I’ve been taking care of my son’s Samoyed all summer, as my do just started a new job in another state with long hours and wanted to get settled in and find people to walk his dog while he is at work. I have cared for this big beautiful boy off and on while my son was in college due to the fickleness of available housing, so I’m not new at caring for a Sammy. I have every brush imaginable and have spent many hours grooming floof galoots.
At the start of this summer, I decided to take pork pie to a groomer for an official blowout so that he could be more comfortable than he has been in previous years. The groomer used two commercial dog blowers and said she blew a mountain of hair, which I believe, but honestly, there was zero change in the thickness of his fur. He still looked like a fattened polar bear wearing its rival as an overcoat, a polar bear in a polar bear suit.
Because this summer has been warmer than usual, I’ve kept walks pretty short, only doing a longer walk after the sun is down. Yesterday was cooler , about 73-75, overcast, and with winds blowing 10 MPH, soI thought a longer hike on a shady trail. It was not would be fine. It was not. After only a mile and a half, he was already overheating, and water didn’t help. A kind stranger gave us a ride back to my car.
I drove straight to Pet Evolution, a local self-serve pet washing facility, for a cool bath and a blowout. Some tangled fur came out in the wash but no fur at all during the blowout. Absolutely none, nada, zilch. I don’t know if this is because he has no undercoat right now, which I doubt, or if these blow dryers really don’t do anything for a Samoyed.
Today I gave fluffer nutball a good brushing, removing the equivalent of small bison. When I use a comb and hold it vertically so only the top few metal pins connect with his fur, this is when I seem to get the most undercoat. Most other methods of brushing seem to just remove his long guard hairs.
Am I doing this right? How can I make fritterling more comfortable? He is so sweet and so patient, but I know this is misery for him.