Family-friendly: | 4/5 |
Exercise needs: | 3/5 |
Easy to train: | 4/5 |
Tolerates being alone: | 2/5 |
Likes other pets: | 4/5 |
Energy level: | 3/5 |
Grooming needs: | 3/5 |
Shedding: | 4/5 |
- Dog suitable for owners with some experience
- Extra training required
- Generally healthy breed
- Enjoys active walks
- Enjoys one to two hours of walking a day
- Medium dog
- Minimum drool
- Requires grooming every other day
- Chatty and vocal dog
- Barks and alerts to visitors/anything unusual
- Could have issues with unknown dogs but gets along with known dogs
- May need additional training to live with other pets
- May need additional supervision to live with children
- Needs a large garden
- Can live in semi-rural areas
- Can be left occasionally with training
The Swedish Lapphund is generally a healthy breed, but can suffer from:
- Hip dysplasia
- Diabetes mellitus¹ which is a condition where dogs develop very high sugar levels because they do not produce a normal amount of insulin.
Priority Kennel Club health schemes and testing:
None but there are several recommended schemes that the Kennel Club recommends which can be found here.
¹T. Fall et al, 'Diabetes Mellitus in a Population of 180,000 Insured Dogs: Incidence, Survival, and Breed Distribution', 2007, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine
Did You Know?
The Swedish Lapphund is a very versatile dog, originally bred to hunt reindeer, when the Sami peoples began herding the breed was easily retrained to herd instead of hunt. They were also used to hunt elk, foxes and birds, which all require different skills from the dog!
They are the oldest of Sweden’s nine native breeds, and are the National Dog of Sweden.
Found your perfect breed?