"Is there any way to tell a small Sam from a standard Eskie? I find no mention of weight in Eskie standards. Is temperament the best indicator?"

Let me preface this response by saying that in the Sammie community today there are two distinct thoughts on whether or not American Eskimo Dogs or Eskies as they are commonly called, should look like Sammies. Both sides are represented by respected breeder judges as well as pet owners of both breeds. The purpose here is not to debate this point, but to provide some general guidelines so the potential rescue dog is classified as the correct breed.

A lot of Eskies do look just like Sammies, especially to the untrained eye, so it is often hard to tell them apart. I have a very good friend who breeds and shows her Eskies and her dogs really do look very much like small Sammies. It is these dogs which are pictured on this page. Since the largest size for a standard male Eskie is supposed to be 19 inches, if you're dealing with a male much larger than that, or even a 19 inch female, it's probably not an Eskie. Also, for the height, an Eskie will have less bone and weigh less than a Sammie of the same size. I haven't seen too many Eskies with as much bone as the average Sammie. Occasionaly I have seen a small Sammie, usually female, with bone light enough that she could in fact have been mistaken for an Eskie.

Check the weight of the dog. It would be very unusual to find a 40 pound female Eskie while this is a perfectly acceptable weight for a small female Sammie. If the dog is male, not malnourished and weighs under 40 lbs it is almost assuredly an Eskie. The largest Eskie girl I've ever met weighed about 35 lbs and was 17" tall. The largest male was about 18 1/2 tall and 40 lbs.

Coat can be another determining factor between Ekies and Sammies. Eskie coat in general seems to be more abundant, longer and softer than Sammie coats. Sammies are working dogs, used to a harsh environment. A correct Sammie cat should be waterproof and easy to care for. With reasonable care it will not mat. While Eskie coats may have these same properties they are often silkier and more prone to tangling and matting. Eskies usually don't have the coarser outer coat that a Sammie will develop. Don't make a decision on Sammie or Eskie by coat quality alone. As far as I'm concerned this is one of the features that can be pretty similar between the two breeds!

Another clue may be the biscuit shading in the coat.. Whereas the Sammie standard allows for biscuit (and many breeders actively breed for it) the Eskie standard discourages it. I don't think I've ever seen an Eskie with much biscuit outside of a bit of shading around the ears. And I've certainly never seen an all biscuit Eskie! Sammies will commonly have biscuit around their ears, dark biscuit freckles, particularly on the ears, and biscuit freckles all over their face and legs. Also biscuit patches on their bodies. If the dog you are trying to evaluate had biscuit freckles....lean towards the Sammie side of the fence.

The shape of the dogs eye can also be a help in determining the breed but it can also be a source of some of the confusion. Sammie eyes should be almond shaped. Unfortunately we are seeing a lot of rounder eyes in the breed these days. The Eskie standard calls for eyes that "are not fully round, but slightly oval." Most Eskies do have the rounder eyes.

The dog itself may tell you whether he is an Eskie or a Sam! I don't know if I've ever heard an Eskie "talk". All of my Sammies, in one fashion or another, make all kinds of weird noises ranging from moans and groans when being petted to howls to the classic Sammie arooo-rooo-rooo. Eskies just bark as far as I know. I did have an Eskie living with me for three weeks last year and I don't recall her ever making a sound other than the barking. One Eskie breeder told me her dogs to talk, but I didn't hear it so she may not be aware of the full range of sounds a Sammie can make.

Does the dog have the classic Sammie smile? If you have a Sammie, you know the look, the one only a happy mischievous sam can give. I've yet to see even the "sammiest" Eskie be able to duplicate that expression.

Finally, I think the biggest clue to the difference between Eskies and Sammies is temperment. While I've met a lot of hyper sams (I own one) and some layed back Eskies, it's a different type of hyper and a different type of laid back. Eskies tend to be much more dog aggressive than the average Sammie. They are also more "nervous". They do have some "guard dog" tendencies. One thing I've noticed (and it's definitely not true of all sams or Eskies) is that Eskies tend to bark at *any* noise they hear while sams will often listen for a minute to see if they can identify it and then (if it's something worth barking at, like a another dog) they'll start barking.

This is by no means a definitive document on the differences between American Eskimo Dogs and Samoyeds but I hope it helps with some of the confusion. If you really want to learn to tell the difference, read the standards for both breeds and visit some dogs. There was a time when I couldn't tell the difference either. Now about the only thing that will throw me is a 10 week old puppy. I've seen Eskie puppies at that age who are bigger and appear to have more bone that a Sammie of the same age!