hi everyone
i have just become an owner of a little boy who is just under 5 months old.we got him from a boarding kennel and he knows nothing but kennels. so we are in the process of training him and he is responding well he is sticking to our other dog that is a 15 month old leonberger and they are getting on great.
i have never owned this breed before. the question i have for owners is are sammy's very timid? as he is really timid,i know he's only been used to kennels and probably not had much human contact but he is very shy.
he is now starting to learn his name which is merlin and coming when called.we have only had him since saturday.he seems to cower when a hand goes over his head,and move out the way if feet go near him as if he has suffered some kind of abuse in his short life.he needs to learn that he won't be hurt.but he is now starting to trust us when we walk by him.
he does'nt go looking for any king of attention which i find strange,but will take the fuss when given.maybe he is like this because he has never had an owner who cares.
he doesn't know what a brush is,when i tried him he was so scared he started hyperventilating so i only did a bit.
i put a slip lead on him to see how he reacted and he tried to run away,which makes me think he has had a bad experience again.he wouldn't walk at all and i wasn't going to pull him so i then took my leo out into the garden to get him to followed on the lead which he did,and had a sniff around.
i have never known such a shy pup in any breed,he is going to the vets tommrow to have the once over and his 1st injection so we will see how he reacts there.
just wanted some advice from people who know the breed and what is normal.
he is a georgeous little boy and to be honest even if some thing is wrong with him i don't think i have the heart to take him back as he has had a horrible start to life already.
but hey if i can train a leo a sammy should be easy.plus i think he is slowly begining to like it here. 

Marie,

I think it's wonderful that this poor little pup has found you. It does sound like he was badly mistreated or possibly just not nearly enough human contact. I think with your patience and gentle ways, he'll gradually come to trust you. He may have a hard time socializing with other people because he's past the formidable time, but there's always a chance if you go gradually. He may always tend toward shyness, but I think he'll get a lot better. He'll be one of those super sensative dogs that require extra patience and extra gentleness so as not to worry him.

It sounds like he's already in such a short time made a little progress. It's good that you have the other dog too to help show him the ropes.

You can always start out without the leash and just use treats and encouragement for him to follow along side you and later introduce the leash slowly. You can even let him play with it at first, which is normally not a terrific idea, but in his case, I would...just so he'll get to see it as a familiar and safe object.

Good luck and do keep us posted on his progress. I think you're wonderful to do this for this puppy.

Carrie

Well done for taking this pup on. Its sounds to me as if the pup may have been mistreated, but also not socialised enough. Fundamentally you are starting with a 5 month old pup, as you would with a 8 week old. However, the experiences that he has had so far (and maybe his general temperament too) has left him scared of everything. The most important thing is to carry on as you are socialising and building up his knowledge of the every day world, but at the same time taking it slowly, not throwing too much at him at once. As you say with the grooming, just get him acustomed to the brush, let him sniff it and praise him for any positive reactions. It may be a good idea to start with just running a glove or something similar over him, just to get him acustomed to handling. I find clicker training to be excellent her as you can click and treat any calm behaviour. With the lead, start off as you would with a new puppy. Make the lead = pleasant things. Pop a light weight lead on his collar before play or food and just let him drag it around. After a while you can progress to picking it up.
As carrie has said, you have made great progress in such a short time, and as he gets used to you things will slowly get easier, as he will learn to trust you and love you.

he will play with the leo and is running around trying to hide toys,but i think this is because he has found some thing thats fun and doesn't want to lose it.
he has 90% of the time knows his name and will come when called to a load of praise.he is just about learning the sit with help from my big lad of course.
i have tried giving him treats but he doesn't know them as food so he just drops them.he will allow me to lift his feet etc and his ears are more pricked up when being stroked.we have 2 kids that know how to treat him and he is coming out of his shell a little more now.i think he will be shy of people he doesn't know your'll have to earn his trust.our other dog is only a pup but a giant breed but he is in training still as he can be stubborn.merlin is starting to wag his tail now so i think he is happy here.just never had the freedom i expect.he is learning quick and i will take it at his own pace the last thing i want to do his confined his fears with things.i can't believe such a young pup can be so timid unless he has had a nasty experience in his life. 

Hi Marie, what a lucky pup to have found you. Every Sam I have met has not been in the least bit shy - usually happy , in your face dogs, so it sounds as if your boy just hasn't had enough socialisation early enough. Why don't you contact one of the Samoyed Clubs, I'm sure you'd find someone who'd be happy to give you advice. If you are in the UK, contact one of the Clubs listed at the bottom of the page here and look here for some info on the breed.