Portraits of popular breeds at home and abroad: Norwegian Lundehund

These special dogs were bred and raised specifically for hunting of puffins and guillemots (water birds). For this reason, they have several very specific and for their purpose very practical physical deviations. For example, they have extremely flexible neck so they can turn their head to their back. They can also close their auditory canals so water or clay couldn’t enter it. Also, they have more fingers on their paws as the only breed – they have 6 fingers and 8 finger pads. They used all of them to stick to rocky reefs when hunting puffins. Thanks to loose ligaments in shoulder joints they can spread their legs so much that they lean on ground with their chest.

All these physical abnormalities helped these dogs hunt birds in their burrows. Today, they are only used socially. Breeders greatly appreciate their energetic temperament, vigilance and protective tendencies and also nice and adaptable nature. They love loud barking so even though they like strangers, the strangers (especially neighbours :)) don’t have to like them. Yet, this is a great family dog, sociable and cuddly. They come back on call and assist their masters with everything. They don’t tend to attack except for bird nests which is understandable considering their history.

When upbringing a norwegian lundehund, the best for them is kind treatment. They also need enough activity in order not to get bored and disobey. They are intelligent, very active and vulpine. But they can also be quite stubborn and headstrong. Even though it is a resistant breed that can live outdoors all year, these dogs like to laze about at home.

This breed is really small. They weigh around 5 to 7 kilograms and aren’t usually taller than 38 centimetres. Have you ever been lucky and seen a norwegian lundehund? Its physical skills are worth seeing in person, you can hardly imagine a dog doing split.