What does each club give for Height at the withers in the Samoyed?

FCI, Male: 54–60 cm; AKC, Male: 53.3–59.7 cm; UKC, Male: 53.3–59.7 cm; KC, Male: 51–56 cm; CKC, Male: 53.3–59.8 cm; FCI, Female: 50–56 cm; AKC, Female: 48.3–53.3 cm; UKC, Female: 48.3–53.3 cm; KC, Female: 46–51 cm; CKC, Female: 48.3–54.5 cm.

Samoyed breed standards compared

Each column is one club's published standard. An empty cell means the club says nothing on that point in our records.

Clubs compared: FCI, AKC, UKC, KC, CKC.

Size

Size
Measure	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC	CKC
Height at the withers, male	54–60 cm	53.3–59.7 cm	53.3–59.7 cm	51–56 cm	53.3–59.8 cm
Height at the withers, female	50–56 cm	48.3–53.3 cm	48.3–53.3 cm	46–51 cm	48.3–54.5 cm
Height to length	1	No ruling	1	No ruling	No ruling
Skull to muzzle	1	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling

Conformation

Conformation
Form	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC	CKC
BiteScissors bite	Standard (“Regular and complete scissor bite”)	Standard (“snugly overlapping with scissors bite”)	Standard (“complete set of evenly spaced, white teeth with a scissors bite”)	Standard (“perfect, regular and complete scissor bite”)	Standard (“snugly overlapping in a scissors bite”)
BiteLevel bite	Fault (“FAULTS: ... Pincer bite”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling
BiteUndershot	Disqualifying (“ELIMINATING FAULTS: Overshot or undershot bite”)	Fault (“Undershot or overshot should be penalized”)	Fault (“Faults: Undershot or overshot”)	No ruling	No ruling
BiteOvershot	Disqualifying (“ELIMINATING FAULTS: Overshot or undershot bite”)	Fault (“Undershot or overshot should be penalized”)	Fault (“Faults: Undershot or overshot”)	No ruling	No ruling
Ear carriageErect (prick)	Standard (“EARS: Erect, rather small, thick, triangular”)	Standard (“Strong and thick, erect, triangular”)	Standard (“carried strongly erect”)	Standard (“Fully erect in adults”)	No ruling
Ear setHigh	Standard (“They should be mobile, set high”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling
Eye shapeAlmond	Standard (“somewhat slanting and almond-shaped”)	Standard (“almond shaped with lower lid slanting”)	Standard (“The eyes are dark brown, almond-shaped”)	Standard (“Almond-shaped, obliquely set”)	No ruling
Eye shapeRound	No ruling	Fault (“Round or protruding eyes penalized”)	Fault (“Faults: Round or protruding eyes”)	No ruling	No ruling
ToplineLevel	Standard (“Back: Of medium length, muscular and straight”)	No ruling	Standard (“blend gracefully into the level back”)	No ruling	No ruling
Tail carriageCurled over the back	Standard (“carried bent from the root forward over the back or side”)	No ruling	Standard (“normally carried over the back, draped to one side or the other”)	Standard (“carried over the back and to side when alert”)	No ruling
Tail setHigh	Standard (“TAIL: Set rather high”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling
Tail lengthLong	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“Tail: Long, profusely coated”)	No ruling
Tail lengthMedium	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“The tail is moderately long”)	No ruling	No ruling
FeetOval	Standard (“Fore Feet: Oval with long toes”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling
FeetCat foot	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	Fault (“Round cat feet highly undesirable”)	No ruling
HocksWell let down	Standard (“Hocks: Rather low and well angulated”)	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“with well let down hocks”)	No ruling
HocksCow-hocked	Fault (“Badly bow-legged or cow hocked”)	Fault (“any suggestion of unsound stifles or cowhocks severely penalized”)	No ruling	Fault (“Cowhocks or straight stifles highly undesirable”)	No ruling
Neck lengthMedium	Standard (“NECK: Strong and of medium length”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling
ChestDeep	Standard (“Chest: Broad, deep and long”)	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“Chest deep but not too broad”)	No ruling
ChestBarrel	Fault (“FAULTS: ... Barrel ribcage”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling
Tuck-upModerate	Standard (“Underline: Moderate tuck-up”)	No ruling	Standard (“The belly is tight, with moderate tuck-up”)	No ruling	No ruling
Muzzle shapeTapered	Standard (“gradually tapering towards the nose”)	Standard (“should taper toward the nose”)	Standard (“there is slight tapering toward the nose”)	Standard (“tapering foreface not too sharply defined”)	No ruling
Muzzle shapeSnipy	Fault (“neither snipey nor heavy and square”)	Fault (“neither coarse nor snipy”)	Fault (“Faults: Coarse, snipey, or shallow muzzle”)	No ruling	No ruling
DentitionFull dentition	Standard (“Normal dentition”)	No ruling	Standard (“a complete set of evenly spaced, white teeth”)	No ruling	No ruling

