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!

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The story is updated weekly – come back and watch us grow!

Before the birth

Our big and hairy mother visited a veterinarian about a week before we were born to check on us. We all were photographed with an X-ray machine, and they tried to count our heads. Wise people thought there were 6 or 7 or 8 of us inside our mother. However, we thought that we should keep our final number a secret and reveal it only after our birth. Our very own “kinder surprise”.

The birth and the first week of life

Our mother started giving birth to us already on February 27^th, but we met this world and her only on February 28^th. The first of us was born at 06:25AM and the last at 08:30PM. And there was 7 of us. The biggest surprise of our birth was that we were all boys. We are like a football team! The largest of us weighed 430 grams and the smallest 350 grams. We were lovely medium sized Samoyed puppies at birth. After we were born, we dedicated ourselves to drinking our mother’s milk and gaining weight.

We are very fond of our mother and complain loudly of her absence if we stray too far from her in our nest box. We all love our mother’s milk and, to be honest, get very competitive in the milk bar. Every brother for himself when it comes to milk. Although we can’t hear or see yet, we can smell our mother and her milk. And each one of us tries to get that very best position in the milk bar. At this age, our mother and her milk are our whole world.

The next important thing in our lives, after the milk, is a good sleeping position. To find the best possible sleeping position, we have a big game of nudging going on all the time. One pokes someone and then the other one nudges another. Then, someone gets knocked over, and someone is again poked in some way. And … just then … the best possible place to sleep is found! Good night world and happy growing!

The second week of life

In our first week of life, we drank so much milk that the top pups among us gained nearly 400 grams of weight compared to our birth weight by the start of the second week. To eat and gain weight is our top goal, also, in week two of our lives. To achieve this goal our brotherhood has a daily weight competition. We get put on the scale each night, and our gains get written down in a fancy notebook. And you know what? Milk is our golden prize for bulking up like champs!

The biggest milestone in our short lives hit on the 12th day. Since birth, we’ve been stumbling around with our eyes and ears shut tight, relying only on our noses and dear old mom. Talk about being totally helpless, right? Well, on the 10th day, the first of us cracked open their eyes, and by day 12, we were all peeking out at the world. How cool is that? Sure, our eyes are still tiny, and we’ve got to squint a bit, but let us tell you, it’s a blast exploring our cozy little nest and catching a glimpse of our big, furry mom!

Once our eyes popped open, we started feeling like real big dogs. So much so that one of us even attempted the classic dog move—scratching behind the ear with a hind leg. Quite the proud moment, let us tell you, even though none of our ears were actually itching at the time. Yep, we’ve got ears alright, but they’re still pretty useless. It’s like they’re glued shut tight, our ear canals are still closed and for now we can´t hear anything. But hey, who needs ears when we’ve been navigating just fine with our noses and eyes so far?

As big dogs, we’re practicing walking on our own four paws every day now. Sure, to someone watching, it might look a bit wobbly or even downright clumsy. But we’re not sweating it—we’re proud of our progress! So what if it’s a little wonky? World – here we come!

The third week of life

With our eyes wide open, we’re tottering all over the nest box now. We still feel a little bit unconfident on our feet, though. Our steps continue to be a bit wobbly and our bodies sway as we move. But hey, we’re totally happy with ourselves, so we just keep on truckin’, mostly in the direction of our mom and her milk. After all, practice makes perfect, right?

By the third week of our little lives, we were really packing on the pounds and feeling like big dogs. So much so, in fact, that we started to feel that mom’s milk alone wasn’t quite doing the job anymore. It was time to try some real-life food this week. Gotta keep those bellies satisfied, right? At first, we weren’t quite sure what to make of this new offering. We sniffed and poked our noses into the food, thought for a moment and then, quite literally, mayhem began. Each pup for themselves, grabbing and pawing at the food like it was the last meal on earth. And you know what? Once we were stuffed to the brim, we didn’t mind one bit that we were all covered with food. Mom came in afterwards, giving us a nice, clean lick down to tidy us up.

