frequently asked questions with answers
If there are questions which I have not answered please email me and ask away - info@lappiesinoz.info
Q. How do I know if a lapphund is for my family? Can we meet one of these dogs? You are most welcome to contact any of the breeders to meet up with the lappies whenever it suits you and us. Most states have groups that have lappie get togethers regularly.
Q. Are Finnish Lapphunds suitable as family pets? Finnish Lapphunds make for excellent family pets. Each home environment is different and this must be taken into consideration. Lapphunds have made the transition in Finland, from a working breed to a patio dog. Usually pups born in the home environment tend to be better socialized and accept changes and noises more readily.
Q. What is their temperament like? DIVINE! You will not find ONE lappie enough.
Q. Should I buy a dog or bitch pup? Now that depends on what is available! Within Australia we have had limited bitches born in our litters. as such we have retained them for future breeding purposes. As a consequence males are more readily available.
So as to a male or female- males are a little bigger than the females. Both shed coat seasonally. Both if bought as pets, will be required to be desexed by the age of 6 months. Both are loving and faithful to the household members. Bitches do tend to be a little shyer and softer in nature.
Both can be coach potatoes to live with. Both are usually very clean within the house.
Q. How easy is it to buy a Lapphund? Lapphunds are still very rare in Australia. Breeders are careful to breed for quality and not quantity, and with litter sizes being on average about five pups, the numbers are rising slowly. Check with breeders individually or check with www.dogzonline.com.au for current litters.
Q. Are lappies good with children? Children...... they are the only breed that I will guarantee with children.
Anecdote....... we just got the first 2 lappies out of quarantine. the bitch broke into the house from the patio and found herself laying on the floor with a neighbours 6 month old baby. We found her trying to coax the baby to pat her - she was gently getting his hand with her paw and pulling it to her side. She was laying wrapped around him.
the next week he was very grizzly so we stuck him in the dog trailer with the lappies. Not a peep from him. He did get thrush though from all the face cleaning.
Lappies have been placed in homes with small children repeatedly over the years with excellent results! Lappies are understanding and very forgiving of the unintended pinches and pokes that little hands sometimes inflict. Lapphunds will tend to move away from annoying hands to find their own sanctuary.
Jasmine Louise Melbourne, VIC · It honestly cannot be understated how good lappies are with children. Today I took Talvi to a busy park with loads of little kids. Talvi has had minimal contact with children and is still a very bouncy puppy who will jump to get her cuddles. Every time a child walked up for a pat she would be calm and sit drop (depending on the height of the child) to get her cuddles without any prompting from me to behave. Lappies a truely beautiful breed.
Q. Are there any specific requirements for the breed, regarding, grooming, dietry etc? Dietary - do not overfeed. This is easy to do as they love their food. Bones, chicken carcass and dry food is what our guys get. Though you can go natural with raw vegies, raw meat and still have a very healthy dog.
Grooming is about once a week to give their coat a going over. A slicker or long pin brush and comb will do this nicely. Pay particular attention around the ears.
Q. Are lapphunds good with other dogs? Are they aggressive towards or intolerant of them? I would not suggest to have lapphunds with free flight birds but cats and other dogs, they are very good. Males can be more dominant if not socialised correctly, and certainly stud males would not normally live with other males although Ihave several of mine running together most of the time. Though not even I would trust them to be nice to each other when the girls are in season.
Q. How do they react to cats, my partner has a cat? The Finnish Lapphund is perfectly happy living with cats or other breeds of dogs. Brought up with a cat from babyhood I would say that they would develop a healthy respect for their smaller furry friends. . They would not eat it in the same way a Siberian could.
Q. What, on average, would be the life expectancy of a Finnish Lapphund? On average a Lapphund would expect to live a healthy, happy life from 12 -15 years.
Q. Do Lapphunds bark? Some are more vocal than others. Our Mishka is a quiet girl rarely making a noise, Cohan never makes a noise but Manu is so noisy. All of them will bark when they hear people approaching the property and therefore make excellent watchdogs. Finnish Lapphunds will bark at strangers or what they consider strange events. However it should be noted they are not “casual” barkers, and with reasonable effort in most cases, any undesired barking can be curtailed. I have found that if they are barking for no reason bringing them into the house stops it immediately.