Cropping, docking and other procedures

Cropping, docking and other procedures
Procedure	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC	CKC
Dewclaw removal	Standard (“The dewclaws should be removed”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling

The law on these procedures differs by country. A listing here says nothing about whether one is legal where you live.

Samoyed colors and patterns

What each club's breed standard says about every Samoyed color and pattern. Point at a ruling to see the club's own wording.

Breed standards describe the Samoyed in White and Cream. Standard patterns: Solid and Bicolour.

Coat: rulings by club
Color or pattern	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC	KUSA
White	Standard (“pure white”)	Standard (“White”)	Standard (“pure white”)	Standard (“pure white”)	Standard (“pure white”)
Cream	Standard (“cream”)	Standard (“Cream”)	Standard (“cream, or all biscuit”)	Standard (“cream”)	Standard (“cream”)
Albino	Disqualifying	Disqualifying	Disqualifying (“albinism”)	Not recognised	Disqualifying
Brown	Disqualifying (“should never give the impression of being pale brown”)	Disqualifying	Disqualifying	Not recognised	Disqualifying (“should never give the impression of being pale brown”)
Patterns
Solid	Standard (“pure white”)	Standard (“White”)	Standard (“pure white”)	Standard (“pure white”)	Standard (“pure white”)
Bicolour	Standard (“white with biscuit”)	Standard (“White & Biscuit”)	Standard (“white and biscuit”)	Standard (“white and biscuit”)	Standard (“white with biscuit”)

Eyes: rulings by club
Color or pattern	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC	KUSA
Brown	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“medium to dark brown”)	No ruling
Dark brown	Standard (“dark brown”)	Standard (“dark for preference”)	Standard (“dark brown”)	Standard (“medium to dark brown”)	Standard (“dark brown”)
Black	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	Fault (“light or black eyes undesirable”)	No ruling
Light brown	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	Fault (“light or black eyes undesirable”)	No ruling
Yellow	Fault (“yellow eyes”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	Fault (“yellow eyes”)
Blue	Disqualifying (“eyes blue”)	Disqualifying (“blue eyes”)	Disqualifying (“blue eyes”)	No ruling	Disqualifying (“eyes blue”)
Patterns
Odd-eyed	Disqualifying (“eyes ... of different colours”)	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	Disqualifying (“eyes ... of different colours”)

Nose: rulings by club
Color or pattern	FCI	AKC	UKC	KC	KUSA
Black	Standard (“preferably black”)	Standard (“black for preference”)	Standard (“black is preferred”)	Standard (“black for preference”)	Standard (“preferably black”)
Liver	No ruling	Standard (“brown, liver ... nose not penalized”)	Standard (“a brown, liver, or Dudley nose is acceptable”)	Standard (“may be brown”)	No ruling
Pink	No ruling	No ruling	No ruling	Standard (“flesh-coloured”)	No ruling
Dudley	No ruling	Standard (“Dudley nose not penalized”)	Standard (“a brown, liver, or Dudley nose is acceptable”)	No ruling	No ruling
Patterns
Snow nose	Standard (“the pigment of the nose can fade to a so called « winter nose »”)	Standard (“color of nose sometimes changes with age and weather”)	Standard (“changes in nose color due to age or weather are not penalized”)	No ruling	Standard (“the pigment of the nose can fade to a so called "winter nose"”)

What the rulings mean

Standard: Described by the club's breed standard.
Fault: Named by the club's breed standard as a fault: the animal can be shown but is penalised.
Disqualifying: The club's breed standard disqualifies an animal of this colour or pattern.
Not recognised: The club does not accept this colour or pattern for the breed.

Color changes

How a Samoyed's colors can change over its life.

Whitechanges toRoan
Coat · With age · from 2 weeks
Blackchanges toSnow nose
Nose · With the season · can change back
Blackchanges toPink
Nose · With the season · can change back
Blackchanges toSnow nose
Nose · With the season · can change back

Sources

Each ruling comes from the club's published breed standard or color list.

Published standards

Back to the Samoyed guide Grooming styles for the Samoyed