Overview - Basics
While each breed is unique in
their own right, the BASICS of care is the same for all breeds --
keep clean, water, feed sufficiently and nutritionally, provide
veterinary care, exercise & offer lots of love and patience.
In order to keep your Samoyed
clean & parasite free you will need a minimum of one hour, per week,
of your time to allot for grooming your Samoyed. If your
Samoyed is a puppy, is spayed or neutered, is geriatric, or is
blowing coat (shedding) you may want to allow for more time, per
week. Why? The Samoyed puppy is just that A Puppy, who
will get dirty more often than the older dog. Many times once
a Samoyed has been spayed or neutered they will carry a more dense
and/or longer coat. The geriatric Samoyed will have more
tender skin than the younger dog. And, during the times when
your Samoyed is blowing coat (shedding) you will want to invest a
little more of your time in grooming in order to get the old coat
out as soon as possible. Your minimum of one hour, per week,
does not have to be accomplished all in one session...you can groom
for 5-10 minutes, per day. The latter especially applies to
the Samoyed puppy and the geriatric Samoyed. For a more
detailed look at
"Grooming Your Samoyed", click here.
The quantity and type of food
your Samoyed will need depends largely on age, weight and/or size,
amount of exercise, medical issues (if any) and preference. If
fed a good nutritional food, the Samoyed does not eat the quantity
of food as one might think of a dog their size. You will want
to consult your breeder, Veterinarian, rescue contact and/or other
Samoyed breeders/owners for suggestions and advice. Also, your
Samoyed needs access to fresh drinking water.
It is important, as with all
breeds/dogs, that Veterinary medical care is maintained, timely and
emergency care provided when needed. Vaccinations should be
current, heartworm testing performed (as instructed by your
Veterinarian) and heartworm preventative routinely given, if
negative. If you live in an area where parasites (fleas or
ticks) are more prevalent you will, also, want to discuss with your
Veterinarian prevention for ticks AND fleas. Some drugs
that Samoyeds have been known to have severe to fatal adverse
reactions to include: Drugs containing sulpha, Ace, Rimadyl &
Deramaxx (NSAID drugs). You may want to consider, as other Samoyed owners
have, noting your Samoyed's veterinary chart in big bold
writing at the top of their chart.
Regarding vaccinations, see Dr. Jean Dodds recommended vaccination schedule. For
more information on Samoyed & general canine medical and health
issues go to
Mirage Samoyeds Health Section.
As with feeding, exercise will
depend a great deal on the age and (medical) condition of your
Samoyed. Also, will you be looking for a moderate exercise
plan for your Samoyed or do you plan on being more heavily involved
in the Samoyed working activities such as sledding, herding, pack
hiking, racing, etc.? Please consult with your breeder,
Veterinarian, rescue contact and/or other Samoyed breeders/owners
for suggestions or advice. In addition, if you plan on
sledding your Samoyed get in touch with other Samoyed owners who are
involved in sledding, and so on. Your breeder, rescue contact
or other Samoyed owners and breeders can assist you in finding that
right person to speak with or you can use the
Samoyed Club of
America's Breeder Referral Page to locate Samoyed owners and/or breeders
in your area if you do not currently have any contacts available to
you.
Samoyeds are a family-oriented
breed! They want and need to be with their human family.
This breed is not one which can be happy living separated from their
humans. They need human love, interaction, guidance &
patience.
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