Slowly but surely, the little canals of our ears are starting to crack open. Some of us already have these tiny openings in our ears, but not everyone’s quite there yet. The fortunate few are already tuning into the world around us, perking up at the slightest sound near our cozy nest. Meanwhile, the rest of us are blissfully unaware, patiently waiting for our own ears to catch up. Until next week!

The fourth week of life

Now that we’re hearing and seeing the world around us, we decided to put our newfound senses to the test this week by exploring new horizons. One side of our cozy nest box was opened up, unveiling a spacious enclosure just waiting for us to toddle around in. At first, we were a bit hesitant to venture into this new territory, but once we did, we realized it was actually pretty awesome. It’s like our nest box magically expanded!

To our breeder’s dismay, we stumbled upon the wonders of our water bucket this week. We love splashing water around, making a mess, and then cozying up to the puddle of wetness we’ve created. It may not be ideal for our breeder, but for us, it’s pure satisfaction.

This week, we tested out also some fun puppy games. The bold ones among us took a shot at tugging on each other’s tails, prompting immediate protests from the poor pups on the receiving end. And then there were those superstars who dared to grab onto our breeder’s pants for a bit of fun. Even Aunt Chiara got in on the action, nudging us with her nose and inviting us into playtime. We try playing with her, and if that doesn’t work, well, we resort to barking. Ah, life’s a riot!

The fifth week of life

We’re all legs and energy this week, running around like there’s no tomorrow. We’re everywhere, all the time, poking our noses into everything we can find. Well, except for when exhaustion hits and we collapse into a heap for some much-needed shut-eye. We are still tiny and need our beauty sleep.

We’re all about toys, but you know what? The best toy is each other. Our ultimate favorite game? It’s this wild poke-and-bite game. It’s simple yet oh-so-fun. One of us starts by biting someone, then the bitten one pokes the biter, and before you know it, it’s a full-blown frenzy of poking, kicking, and biting. Round and round it goes! Another gem of a game? Tugging on each other’s tails. And let us tell you, if the one being tugged gives a little squeak back… well, that just adds to the excitement!

One slightly less thrilling episode this week was when our breeder decided it was bath time. We weren’t exactly thrilled about it. Being soaked, lathered up with shampoo, and rinsed clean wasn’t our idea of a good time. And as if that wasn’t enough, we had to endure the indignity of being blasted with a dog hair dryer. Talk about a rough day! By the time it was all done, we were feeling down and tired. But a nice, refreshing nap perked us right up. In no time, we were back to our lively selves, even agreeing to strike a pose for our breeder’s camera and let ourselves be immortalized in a photo.

The sixth week of life

Our world is getting bigger week by week. This week, our breeder took us outside for the first time. We got to smell the grass, soil, and the yard. At first, all these new smells and sounds startled us, but we soon realized what a nice place we were in. Oh, the abundance of leaves, straws, and sticks to grab in our mouths! It’s so much fun to pick up a leaf and run across the grass. And if someone else sees that leaf in our mouth and runs after us to take it away, even better! Our aunt Chiara runs with us and shows us how to enjoy the outdoors the most. We try to keep up with her, but we still can’t run as fast as she does.

Indoors, the first brave ones among us are already trying to climb the stairs. With a bit of effort, we can go up and down two or three flights of stairs all by ourselves. We have to admit that going up is much easier than going down – per aspera ad astra! Our breeder can no longer hide her shoes from us at the top of the stairs – we’re onto them!

At six weeks old, we weigh 3,9 kg. We’re big boys now!

The seventh week of life

This week, our breeder has been closely watching us all the time. No, not because we’re being naughty. Well, we still get into a little mischief – it’s part of being a puppy. But nobody is angry with us for that. Our breeder is keeping a close eye on us to understand our personalities and compare our development. All to choose the best home for each of us. To see which of us might excel in a show career, our breeder took pictures and videos of us. The big decision about who will go to which family will happen next week, just before we start going to our new homes. It’s all so exciting!