They can be barkers - however in suburban yard without hares, rabbits, and kangaroos to annoy them I would not see a problem.
Q. Do Lapphunds dig holes? All dogs dig holes. Lapphunds have been known to help with the gardening, though I find that most of the time mine do not interfere with the terrain.
Q. How much exercise do they need? How often do you want exercise? They will take what you give them. Lapphunds will be a coach potato if allowed but they would benefit from some mental stimulation as well. Lapphunds require an hour a day. This means that if you have a large yard, they will exercise themselves. Though it would be great for your bonding and to alleviate any potential boredom to take your lappie out for a walk regularly or enjoying a run along side the mountain bikes etc.. Physical exercise is necessary to their healthy well being.
Q. They have so much coat there must be loads of grooming. Not at all -they require only a small amount of grooming (about 0.5 hour a week should be adequate.) The coat doesn’t matt or tangle, so requires nothing more than a brush once or twice a week (obviously more during a moult). Talking of moulting, I find that the hair comes out in clumps and the good thing about this is that when you pick up one end of the clump, the whole clump comes with it (unlike shorter haired breeds whose fine hairs end up all over the place as the dog moves). They require no special presentation for the show ring. Bitches tend to moult twice a year and the males, once. The main areas on which to concentrate being around the ears, and the tail and long feather on the legs and under the tail. No trimming us required, although some owners may prefer to trim around the feet and under the pads to reduced the amount of mud bought into the house!
Q. Our main concern is that we both work (sometimes long days) and would like a dog that would be OK being on its own for the most part of the day during the week. Ideally a dog that could be left indoors during the day (we have an indoor cat who could keep it company). is there any way to house train them? This is probably most important whilst they are still young - I would not want to be leaving it outside on its own whilst it is still a puppy. These guys settle into being a couch potato very easily. There would be no problem with the cat as the puppy would learn who was boss. We have just bought in a new import...... never had small dogs around and he never hassles my poodle boy who is inside with him. I can have all 5 lappies inside and they all leave the poodle alone.
Q. I've heard that Huskys aren't the most loyal breed of dog (I might be wrong here) - does this also apply to Lapphunds? Huskies are very loyal to you but they will run away. They have no sense of obedience! lappies on the other hand want to be with you...... that doesn't mean that they will always be obedient..... not so! Particularly if chasing a hare, or kangaroo.
Q. Lastly, how much will a puppy cost? Now for the nitty gritty. As you know we have a very limited gene pool here in Australia. Most of these are related.
Prices vary from $1800 to $2500. This is dependant on the breeder and their own expenses for the litter. (Whether the breeder has done any importing, costs of c sections, artificial inseminations using semen bought in). Usually Pets are cheaper than entire or show prospect animals. With pets you may be asked to sign a desexing agreement which is then submitted to the Canine Control with the registration papers.
Q. Are they escape artists like Sibe's? Generally I will say no to that one. Though we have had a couple of ours go away over a 4 foot fence. They come home more easily than sibes. Plus they are not as headstrong, they will come back if called ( well most of the time).
Q. Can you let them off the lead? Are they easily trained? Are they good at agility? They can be used for agility, obedience and just plain loving.
Q. What size do they grow to? Most adult males would only reach not more than a small Siberian size ......Tops 20 inches, (to your knees) though most are between 17 and 19 inches. Bitches are slightly smaller.
Q. What is the correct colour for the Finnish Lapphund? The breed comes in a diverse range of colours, from white to solid black. The most common colour in the breed is the black & tan, sometimes with white markings. But all colours are equally acceptable, and choice of colour is a personal preference. What is important is that the breed standard states that the main colour must cover the majority of the dog, so parti colours as often seen in spitz breeds are not permitted in the show Finnish Lapphund. You can see a portion of the rainbow of colours permitted for Finnish Lapphunds on the colour page of this website.
Q. Do they suffer from any health problems? The Finnish Lapphund is overall a very healthy breed. Over the course of time more testing is done to ensure the health of our breed and as such some cases of ill health have been found.
Sadly there is P.R.A (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) within the breed. DNA tests are now available so those carriers may be more easily identified. Breeders should have tested their breeding stock before delivery to their new homes.
There have been cases of hereditary cataracts in the breed overseas. More genetic tests are becoming available and as each is offered that affect our breed we screen for it. Breeders are x raying for hip and elbow dyslpasia . More details can be found on the health page of this website.
