Grooming a Samoyed: High-velocity Dryers

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As I posted before, when you bring a Samoyed into your life, you are making some sacrifices (i.e. ability to go anywhere not cloaked in white fur) and make certain commitments to ensure your dog has a happy life. One of those commitments is grooming, and if your Sammy is a mudpie like mine, you will spend a certain amount of time bathing and drying.

Grooming a Samoyed

Drying a Samoyed is an arduous task. Because of their thick double coats, if left to air dry, it can literally take DAYS before they are fully dry, which can cause painful hot spots.

If you think you can speed the process along with your own hair dryer, think again. Besides how pitifully weak a human dryer is compared to a Samoyed’s coat, they also get way too hot and can scorch a Samoyed’s hair, frying it and turning it yellow, and even burn a Sammy’s delicate skin. This special breed needs a special dryer!

High-Velocity Dryers

A high velocity dryer, also known as a forced air dryer, is a lifesaver, and a great investment for a Samoyed owner.

Unlike your standard high dryer, a high velocity dryer blows air out, without heat, with such force that water, dirt, loose hair, and dander are sent flying. It makes for extremely fast drying times and is a godsend during coat-blowing season.

They aren’t cheap, but after you can dry your Sammy in 20 minutes and see the results, you’ll be amazed. Anya’s coat is incredibly thick and dense right now, but I can still bath and dry her in less than an hour, and her coat looks so fluffy and amazing, she looks ready to step right into the show ring. And it’s fun to see clouds of her hair go sailing away during shedding time–at least I know that hair isn’t ending up in my house!

When we first got Anya and she didn’t have very much coat, we got the Metro Quickforce Dryer ($131) and it did the trick. But as her coat grew in thicker and longer, the 1 HP just wasn’t keeping up. If we only bathed her occasionally, we would have stuck with the mini, but we bath her every Sunday and it was eating our day.  It started taking us 1-2 hours to get her dry, so we decided to invest to the next step up.

We ended up giving the Mini to my parents who have a Golden Retriever (and they love it!) and we instead got the Metro Air Force Commander 2-speed. I LOVE this dryer. Anya is completely dry to the skin in under a half hour, and her coat just looks gorgeous.

metro

While I have personally used and loved the Metro dryers, there are other brands my dog-show friends recommend. Many swear by the K-9 brands (a higher price point than Metro) and Flying Pig.

These are a great tool for grooming your Samoyed and keeping them looking beautiful!