&

Swedish Lapphund

Brief history,

We shall start at the 1800’s when the Sami or (lapps) inuett people herded their reindeer through what is today Finland,Sweden & Russia.

The reindeer where moved up & down the country using the Samoyed, Finnish & Swedish Lapphunds. In the late 1800’s &

early 1900’s the tribes found this way

of life harder to maintain, so the breeds split, the Samoyed to Russia, Finnish Lapphund to Finland & the Swedish Lapphund to Sweden.

During the early 1900’s the breed standards where written & the dogs where amongst the first to be placed in the studbook register.

So what makes each breed different.

Let us compare the Finnish Lapphund to the Swedish Lapphund.

Finnish – Calm, courageous, keen, willing to learn, friendly & faithful.

Swedish – Lively, alert, kind & affectionate.

If you speak to breeders they will tell you that the Finnish Lapphund is submissive to it’s owners, they are a very lay back breed.

Both breeds are 9 as to 10 ( slightly longer than height a withers) & of spitz type.

The difference is in the look.

The Swedish Lapphund appears shorter in leg due to the fact that the rib cage is deeper than the Finnish Lapphund.

FinnishLapphund                                      Swedish Lapphund

                                         Ideal heights.

Male 49cm (19.5 inches)                             48cm ( 18.5 inches)

Females 44cm ( 17 inches)                         43cm ( 16 inches)

Both have + or - 3cm or 1 inch

Finnish Lapphund comes in All colours from white to black.

Swedish Lapphund only comes in black, brown or liver with or without white

markings on toes, tip of tail & on the chest, bronzing is also acceptable.

Finnish Lapphund

Outer coat is Long, harsh & straight.

Under coat is Dense & soft.

Swedish Lapphund

Outer coat is Long, soft & shiny

Under coat is Dense & very finely curled.

Finnish Lapphund: Rather broad, frontal furrow

clearly defined with a teddy-like expression.

Swedish Lapphund: Slightly longer than broad.

Finnish Lapphund: Strong, broad & shorter than skull.

Swedish Lapphund: Little more than 1/3 length of head tapering to the nose.

Finnish Lapphund; Preferably black or

harmonising with coat colour, snow nose is also acceptable & can often be found

on a sable.

Swedish Lapphund : Preferably dark or very black.

Finnish Lapphund : Zygomatic arches clearly marked.

 Eyes

Finnish Lapphund : Oval shaped dark brown or

harmonising with coat colour, soft & friendly expression.

Swedish Lapphund : Round but not protruding, rims strongly pigmented.

Finnish Lapphund : Pricked or semi erect

Swedish Lapphund : Pricked

Both breeds are scissor bites

Finnish Lapphund : Tight

Swedish Lapphund : Palate & lips strongly pigmented.

 Neck

Finnish Lapphund : Strong of medium length

Swedish Lapphund : Powerful of medium length

Finnish Lapphund : Slightly oblique

Swedish Lapphund : Well laid back

Finnish Lapphund : is as long as the shoulder blade

 Elbows

Finnish Lapphund : Slightly lower than lower edge of rib cage

Swedish Lapphund : Close to chest

Finnish Lapphund : Rather strong, vertical

Swedish Lapphund : Straight, strong, parallel both standing & moving

Finnish Lapphund ; flexible

Finnish Lapphund ; Medium Length, slightly sloping

Swedish Lapphund : Sufficiently slanting

Finnish Lapphund : Strong & straight

Swedish Lapphund : Level, strong, muscular & springy

Finnish Lapphund : Short & muscular

Swedish Lapphund : Short & broad

Finnish Lapphund : Medium length, sloping only slightly

Swedish Lapphund : Proportionally long & broad, slightly sloping & well muscled

Finnish Lapphund : Not very broad, almost reaching the elbow, ribs slightly arched, for chest visible not to pronounced

Swedish Lapphund : Deep reaching elbow, proportionately long & oval, well develop last rib & well defined breastbone

Finnish Lapphund : Medium length, rather broad with well developed muscles

Swedish Lapphund : Muscular

Finnish Lapphund : pointed forward, angulation clearly marked ( well angulated )

Swedish Lapphund : well angulated but not exaggerated in stifle

Finnish Lapphund : Relatively long & sinewy

Finnish Lapphund : Low set with moderate angulation

Swedish Lapphund : Low set to give power of propulsion rear dewclaws are undesirable

Finnish Lapphund : rather short, strong & vertical

FEET

Both : well arched strong oval feet covered with dense hair However the Swedish Lapphund calls for nails & pads to be strongly pigmented

Finnish Lapphund : Set rather high, medium in length, covered with profuse long hair, the tip may have a j-hock, in movement

tail curved over the back or side, at rest it may hang down.

Swedish Lapphund : Set rather high, reaching to the hock, carried over the back when moving.

Finnish Lapphund : Effortless, changes easily from trot to gallop, movement is described as a string of pearls in the sand

Swedish Lapphund : Light & springy, covering the ground with drive.

Finnish Lapphund :Double coat tight overall without wrinkles, Males have an abundant mane, the outer coat is long, straight

& harsh the undercoat is soft & dense

Swedish Lapphund : Double coat outer coat is straight soft & shiny the undercoat is dense & very finely curled

Finnish Lapphund : All colours are permitted,the basic colour must be dominant other colours can occur on head, legs, neck,

chest underside of body, legs & tail

Swedish Lapphund : Solid black, bronzing is typical, also brown & liver,white on the chest, feet & tip of tail is permissible but more white is undesirable.

 The key differences are

Eyes- Finnish are oval the Swedish are round

Ears- Finnish can have pricked, semi-erect or one up one down the Swedish can only have pricked

Coat - Finnish is long straight and harsh the Swedish is long straight &shiny

Colours- Finnish is all colours the Swedish is only black, brown or liver with or without white markings

Chest- Finnish almost reaches the elbow the Swedish is to the elbow & is oval & very deep

Movement- Finnish single tracks the Swedish parallel tracks.

Temperament- the Finnish is more submissive the Swedish is more a proud guarding dog

Remember to feel through the coat for the dog

	1. correct front 2. narrow front 3. broad chest

If you are faced with this choice the reason you would select number 2 over number 3 is a narrow fronted Finnish Lapphund is more likely to move on a single track

than the wider chest,

which will move with elbows out.

Finnish Lapphund

	"j" shaped hook; the tip of the tail is curved, but it is possible to straighten it at least to some extent.
	Kink; vertebrae grown together.