Q. Is there a book on the Finnish Lapphund? There is now a book available on the breed. It is written by Toni Jackson and can be order through Amazon Publishers or by contacting info@lappiesinoz.info
Q. I have bought my new pup and other people think it is something different.
Yes you are right. Because no Lapphund is exact like another you will have comments passed that your new baby is a german shepherd, a chow, a miniature husky, Do not be surprised with what your baby is called. Wait for it to develop and you will have your beautiful lappie.
Some quotes from lappie owners about their lovely dogs -
* I can now become a member of the chow owners club - yes, Taivas was identified as a chow yesterday! Also a husky - Karen UK
* Other suggestions were Border Collie, Rough collie, GSD or Husky, Stuffed toy!! He was sitting quietly outside a
shop (whilst my daughter tried on endless clothes!) and a lady walked passed, looked at him and said 'Is he real!'
- Shelley UK
* The most common I get for Kulta is husky cross or border collie cross. Many have asked if he is a border collie/kelpie cross. I always love the people I overhear who tell their friends with great authority what he is - and are
always wrong! And then there was the very experienced conformation judge who spoke to me about my "Eurasier"!!! - Jacqualine Aust
* The thought of Tosi being part Chow is quite amusing but at least that is another spitz breed. I've been asked if Taivas is a) Border Collie! b)GSD!!!
Q. I have purchased my lappie baby and it is going all leggy. My beautiful pup does not look nice any more.Your baby is developing differently. Some babies do go through the major uglies (see Teppo and Cohan) and need to be kept out of sight. They will do their swan song dance and become the beautiful lappie you expected. This is a slow maturing breed that often (particularly with the males) grow to their adult size by the time they are 6 months old. Be patient.
Q. How do I get in touch with others that have lappies? There are several groups on Facebook and each state has a club or group that can be contacted for information or meet ups.
Please let us know if there are other questions for answering.
Yes there is some coat drop..... more in bitches than in males.
Yes they are adorable and loving but can be standoffish if they want. They are mostly unobtrusive in your home.
They are very food oriented, so leave nothing on your benches.... particularly tea thawing out.
Q. How do I know if a lapphund is for my family? Can we meet one of these dogs? You are most welcome to contact any of the breeders to meet up with the lappies whenever it suits you and us. Most states have groups that have lappie get togethers regularly.
Q. Are Finnish Lapphunds suitable as family pets? Finnish Lapphunds make for excellent family pets. Each home environment is different and this must be taken into consideration. Lapphunds have made the transition in Finland, from a working breed to a patio dog. Usually pups born in the home environment tend to be better socialized and accept changes and noises more readily.
Q. What is their temperament like? DIVINE! You will not find ONE lappie enough.
Q. Should I buy a dog or bitch pup? Now that depends on what is available! Within Australia we have had limited bitches born in our litters. as such we have retained them for future breeding purposes. As a consequence males are more readily available.
So as to a male or female- males are a little bigger than the females. Both shed coat seasonally. Both if bought as pets, will be required to be desexed by the age of 6 months. Both are loving and faithful to the household members. Bitches do tend to be a little shyer and softer in nature.
Both can be coach potatoes to live with. Both are usually very clean within the house.
Q. How easy is it to buy a Lapphund? Lapphunds are still very rare in Australia. Breeders are careful to breed for quality and not quantity, and with litter sizes being on average about five pups, the numbers are rising slowly. Check with breeders individually or check with www.dogzonline.com.au for current litters.
Q. Are lappies good with children? Children...... they are the only breed that I will guarantee with children.
Anecdote....... we just got the first 2 lappies out of quarantine. the bitch broke into the house from the patio and found herself laying on the floor with a neighbours 6 month old baby. We found her trying to coax the baby to pat her - she was gently getting his hand with her paw and pulling it to her side. She was laying wrapped around him.
the next week he was very grizzly so we stuck him in the dog trailer with the lappies. Not a peep from him. He did get thrush though from all the face cleaning.
Lappies have been placed in homes with small children repeatedly over the years with excellent results! Lappies are understanding and very forgiving of the unintended pinches and pokes that little hands sometimes inflict. Lapphunds will tend to move away from annoying hands to find their own sanctuary.
