Black, weatherproof and barely 50 centimetres tall: nomadic Sami in northern Sweden used this spitz to gather reindeer, guard camp and help hunt. Today, the Swedish Lapphund (Svensk Lapphund) mostly lives as a family dog, and few remain.
| FCI | Group 5 (Spitz and primitive types), Section 3 Nordic Watchdogs and Herders, Standard No. 135, without working trial |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Sweden |
| Size (height at the withers) | Ideal height: males 48 cm, females 43 cm, each with 3 cm tolerance above and below |
| Weight | not specified in the FCI standard |
| Life expectancy | no reliable study figure found (N/A) |
| Coat | abundant double coat, standing straight off body; dense, very finely crimped undercoat; collar around neck, weather-resistant |
| Colours in the standard | usually solid black; bronzing with bear-brown shades typical; white on chest, feet and tail tip permitted |
From reindeer camp to family life
The standard says it has been known in the north for centuries; nomadic Laplanders (now called Sami) used it for driving livestock, hunting and guarding. It has been definitively recognised by the FCI since 1955; the German standard dates from 2012. Close relatives are the Finnish Lapphund and the Lapponian Herder: all three carry the same Pompe disease storage-disorder variant (Seppälä et al. 2013).
Trainable, alert and tough
Lively, watchful, friendly and affectionate, very trainable and keen to work, easy to educate, enduring and tough: that is the standard’s description. As a former watchdog, it announces visitors. Whether that becomes constant barking depends on how early it learns that you take over.
Obedience, agility and tracking
The standard names obedience, agility, herding and tracking. Daily walks lasting a good hour and a sport involving thought keep it happy. If it herds cyclists, redirect this into games early.
What its black weatherproof coat needs
Beneath the stand-off outer coat lies dense, finely crimped undercoat. Weekly brushing usually suffices; during moulting, when wool comes out in tufts, brush daily.
Eyes, hips and a small breeding base
There is no lifespan figure; McMillan et al. do not analyse the breed. The retinal disease prcd-PRA is documented: across 15 years of genetic-testing data, Swedish Lapphunds were the breed most likely to be carriers or affected, but no affected dog was found after 2015 (Clark et al. 2023). In Swedish X-ray screening, 25,2 per cent of 313 young Lapphunds had hip dysplasia grades C to E (Engdahl et al. 2026). In Norway, the odds of diabetes were approximately eight times those in the comparison group, with 37 cases (Ringstad et al. 2022). The inbreeding coefficient rose to 0,081 by 2012, above the level of a cousin mating (Jansson and Laikre 2018). Ask for genetic tests, hip results and the litter’s inbreeding coefficient.
Right for you if
you seek a friendly dog keen to learn and want to practise sports or tracking together.
Less suitable if
hair on the sofa bothers you, you expect a quiet dog or will not wait for a puppy, as litters are rare.
The breed quiz answers in minutes whether an alert herding spitz fits your daily life; for more detailed help, see “Welcher Hund passt WIRKLICH zu dir?” (book in German). For the early days with a puppy, there is the free Puppy Starter Pack. Black fur with a bronze sheen looks striking as a poster in a wooden frame; explore more styles in our dog portraits.
Further reading
- Border Collie: when the cleverest dog has no job
- Autumn shedding in dogs and cats: what is normal and what is not
- Puppy training: the 5 rules that really work
Sources, accessed on 20.10.2026: FCI-Standard Nr. 135 Svensk Lapphund (Schwedischer Lapphund) (fci.be, German version dated 22.02.2012); McMillan KM et al., Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death, Scientific Reports 2024 (breed not included); Seppälä EH et al., A nonsense mutation in the acid alpha-glucosidase gene causes Pompe disease in Finnish and Swedish Lapphunds, PLoS One 2013; Clark JA et al., Global frequency analyses of canine progressive rod-cone degeneration-progressive retinal atrophy and collie eye anomaly using commercial genetic testing data, Genes 2023; Engdahl K et al., Prevalence of hip and elbow dysplasia in young adult dogs in Sweden, Veterinary Record 2026; Ringstad NK et al., Breed distributions for diabetes mellitus and hypothyroidism in Norwegian dogs, Canine Medicine and Genetics 2022; Jansson M, Laikre L, Pedigree data indicate rapid inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity within populations of native, traditional dog breeds of conservation concern, PLoS One 2018.
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