Finnish Lapphund
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The Finnish Lapphund is a friendly, family dog that loves people and is eager to please.Group: Pastoral
Size: Medium
Coat length: Medium
Grooming required: Every day
Coat sheds: No
Home size: Small or Large House
Garden size: Small/Medium
Lifespan: Over 10 Years
Exercise: Up to 1 hour per day
A little less than medium-sized and fairly broad in body and head with a curly tail, they are often tricolour with brown 'eye-brow' markings. Their double coat is long and very thick, consisting of a longer outer coat and a thick, wooly undercoat to enable them to survive in extreme cold conditions in their native Finland.
They were originally used by the Sami people for herding reindeer so they enjoy being outdoors and will often choose to stay outside. Like many other spitz breeds, they can be vocal. They are very good with people and children and generally fine with other dogs but have a tendency to chase wildlife. They are full of energy and need quite a bit of exercise and many breeders will require new owners to have a good sized garden.
Their coat doesn't matt easily but grooming can be quite time consuming as there is so much coat, a good groom once a week should be fine. They can moult periodically quite dramatically and require regular combing during this time to remove loose hair. Health testing is done for PRA (night blindness). There are also problems with hereditary cataracts but the gene has not yet been found for this and they should be hip scored before breeding.