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Because of the Samoyed's intelligent nature
and willingness to please, they are excellent candidates
for a myriad of competitive venues. To learn more about
what you could do with your Sammie just continue to
read on down the page. If you are interested in a specific
area of competition, click on the buttons above to jump
to that area of interest.
Conformation
For more info about conformation please see the AKC's
Beginner's Guide to Dog Shows.
Obedience
Many of the traits attributed to Samoyeds make them
ideal candidates for obedience training. Their willingness
to please (rewarded of course by a treat) and their
ability to learn quickly make them great obedience
prospects.
So why isn't the word "Samoyed" synonymous
with the word "obedience"? The same traits
that make them an ideal candidate also make them at
times a challenge to train. Many Samoyeds become bored
repeating the same actions over and over. They seem
to look at us and say " stupid human, I already
did that, how many more times do you expect me to
do the same thing?" At times this leads to them
adding their own variations to the routine. Many Samoyeds
have been presented the "class clown" award
at graduation from training classes.
Another important difference between Samoyeds and
many of the "obedience breeds" is their
reaction to corrections. Many potential obedience
prospects have been ruined because they were expected
to perform in an untypical Samoyed fashion and corrected
unfairly for not.
Overall, Samoyeds can be trained to compete with
the best of obedience dogs. Patience, generous praise
(after all, they are doing this to please YOU) and
understanding of subtle differences in training techniques
will bring out their best. A sense of humor on your
part is also very important. This is one breed that
will eventually pull some antics in the obedience
ring, which will keep you humble!
ALL YOU HAVE TO LOSE IS A FEW HOURS A WEEK IN
EXCHANGE FOR A LIFE LONG STRONGER BOND WITH YOUR FOUR
LEGGED FRIEND!
By Genevieve Deltieure, SCA Obedience Coordinator
Agility
 Agility
& Samoyeds are as compatible as peanut butter
and jelly. Because of their intelligence, alertness
and naturally agile bodies, Samoyeds can learn quickly
this fascinating sport. Not only are our dogs intelligent
but because of this they can become quite easily bored.
Agility is fast moving and ever changing. The dogs
accept this challenge, leaving boredom for the jumping,
turning & twisting of the agility course!
Up close, all the agility equipment
can look forbidding. Heights seem higher when you
picture your dog up there, and a jump looks much more
impossible when you look around the course and see
ten other's just as high, some broader, and some downright
strange looking! There isn't much room for error on
those planks, and how on earth can a dog be taught
to weave so fast through those silly poles?
In getting you and you dog ready
for the sport of Dog Agility there are some basic
factors that apply:
- KEY WORDS- Jump,
Tire, Teeter, Tunnel, Get In, And Weave!
- BASIC OBEDIENCE-
Come, Sit, Stay, Down!
- LOTS OF PRAISE-Good
Boy (Girl), That's the way, Alright, Yahoo!
- BONDING WITH YOUR DOG-
This is a good and positive way of showing teamwork!
What is most important is your attitude.
Like it or not, you are shaping your dog's attitude
with guidance, corrections or rewards, and with the
feelings you project through your dog and agility.
Begin your dog's training with challenges easier than
you think your dog needs, and progress only when
your dog needs more of a challenge, not when you
do! A positive attitude towards the first agility
obstacles comes from a quick early success. When you
hit a snag later on, leave that lesson alone for a
week or so while you go back to the delightful basics.
Choose your training times, enticements, and challenges
according to what will best strengthen your dog's
educational foundation. Don't let someone else's timetable
for progress dictate your own. Every dog learns unevenly
and needs your help differently!
 Every dog can benefit. There are many people today, both
kids and adults, who have a close, active relationship
with their dogs. These people and their pets have
much of the physical and mental tuning characteristics
of a first-rate agility team. Whether they ever join
dog agility classes or enter competitions, agility
is a part of their way of life. And a rich life it
is, whether their dogs are purebred or mixed, large
or small. The sport of agility offers many new twists,
even if you think there's nothing you and your dog
don't already know about camaraderie.
So think positive! It will make you
a better handler and your dog a better partner. Take
your time, and remember your positive attitude comes
first in agility!
So for now if you go out and over
the next jump, get out to the weave poles and into
the tunnel, we too shall meet on the dogwalk!
by Jason Loper, Cosmic Samoyeds
Agility
Products - order now!
Herding
 Samoyeds
are, to say the least, a multi-purpose dog. The harsh
climate in which they lived precluded having domesticated
animals that had only one function. Limited food supplies
required that they be proficient in more than one
attribute. Thus it was that the breed took up the
role of an Arctic shepherd.
Like many nomadic peoples, the Samoyede's main source
of sustenance and symbol of wealth and power were
their herds of livestock, in this case the tundra
caribou, or reindeer. With the adult males weighing
in excess of1000 pounds, these wandering herds provided
food, shelter, and most of the necessities of life
on the tundra, much like the bison herds of the American
plains did for the American Indians. The difference
was that in the cold, barren Arctic, the Samoyede
people had to keep in close contact with the herds
to insure that they could make use of them.
 The
type of herding that this lifestyle required was a
combination of tending and driving, with some fetching
thrown in when members of the herd would stray from
the main group. The people would set up a camp in
the center of a likely grazing area and then place
a ring of dogs around the camp to keep the herd from
trampling through their respective living rooms. A
second, large ring of dogs were placed on the outer
edges of the grazing herd to keep the main body of
reindeer together and prevent stragglers from wandering
off onto the tundra. When the grazing was depleted,
everything was packed up and the herd was driven to
a new site where the process was repeated as before.
Since it has been over 100 years since any Samoyeds
were used for this purpose, finding a Sammie that
exhibits more than a passing interest in herding is
a bit serendipitous at best. While the herding instinct
may have been bred for by those Arctic tribesmen,
today's breed maintains that
legacy in a very hit and miss fashion. Today's Sammies
work because they want to please their owners, or
because they still retain some of the primitive pack
hunting urge. The intensity of their desire can vary
greatly from one exposure to the next, and is not
anywhere near the force that motivates such breeds
as the Border Collie. Samoyeds work WITH their owners,
and easily become bored with repetitions. They resent
being forced to work a particular way, and will often
find their own style of herding, especially if it
is more active or more fun.
 In
general, Samoyeds are upright, loose-eyed working
dogs. This means that they use their whole body to
influence the movement of the livestock. This requires
that they usually work closer to the stock than a
breed that controls through the use of "eye".
In this respect, they are very similar to such other
herders as Australian Shepherds or Shetland Sheepdogs.
Samoyeds also tend to shoulder or chest livestock
to push them in the direction that they want them
to go, a trait that I have only
seen in one or two other herding breeds. If working
cattle, they should be taught to keep their distance,
as their upright nature make them prime targets for
a kick. They are not afraid to work in confined areas
with stock, and I have seen even puppies jump on top
of milling groups of sheep
to break them up.
I wholeheartedly encourage any Samoyed owners to
have their dogs tested for herding instinct. The training
must be with you and your dog as a team; the harder
you push them, the more they will resist the training.
But the results can be more rewarding than anything
I have ever attempted with this breed. Remember, Samoyeds
are the symbol of versatility.
by Louis Thompson, Omega Samoyeds
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