Finnish Spitz - Breed Description

 

A hunting dog mainly for forest game birds, also predatory small game, water fowl and elk. An eager hunter, rather independent, yet works co-operatively to game, marking game by barking.

 

 

General appearance

Smaller than medium sized, almost square, in conformation lean, firm and carries itself well.

 

The development of the structure and conformation of the breed has clearly been positive. There are no obvious structural faults in the breed as a whole and those faults that are evident are isolated to individual specimens. When a certain dog has a good nearly square outline combined with a sufficiently light structure any faults are generally concentrated in the head or tail. In the Finnish Spitz dogs and bitches should be clearly differentiated in their general appearance. Dogs ahould look masculine without being heavy or coarse, while bitches should look feminine while not appearing frail.

 

A male should be a true square, a bitch, however, is usually about 1cm longer than high. When a Finnish Spitz is alert and shows well, this has a real effect on its proportions that can be seen quite clearly. On the other hand if the dog does not show well and looks ‘under the weather' this has an immediate negative effect on the general appearance. If this is further accentuated by a poor ‘summer coat', the visual appearance may vary to a considerable extent from the actual dimensions of the dog or from assessments on earlier occasions.

The Finnish Spitz is a fast and lightly moving huinting dog whose characteristic movement is smooth, free-flowing and apparently effortless. The breed's general appearance is, at its best, refined, with a cleanly finished, polished (even artistic) outline particularly in the head.

 

Finnish Spitz - our National Breed

Finnish spitz could already be considered an established breed in the 1930s. As early as the 50s, the idea of a National Dog was discussed. However, this did not come to fruition until 1979 when topics for the Kennel Club's 90-year celebrations were suggested and prepared for a board meeting of the Kennel Club.

 

The then Member of the Board J.A.U. Yrjölä suggested that the celebration dog show should be linked to a Finnish National dog and that the Finnish Spitz fitted the bill perfectly. This idea was accepted and under the leadership of mainly Heikki Sarparanta and Erkki Uutela, urgent preparations began to get this implemented.

 

It came to fruition at the Kennel Club's 90th anniversary show, where the Finnish Spitz was declared our National Breed. Finnish Spitz represents a valuable living part of Finland's cultural heritage, firmly linked to Finland's history. It can be regarded as a national treasure and is cherished as a valuable part of our culture.

 

Text: Antti Aarnio

Source: The Finnish Spitz Breed Standard Explained