The Samoyed has a very full coat with a long weather resistant outercoat covering an extremely dense and woolly undercoat. Samoyeds are very popular and attractive pets and come in very useful if you want to herd reindeer or pull a sledge! Today's Samoyed are thought to originate from just 12 dogs brought out of the Arctic by explorers. The Arctic explorers Scott and Admundson both used Samoyeds. The breed is also known as Samoyedskaja.