The Samoyed is a Northern breed, and among other things, this means that training them presents a unique challenge. This is not to say that the Samoyed is "difficult" to train; rather, they simply require a different approach than a dog who is more inclined to readily accept textbook training techniques than they are.
Their willful and stubborn attitude has given many people the impression that Samoyeds are stupid. This couldn't be further from the truth! A Samoyed is a very highly intelligent dog and as such, any training regimen that you try to put them through had better appeal to their sense of curiosity and low threshold for boredom or else you're setting yourself up for failure. With a dog as intelligent as the Samoyed, variety is critical. Never focus on the same aspect of training for more than maybe half an hour at a time or you will simply exhaust the Samoyed's attention span and end up frustrating both yourself and your dog. Keep things exciting by teaching multiples tricks or commands at the same time and alternating between them throughout the course of a single training session. And remember, once it learns a command, the Samoyed will rarely forget.
The Samoyed's patterned behavior, however, is actually the cause for another important and unique step that must be taken to ensure proper training of your dog. With any breed, it's important to start training very young. Bad habits that are picked up as a puppy are not as easily shed with the Samoyed as they might be with other breeds. As such, it's highly recommended that you seek out a professional trainer for the first few weeks of your puppy's life in your home. Attending a professional training course will not only ensure that you set your puppy up for a life of easily learning new commands, but it also means that you'll be spending a lot of time with your puppy and thus the two of you will bond much more quickly.
Older Samoyeds who have gone through training courses as a puppy usually excel at more advanced obedience training once they're of an appropriate age. If you enjoyed this activity with your Samoyed when he was a puppy, you might want to give some thought to taking part in one of these training courses, or even training for an obedience contest if you're really dedicated.
Samoyeds might be somewhat recalcitrant, but once you've established yourself as the presence of authority in their lives, they'll follow you to the grave. Never let anyone convince you that a Samoyed "cannot be trained". Even the most stubborn of Samoyeds is eager to please, and it only requires the right touch to turn a hyperactive disobedient animal into a well-behaved but active companion.
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