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Our Pack
| We knew that we wanted to share our lives with dogs. After we bought our first house, we started looking into different breeds of dogs. Siberian Huskies were our first choice, but we (mistakenly) thought it would be difficult for a northern breed to adapt to a warm and humid climate. We slowly stopped our search for a dog, content with the company of our two cats.
Then we moved to Alaska and northern breeds were fair game again. We began researching Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes and Samoyeds. The Denver Samoyed Association has a wonderful, one-page comparison of the snow dogs. We made sure to investigate the pros and cons of each breed. We asked ourselves if we were ready to take on the negative aspects and if we were ready to devote 12-15 years of dependent care for another member of the family.
PROS |
CONS |
- Medium size
- Friendly temperament
- Pack-oriented
- Active
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- Easily bored
- Digging
- Chewing
- Blowing coat (shedding)
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There are other pros and cons that did not matter to us, but might matter to someone trying to make a decision about which breed to get. On the pro side, Samoyeds are very intelligent. They have to be smart to anticipate livestock when herding, to make a decision about which way to go when pulling a sled... On the con side, this can make training a little more challenging. Samoyeds don't see the point of repetitious exercises. Samoyeds are also talkers. They bark, howl, and a-roo (we happen to find it endearing). They can be escape artists and diggers (all of our fence vulnerabilities have been fixed). They get bored easily and are prone to destruction. Since Samoyeds are a double coated breed, their grooming requirements can be extensive. They also shed seasonally (once a year for males and spayed females, twice a year for unspayed females). By shedding, I mean the undercoat comes out in clumps likes cotton candy! Samoyeds are not for everyone!
Admittedly, it was the wonderful pictures of Samoyed puppies and adults that made us look again at the breed. Once we did, we were in love. But we were sure to research, research, RESEARCH to make sure we were choosing a breed that was compatible with our lifestyle!
To the left is a picture of Calico's litter at 4 weeks old. Max is the third from the right. On the right is a fine example of Calico's landscaping abilities.
Notice she wasn't digging to escape... she was digging to find the cooler dirt to lay down in.
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