Taylor Swift is, rather famously, a cat person. Many fans not only know the names of Swift’s three cats (Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson and Benjamin Button), but see them as much a part of the singer’s lore as her romantic history. Who else, upon being chosen as Person of the Year, would pose for the cover of Time magazine with her cat? So it was rather big news when it emerged on Wednesday that Swift and new husband Travis Kelce had officially welcomed a new dog into their family: a fluffy white Samoyed named Wendy. “Little ‘ol Wendy’s a little over a year old now,” Kelce said in Wednesday’s season premiere episode of the “New Heights” podcast he hosts with brother Jason. “We’ve had her for quite a while.” Kelce said he and Swift had been trying to keep the dog “under wraps,” but he acknowledged their plans had been foiled when they were photographed in mid-July disembarking a private jet with Wendy in Palm Beach, Fla. Since then, news outlets have been referring to the couple’s “mystery dog” or “alleged dog,” but Kelce’s comments on Wednesday confirmed she was indeed officially part of the family. As you’d expect of the fur child of the most famous couple in the US, the couple’s dog made her public debut in glitzy style, with Wendy appearing alongside Kelce in a new advertisement for the Tommy Hillfiger Fall 2026 collection. The photo, taken at the famed Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, showed Kelce reclining on a sofa wearing a peacoat, while Wendy reclined wearing her, well, natural coat. “It’s kind of crazy how perfect she looks in the Tommy Hilfiger world,” Kelce said of Wendy. “She matches the brand and the shoot and it was pretty easy to get her to jump on the couch and have some fun with us. But yeah, Wendy’s a model. She’s a model dog.” “Unfortunately, she’s just got her fur on,” he added. “We gotta work with Tommy on getting her some good clothes.” Big news for Swifties — and Samoyed fans Swifties weren’t the only ones excited about Wendy’s introduction to society. Breeders and fans of the Samoyed have also taken note, according to Kathleen Farlow, president of the Samoyed Club of America. “Now that it’s public, we can see they have a very beautiful Sammy,” said Farlow, using a nickname for the breed. “She’s clearly well-bred. Wendy’s a very pretty dog.” Farlow has been around Samoyeds since her parents first brought one home in 1965. Although she’s lost track of how many she’s raised over the years, she says she’s currently got six that live with her. And given her lifelong love of the breed, Farlow can understand why the couple may have been powerless to resist. “You meet one, you think they’re beautiful, sweet and wonderful, and before you know it, you fall in love,” Farlow said. “I’m assuming that that’s what happened to Travis and Taylor.” Farlow expects that Wendy’s arrival on the social scene will lead to an increase in interest in Samoyeds, but she says breeders want people to think about purchasing one of the dogs for the right reasons. (A typical Samoyed can cost anywhere between US$4,000-US$7,000, Farlow said, and should be brought from a breeder who has signed her club’s code of ethics.) “They hope that people will acquire a Sam through just literally loving the dog, and not just because Taylor has one,” Farlow said. “They’re hoping that they go to homes that are prepared.” The real work involved in owning a Sammy Among the world’s most ancient dog breeds, Samoyeds get their name from the Samoyedic peoples of northern Russia and Siberia. This indigenous and semi-nomadic group originally used the dogs to hunt for reindeer, but as the centuries passed they began to task them with herding and guarding duties, as well as pulling sleds. The breed was also useful in keeping families warm on frigid nights. Given where they’ve evolved from, Samoyeds have a double coat, with a thick underlayer to insulate against the cold, and a coarser outer layer to repel ice and snow, according to the American Kennel Club. Maintaining this coat is not necessarily for the faint of heart. Farlow says she grooms each of her dogs with a bath and blow-dry for two hours at a time, every six to eight weeks. (When she’s showing her dogs in competition, she does this ritual once a week to ensure they look their best — something Farlow speculated Swift and Kelce may opt to do if Wendy is going to be frequently snapped by the paparazzi.) Farlow also warned that a Samoyed will shed their double coat twice a year, meaning Farlow hopes Swift and Kelce’s vacuums are as strong as hers. Although the famous couple own homes across the country, from Tennessee to Rhode Island, Farlow says Samoyeds can generally be comfortable whatever the climate, although their coats may be heavier when living in the cold. “They can pretty much cope with anything. They love the beach,” Farlow said. “Again, Wendy can go anywhere they want her to go.” And if the couple decides to live a nomadic life, hopping from mansion to mansion, Farlow said thousands of years of Samoyed breeding should come in handy. “Movement doesn’t bother the dogs. They want to be with their family, their people, but where they are doesn’t much matter,” Farlow said. “It’s a connection to their owners versus a connection to a place.” If fans are worried that Wendy might be averse to living in a home full of loud music, Farlow said the breed isn’t noise sensitive, so Swift can sing as loud as she wants. Wendy’s new brothers and sisters — aka Swift’s cats — also shouldn’t be a problem, Farlow said. And given the public is still yet to see any photos of Swift’s wedding dress, could Wendy be to blame for getting her paws on it? “They love their chew toys,” Farlow said. “They’re smart, but as long as she kept her wedding dress away from the dog, no problem.”