Until then, we’re slowly getting ready to go to our new homes Our puppy packages are already put together and waiting on the shelf for the big day. Each of us gets grooming tools, a toy, and food. Of course, we also have our veterinary passport and pedigree certificate. We´ll even have a visit from a doctor who checks our health and gives our breeder an important certificate about it. Everything is almost set, just a little more patience!

This is the end of the blog story about our growth. We’re already chubby little pups, however becoming big dogs takes some more time. Throughout our first year of life, we’ll keep growing and learning new things. This week and the next, we’ll be joyfully playing around our breeder’s home as our new homes are readied for us. Then, our journey with our new families begins. How exciting!

Lots of happy hugs to us in our future homes! Woof-Woof!

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Grooming table. Check. Cage. Check. Grooming supplies. Check. Treats. Check. Human stuff…check…hopefully… Dogs. Check. So lets go!

First stop on the road. Ate dinner today at a restaurant in the old town of Kaunas. 750+ kilometers and 10+ hours of Poland, Poland and more Poland…enjoying our well deserved rest before Slovakia. PS! We were truly good girls during the long drive, honestly at our best behavior …although, Nordic dogs as we are, we are slightly scared of the 28 degrees Celsius ahead of us.

After 3 days of driving, doggy-friendly driving style with doggy-friendly stops, finally arrived at Euro Samoyed Show 2018 location at a historic Slovak castle 28-30 degrees Celsius in Slovakia these days, hence lost a lot of sweat setting up our tent and stuff. Sabiine also went through a wash…our bathroom floor remains still wet…luckily a friendly helper provided us with an outside doggie hair drying opportunities. So, no hair in the room. Must say, grass was covered with white fur after. Later, we enjoyed some playing and resting on our showground of tomorrow. Cool!!!

Great news! Bianca did really well on the first day of the dog show. She achieved 4th place in junior class, among 18 dogs!!! Sabiine was very beautiful, and stole and ate all her neighboring dog treats…very Sabiine like…however, even these diversions didn’t helped her today…hope for better luck tomorrow.

On the second day, Sabiine was selected among the 5 best Samoyed females of her class of 18 dogs. Sabiine was at her best behavior and judge like us. Some sniffs here and there during the running, but still good performance! However, we felt we could achieve more. So, fighting against the heat, that was all around us, we headed towards Prague and its international dog show. The Celsius degrees decreased, and our expectations increased.

In summer, Europe is full of road work. There was some need for Waze, as due to detour our car navigation system was lost But you cannot miss Prague!

At Prague, we were not to disappoint The showgrounds were big and there were a lot of dogs. They even had medical stuff and police there, just in case. The judge was talkative and all other rings around us had already finished when huskies (last breed after Samoyeds in our ring) started. But! Sabiine achieved Best Female no 2, Res-Cacib sertificate and Chezh CAC certificate, which makes her new proud Chezh Champion Oopppaaa! Bianca didn’t felt so much running that day (one of her strong points) and was placed 2nd in Junior Class.

After the show we relaxed in lovely garden of our accommodation in Prague. The hostess loved dogs so much, that she even did not charged us extra for them. Tomorrow we start our way back home.

On our way back, our car navigation system surprised us again. Resulted that it loved highways so much that it made us drive extra 200 kilometers to Germany, just to be able to return homevia highway. Amazingly the girls loved the trip (all 3900 kilometers) so much that even after returning home they kept asking me to put them back in the car and start driving again Lets see about future trips in future. Hopefully we get our leash and walking skills so high that one day we can go on a sightseeing trip together . This time we didn’t risk with Krakow For now we are very pleased with the results of this trip.

Untill next time…we run and play

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