Jasmine Louise Melbourne, VIC · It honestly cannot be understated how good lappies are with children. Today I took Talvi to a busy park with loads of little kids. Talvi has had minimal contact with children and is still a very bouncy puppy who will jump to get her cuddles. Every time a child walked up for a pat she would be calm and sit drop (depending on the height of the child) to get her cuddles without any prompting from me to behave. Lappies a truely beautiful breed.
Q. Are there any specific requirements for the breed, regarding, grooming, dietry etc? Dietary - do not overfeed. This is easy to do as they love their food. Bones, chicken carcass and dry food is what our guys get. Though you can go natural with raw vegies, raw meat and still have a very healthy dog.
Grooming is about once a week to give their coat a going over. A slicker or long pin brush and comb will do this nicely. Pay particular attention around the ears.
Q. Are lapphunds good with other dogs? Are they aggressive towards or intolerant of them? I would not suggest to have lapphunds with free flight birds but cats and other dogs, they are very good. Males can be more dominant if not socialised correctly, and certainly stud males would not normally live with other males although Ihave several of mine running together most of the time. Though not even I would trust them to be nice to each other when the girls are in season.
Q. How do they react to cats, my partner has a cat? The Finnish Lapphund is perfectly happy living with cats or other breeds of dogs. Brought up with a cat from babyhood I would say that they would develop a healthy respect for their smaller furry friends. . They would not eat it in the same way a Siberian could.
Q. What, on average, would be the life expectancy of a Finnish Lapphund? On average a Lapphund would expect to live a healthy, happy life from 12 -15 years.
Q. Do Lapphunds bark? Some are more vocal than others. Our Mishka is a quiet girl rarely making a noise, Cohan never makes a noise but Manu is so noisy. All of them will bark when they hear people approaching the property and therefore make excellent watchdogs. Finnish Lapphunds will bark at strangers or what they consider strange events. However it should be noted they are not “casual” barkers, and with reasonable effort in most cases, any undesired barking can be curtailed. I have found that if they are barking for no reason bringing them into the house stops it immediately.
They can be barkers - however in suburban yard without hares, rabbits, and kangaroos to annoy them I would not see a problem.
Q. Do Lapphunds dig holes? All dogs dig holes. Lapphunds have been known to help with the gardening, though I find that most of the time mine do not interfere with the terrain.
Q. How much exercise do they need? How often do you want exercise? They will take what you give them. Lapphunds will be a coach potato if allowed but they would benefit from some mental stimulation as well. Lapphunds require an hour a day. This means that if you have a large yard, they will exercise themselves. Though it would be great for your bonding and to alleviate any potential boredom to take your lappie out for a walk regularly or enjoying a run along side the mountain bikes etc.. Physical exercise is necessary to their healthy well being.
Q. They have so much coat there must be loads of grooming. Not at all -they require only a small amount of grooming (about 0.5 hour a week should be adequate.) The coat doesn’t matt or tangle, so requires nothing more than a brush once or twice a week (obviously more during a moult). Talking of moulting, I find that the hair comes out in clumps and the good thing about this is that when you pick up one end of the clump, the whole clump comes with it (unlike shorter haired breeds whose fine hairs end up all over the place as the dog moves). They require no special presentation for the show ring. Bitches tend to moult twice a year and the males, once. The main areas on which to concentrate being around the ears, and the tail and long feather on the legs and under the tail. No trimming us required, although some owners may prefer to trim around the feet and under the pads to reduced the amount of mud bought into the house!
Q. Our main concern is that we both work (sometimes long days) and would like a dog that would be OK being on its own for the most part of the day during the week. Ideally a dog that could be left indoors during the day (we have an indoor cat who could keep it company). is there any way to house train them? This is probably most important whilst they are still young - I would not want to be leaving it outside on its own whilst it is still a puppy. These guys settle into being a couch potato very easily. There would be no problem with the cat as the puppy would learn who was boss. We have just bought in a new import...... never had small dogs around and he never hassles my poodle boy who is inside with him. I can have all 5 lappies inside and they all leave the poodle alone.
Q. I've heard that Huskys aren't the most loyal breed of dog (I might be wrong here) - does this also apply to Lapphunds? Huskies are very loyal to you but they will run away. They have no sense of obedience! lappies on the other hand want to be with you...... that doesn't mean that they will always be obedient..... not so! Particularly if chasing a hare, or kangaroo.
