colours of the lapphund
Uniqueness of the Lapphund
The beauty of the breed is in its uniqueness – there are no two lapphunds that are exactly alike, and this is the way it should be. There are many lovely, almost perfect Finnish Lapphunds that, however, clearly are individuals when it comes to temperament and appearance.
For decades the general appearance of Finnish Lapphund has remained the same. The breed is medium built, having a naturally heavy coated, with dense undercoat suitable for withstanding the extreme temperatures of its native Lapland. Ears can be pricked or tipped.
All coat colors are permitted, as long as the primary color is dominant. Colours other than the basic colour can occur on head, neck, chest, underside of the body, on legs and tail.
The dog differs from the bitch both in appearance and character, the bitch being smaller and more often more submissive. The ideal height for males is 19 inches (49 cm) and for females 17 inches (44 cm) with a tolerance of 1 inch (+/- 3 cm) the right type being considered to be more important than the size.
The beauty of the breed is in its uniqueness – there are no two lapphunds that are exactly alike, and this is the way it should be. There are many lovely, almost perfect Finnish Lapphunds that, however, clearly are individuals when it comes to temperament and appearance.
For decades the general appearance of Finnish Lapphund has remained the same. The breed is medium built, having a naturally heavy coated, with dense undercoat suitable for withstanding the extreme temperatures of its native Lapland. Ears can be pricked or tipped.
All coat colors are permitted, as long as the primary color is dominant. Colours other than the basic colour can occur on head, neck, chest, underside of the body, on legs and tail.
The dog differs from the bitch both in appearance and character, the bitch being smaller and more often more submissive. The ideal height for males is 19 inches (49 cm) and for females 17 inches (44 cm) with a tolerance of 1 inch (+/- 3 cm) the right type being considered to be more important than the size.
Colours of the Finnish Lapphund
Finnish Lapphunds come in all colours from white / cream to black.
The most traditional colouring for the Finnish Lapphund is the tri colouring or black, tan and white depicting the "4 eyes" of the traditional Saami herder.
Sable dogs take on the base colour with black tip highlights to the end of their hair.
Another exciting element to the finnish lapphund is that they change their colouring slightly as they age. I have had a black pup at 3 months that ended up as a black and tan.
These are not the only colours that the Finnish Lapphund come in. This is a small sample of the variations of the breed colourings.
A huge thank you to all those from around the world who have assisted in supplying photos for this page and others within the website.
Finnish Lapphund Club of NSW Fun Fact #6 2016: Lappies have some pretty amazing attributes and people are drawn to them for many different reasons. One of the more eye catching traits you may have noticed is the sheer variety of colours Lappies can come in - and let's be honest, there are lots!...
...but did you know that all Lappies (dogs and most mammals) only have two base colours? The scientific names for these two base colours are Eumelanin (black) and Phaeomelanin (red/yellow) and it's these two colours that affect the pigment in the Lappies coat. (There is technically a third variation, but this is known as 'lack of pigment' and this is responsible for white spotting).
Every possible colour combination you see in Lappies stems from these two base colours! It's pretty amazing.
Finnish Lapphunds come in all colours from white / cream to black.
The most traditional colouring for the Finnish Lapphund is the tri colouring or black, tan and white depicting the "4 eyes" of the traditional Saami herder.
Sable dogs take on the base colour with black tip highlights to the end of their hair.
Another exciting element to the finnish lapphund is that they change their colouring slightly as they age. I have had a black pup at 3 months that ended up as a black and tan.
These are not the only colours that the Finnish Lapphund come in. This is a small sample of the variations of the breed colourings.
A huge thank you to all those from around the world who have assisted in supplying photos for this page and others within the website.
Finnish Lapphund Club of NSW Fun Fact #6 2016: Lappies have some pretty amazing attributes and people are drawn to them for many different reasons. One of the more eye catching traits you may have noticed is the sheer variety of colours Lappies can come in - and let's be honest, there are lots!...
...but did you know that all Lappies (dogs and most mammals) only have two base colours? The scientific names for these two base colours are Eumelanin (black) and Phaeomelanin (red/yellow) and it's these two colours that affect the pigment in the Lappies coat. (There is technically a third variation, but this is known as 'lack of pigment' and this is responsible for white spotting).
Every possible colour combination you see in Lappies stems from these two base colours! It's pretty amazing.