Page 246 - Showsight April 2013

The Finnish Lapphund
a breeder’s perspecTive
By Cathy Pollack
T he Finnish Lapphund
originated with the
nomadic Saami people
in Lapland, primar-
ily north of the Arctic
Circle. Lapland covers
the northern portions of Finland, Sweden
and Russia. The Saami people relied upon
reindeer as a source of food and clothing.
They kept their own herds, and followed
them from grazing area to grazing area,
with the Finnish Lapphund serving as a
medium-sized herder as well as all-around
working dog around their camps. The
Samoyed also originated in the same area
with the same people.
Reindeer are domesticated in Lap-
land, where they do not fear the dog and a
Lappy that approaches too closely may be
kicked or scooped with the antlers. With
those challenges, the Finnish Lapphund
breed was bred to bark and then bounce
up and down to get the herd moving. Lap-
pies competing in the Reindeer Trials in
Finland are disqualified if they don’t bark.
Unlike most domestic dogs of today
that descended from the Asian wolf, recent
research in Scandinavia has proven that
over 80% of the Finnish Lapphund’s mito-
chondrial DNA actually comes from the
Arctic Wolf. The most recent crosses with
the Arctic Wolf could have been as recent
as 400-1000 years ago
In the US, some of the first documented
Finnish Lapphunds were imported in 1987
with the first litter born around 1988. AKC Ch Yutori’s Winter in the Heart, “Talvi”—a black & tan male at 17 months old.
“...over 80% of the Finnish Lapphund’s mitochondrial DNA
acTuaLLy comes From The arcTic WoLF.”
246 • ShowSight Magazine, April 2013