Q. Lastly, how much will a puppy cost? Now for the nitty gritty. As you know we have a very limited gene pool here in Australia. Most of these are related.
Prices vary from $1800 to $2500. This is dependant on the breeder and their own expenses for the litter. (Whether the breeder has done any importing, costs of c sections, artificial inseminations using semen bought in). Usually Pets are cheaper than entire or show prospect animals. With pets you may be asked to sign a desexing agreement which is then submitted to the Canine Control with the registration papers.
Q. Are they escape artists like Sibe's? Generally I will say no to that one. Though we have had a couple of ours go away over a 4 foot fence. They come home more easily than sibes. Plus they are not as headstrong, they will come back if called ( well most of the time).
Q. Can you let them off the lead? Are they easily trained? Are they good at agility? They can be used for agility, obedience and just plain loving.
Q. What size do they grow to? Most adult males would only reach not more than a small Siberian size ......Tops 20 inches, (to your knees) though most are between 17 and 19 inches. Bitches are slightly smaller.
Q. What is the correct colour for the Finnish Lapphund? The breed comes in a diverse range of colours, from white to solid black. The most common colour in the breed is the black & tan, sometimes with white markings. But all colours are equally acceptable, and choice of colour is a personal preference. What is important is that the breed standard states that the main colour must cover the majority of the dog, so parti colours as often seen in spitz breeds are not permitted in the show Finnish Lapphund. You can see a portion of the rainbow of colours permitted for Finnish Lapphunds on the colour page of this website.
Q. Do they suffer from any health problems? The Finnish Lapphund is overall a very healthy breed. Over the course of time more testing is done to ensure the health of our breed and as such some cases of ill health have been found.
Sadly there is P.R.A (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) within the breed. DNA tests are now available so those carriers may be more easily identified. Breeders should have tested their breeding stock before delivery to their new homes.
There have been cases of hereditary cataracts in the breed overseas. More genetic tests are becoming available and as each is offered that affect our breed we screen for it. Breeders are x raying for hip and elbow dyslpasia . More details can be found on the health page of this website.
Q. Is there a book on the Finnish Lapphund? There is now a book available on the breed. It is written by Toni Jackson and can be order through Amazon Publishers or by contacting info@lappiesinoz.info
Q. I have bought my new pup and other people think it is something different.
Yes you are right. Because no Lapphund is exact like another you will have comments passed that your new baby is a german shepherd, a chow, a miniature husky, Do not be surprised with what your baby is called. Wait for it to develop and you will have your beautiful lappie.
Some quotes from lappie owners about their lovely dogs -
* I can now become a member of the chow owners club - yes, Taivas was identified as a chow yesterday! Also a husky - Karen UK
* Other suggestions were Border Collie, Rough collie, GSD or Husky, Stuffed toy!! He was sitting quietly outside a
shop (whilst my daughter tried on endless clothes!) and a lady walked passed, looked at him and said 'Is he real!'
- Shelley UK
* The most common I get for Kulta is husky cross or border collie cross. Many have asked if he is a border collie/kelpie cross. I always love the people I overhear who tell their friends with great authority what he is - and are
always wrong! And then there was the very experienced conformation judge who spoke to me about my "Eurasier"!!! - Jacqualine Aust
* The thought of Tosi being part Chow is quite amusing but at least that is another spitz breed. I've been asked if Taivas is a) Border Collie! b)GSD!!!
Q. I have purchased my lappie baby and it is going all leggy. My beautiful pup does not look nice any more.Your baby is developing differently. Some babies do go through the major uglies (see Teppo and Cohan) and need to be kept out of sight. They will do their swan song dance and become the beautiful lappie you expected. This is a slow maturing breed that often (particularly with the males) grow to their adult size by the time they are 6 months old. Be patient.
Q. How do I get in touch with others that have lappies? There are several groups on Facebook and each state has a club or group that can be contacted for information or meet ups.
Please let us know if there are other questions for answering.
Yes there is some coat drop..... more in bitches than in males.
Yes they are adorable and loving but can be standoffish if they want. They are mostly unobtrusive in your home.
They are very food oriented, so leave nothing on your benches.... particularly tea thawing out.