Finnish Lapphund breed guide

Finnish Lapphunds are friendly and submissive companions, a bit wary of strangers. They crave companionship and are miserable when neglected.

Quick and agile, they move effortlessly and go from a trot to a full gallop in a second flat.

Finnish Lapphunds live 12 to 15 years. AKC names elbow and hip dysplasia, both detectable by X-ray and progressive retinal atrophy, which causes vision loss, as conditions present in some dogs.

The double coat has a smooth outer layer over a soft, dense undercoat. Weekly brushing, daily in shedding season, removes dirt and loose hair and Finnish Lapphunds have no doggy odor, so an occasional bath is enough. A Finnish Lapphund should never be shaved.

Finnish Lapphunds are calm dogs with moderate exercise needs and a long, brisk walk every day keeps one healthy and happy. Finnish Lapphunds tend not to exercise themselves, but a half-hour play session with a ball or another dog can satisfy them.

Lapland is a region north of the Arctic Circle covering parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and northwestern Russia, named for the Sami people who have sparsely inhabited it for several thousand years. In ancient times the Sami developed a heavily coated spitz-type dog, the Lapphund, to hunt reindeer over barren tundra.

A few centuries ago the Sami shifted from hunting and gathering to nomadism and became reindeer herders, moving large herds in search of pasture.