Page 166 - Showsight March 2013
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During his studies of inherited traits, Gal-
ton noticed that “tallness” and “shortness”
didn’t breed true like they did in Mendel’s
pea experiments. He referred to this trait
of inheritance as “regression to the mean”,
“regress” meaning “to go back” or “revert
to an earlier or more primitive state.” His
conclusion was, “The child inherits partly
from his parents, partly from his ancestry.”
Today we know that there is no gen-
eration skipping in genetics, so Galton’s
concept was not totally correct; DNA
from earlier ancestors must be passed
through the parents. The DNA passed
down from generation to generation for
thousands of years by Samoyeds on the
isolated Russian tundra is still present in
the Samoyed today.
Like its ancestors that roamed the
tundra, the Samoyed today is very inde-
pendent… an intelligent, free-thinking
breed that will enjoy a stroll around miles
of countryside, if given the opportunity,
roaming as far as 20-30 miles from home!
For this reason, a fenced yard is recom-
mended, and if there isn’t a fence, the
owner will need to walk his Sammy on
a lead. It’s not that this breed is naughty,
the desire to roam has been genetically
transmitted for thousands of years, as
anyone who has owned a Samoyed can
attest! Not only will they roam their ter-
ritory, they will herd every animal that
they encounter along the way—some-
thing your neighboring sheep farmer may
not appreciate!
We have deer that live in the woods
surrounding us, and I have found it
interesting to watch our Samoyeds
interacting with the deer. As in ancient
times on the Russian tundra, the deer
depend on our Sammies to alert them,
often sleeping in the woods behind our
kennels. The deer seem to understand
that the dogs will “sound the alarm” at
approaching danger, so they rest securely
through the night, sensing that our dogs
will protect them. It’s as though there
has been an ancestral pact between the
two species for thousands of years that
transcends human understanding!
The Samoyed today is very much a
family dog and a house dog, similar to its
ancient ancestors who slept in the chooms
at night with the Nenets on the Russian
tundra. Sammies enjoy being a part of the
family activities! They are up for anything
their owners want to do… pack hiking,
strolling in the park, weight pull, agility,
sledding, herding, obedience, even lure
coursing, an event normally reserved for
the Sighthounds! A Sammy is very versa-
tile and family-oriented, maintaining its
ancient reputation as an all-purpose work-
ing and companion dog!
The Breed was originally discovered
on the tundra in white, black, brown and
any combination of the above colors, and
the English chose to selectively breed for
the white. As breeders we still see rem-
nants of this ancient ancestry in our
litters, with the biscuit coloring being
a throwback to the brown Samoyeds,
and the black hairs or small black spots
sometimes found on Samoyeds, being a
throwback to the black Sammies!
The same continuity is present in the
size of the modern day Samoyed… no mat-
ter how large or small the breed seems to
become in the show ring, it always reverts
back to its original size range. It is a visual
reminder that while we may selectively
breed, there are some things that histori-
cally cannot be changed—the Samoyed
is a living example of Galton’s concept
of “regression to the mean” through the
genetically transmitted characteristics of
its ancient ancestors. The Samoyed today
continues, as it has for thousands of years,
to be a natural breed that combines the
beauty of the past with the best hopes of
the future.
Nenet herder with his Samoyed.
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world_animal_day_2009.html
Nenets with Spotted Samoyed.
/
Photo by Sergey Anisimov.
Woman with Samoyed puppy.
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aboriginal2.htm
“likE iTS AncESTORS wHO
ROAMED THE TunDRA, THE
SAMOYED TODAY iS vERY
inDEpEnDEnT…
an intelligent, free-thinking breed
that will enjoy a stroll around miles of
countryside...”
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