Dashing Sams philosophy about breeding and raising puppies.  It is our belief that breeding, raising and selling puppies are a serious endeavor undertaken in each case with a purpose in mind.   In the case of rearing a Samoyed litter the purpose should be to produce dogs that are capable of reproducing what this breed was originally designed to do, to herd, to pull and to live in close contact with their human companions.  The AKC Samoyed Standard provides a good guide along these lines. 

When contemplating a breeding, a breeder must ask him or herself just what are they trying to accomplish?  What will this breeding do to improve the Samoyed breed.   Are the parents and grandparents sound and as free from heritable disease as we can determine.  We have many tools available now to test breeding stock with the long term goal of reducing the incidence of heritable diseases.   Among the issues affect Samoyeds that we can test for include canine hip dysplasia, heart disease, eye disorders and thyroid. 

In addition to health criteria there are many others to be considered when determining what dogs to to include in a breeding program.  First and foremost at Dashing Sams we are focused on producing sound samoyeds.  A sound Samoyed should have proper structure as described in the Samoyed Standard and be capable of working in a sledding or herding environment.  Samoyeds are athletic dogs and should be light on their feet with a well timed gait.  Ideally a samoyed trots with a single tracking front and rear.  There are other features that were essential to the breed in surviving the harsh siberian arctic environment.  These include a plush double coat with a stiff outer coat and downy undercoat.  The coat should be weather resistant and stand off the body.   The tail should be thick and well plumed, a charactertistic which allows the dog to cover and protect their muzzle while sleeping in extreme cold.  Along with these, a balanced temperment is equally important.  Samoyeds lived closely with their original "breeders", the Samoyede people in Siberia.  They slept inside these people's homes, somewhat unusual for the situtaion with other sled dogs.   Used both for herding and for pulling sledges, a samoyed cannot excell in a team environment unless it has the ability to work with other dogs. 

c. Dashing Sams 2006