should be trimmed every couple of months or whenever you hear them clicking on the floor. When trimming nails, avoid cutting into the pink part as it contains blood vessels and generally blood doesn’t clot well on nails. If the dog’s nails are very long, they shouldn’t be trimmed all at once but gradually shortened over several sessions. Watch the following instructional videos on how to cut the hair under the paws and how to trim the sides of the paws. If you are a beginner, use one-sided thinning scissors to trim the sides and the top of the paws. If you are more experienced, you can also use regular scissors with a blunt end. To cut the hair under the paws use the same blunt end scissors – make sure you don´t cut into the paw! For that I recommend to cut the hair under the paws when the dog is sleeping and relaxing.
Bathing
Use only shampoos specifically designed for dogs when bathing, as the skincare needs of dogs and humans differ. Most dog shampoos are concentrates that need to be diluted with water. When starting the bath, wet the coat first and then apply the diluted dog shampoo. Don’t try to get the entire coat wet – I briefly wet the dog’s coat with a handheld shower and immediately start shampooing. Make sure the shampoo solution is not too strong, as it can damage the coat. Work the shampoo into a lather on the coat and then rinse thoroughly. Proper rinsing is very important! The shampoo is rinsed out when the wet hair feels squeaky between your fingers. Towel dry the coat and then air dry it without using a hairdryer.
For drying a puppy, a regular hairdryer can be used, but for drying an adult dog’s coat, a special dog dryer is necessary. I got a dog dryer for myself when my first white fluff was 6-7 months old, and I burnt his coat with my hairdryer, so I was very pleased with the investment. When using a dog dryer, make sure that strong airflow doesn’t get into the eyes or ears – getting into the ear can even permanently damage the dog’s hearing! Initially, your pet may not like the dryer, but practice using it because without drying, your pet will take a very long time to dry. When drying, make sure to dry the undercoat as well because a damp dog can easily catch a cold! I take regular breaks during drying, during which I brush the coat with a slicker brush and assess its moisture or dryness level, and if necessary, I continue drying. A damp coat is not safe in either winter or summer. During the summer months, a dog that remains wet due to bathing or swimming is at high risk of developing bacterial skin inflammation called hotspot. Severe hotspot may require hormone or antibiotic treatment. Many veterinarians respond to this by immediately shaving off the coat, which should definitely not be done with a Samoyed. If you notice a reddish spot on the skin that itches and that the dog actively licks, quickly consult a veterinarian. Due to the risk of hotspot, I do not recommend cooling dogs with swimming during hot periods!
Which hairdryer and shampoo to choose
It’s usually recommended to choose a two-motor hairdryer, but when selecting a hairdryer, pay more attention to the speed of the airflow rather than the power of the motor. A more effective dryer is one that blows faster air. The choice of shampoo is a bit of trial and error – how it feels during washing, how easily it rinses out, how the dog’s coat feels after washing, etc. A Samoyed’s coat should never feel heavy or greasy after washing, but light and fluffy. Therefore, no balms are applied to their coat, especially before a show, as it often makes the coat heavy. If you didn’t use a balm but the coat feels heavy, you might consider switching shampoos. Choosing a shampoo for a show dog is a more complicated matter, but for a lovely family dog, I would recommend SoPosh or K9 shampoos. From the K9 range, the regular Aloe Vera or Texture versions. Based on my kennel dogs, I can say that they don’t need moisturizing shampoo, nor do they need whitening or deep-cleansing shampoo, which can cause excessive damage. Instead, a regular dog tar shampoo from the K9 series is a significantly better product, doing exactly the same job, even better, in a healthier way. The K9 series also offers anti-tangle sprays, but I haven’t used them during brushing. From the SoPosh range, a good choice is, for example, I’m So Puffy, which adds volume, but also I’m So Fantastic.
Pants correction
“Pants” refers to the longer hanging fur on the hind legs. The length and style of the pants are individual, but sometimes they tend to grow excessively and hang down too long. For this breed, the ideal look is a curved and moderately-haired rear end. Excess and overly long pants are simply pulled (or plucked) out with fingers until the rear fur line forms a curved line again. And… no, it doesn’t hurt them. A beautiful curvature of the pants looks like this:
In conclusion
It seems to me more and more that our dog owners like to think that groomers take care of their dogs. The dog looks beautiful and clean for a few weeks after a grooming session and then spends most of the time walking around gray, scruffy, and unbrushed. Some individuals rarely go to the groomer. But! The groomer can only be an assistant to the owner and never their primary caretaker. The owner always takes care of their dog themselves – not the groomer!