If you’re looking for a new dog breed, you should consider one of the Scandinavian dog breeds. These dogs are some of the best in the world, and they come from some of the most beautiful countries on earth.
Here is a list of the best and most loved Scandinavian dog breeds, along with a little bit of information about each one.
Danish Dog Breeds
Denmark has five indigenous dog breeds. The Danish-Swedish farmdog is a breed that belongs to Denmark and Sweden.
Broholmer
The Broholmer is a large, powerful dog that was once used for hunting bear and boar. Today, they make great family pets.
Danish-Swedish farmdog
The Danish-Swedish farmdog is a small, energetic breed that loves to play. They are excellent watchdogs and make great companions.
Dansk Spids
The Dansk Spids is a small, agile breed that is excellent at agility and obedience trials. They are also very friendly and make great family pets.
Greenland Dog
For centuries, the Greenland Dog has been a vital transportation and hunting instrument for the Inuit. It is considered to be one of the world’s oldest dog breeds.
Old Danish Pointing Dog
The Old Danish Pointing Dog is a medium-sized breed that was once used for hunting. Today, they make excellent family pets and are often used in agility and obedience trials.
Read more about Danish Dog Breeds here.
Finnish Dog Breeds
Finland has five indigenous dog breeds. Finland are light on the ground when it comes to native dog breeds. Despite that fact, the small number of native dog breeds they do have are iconic and have gained popularity as pets all over the world.
Finnish Hound
The Finnish Hound (Suomenajokoira) is one of Finland’s most popular dog breeds. It is exclusively utilized to pursue hares or foxes. It is very rare that you will see this breed of Finnish dog outside of Finland.
Finnish Lapponian Dog
The Finnish Lapponian Dog (Suomenlapinkoira) is intelligent, brave, eager to learn, friendly and fairly submissive. This dog is used as a reindeer herder.
Finnish Spitz
The Finnish Spitz (Suomenpystykorva) is the national dog of Finland. It is a small to medium sized breed that was once used for hunting small game and birds.
Karelian Bear Dog
The Karelian Bear Dog (Karjalankarhukoira) is a large, powerful breed that was once used for hunting bear and moose. Today, they make excellent family pets.
Lapponian Herder
It is thought that the Lapponian Herder (Lapinporokoira) evolved from dogs that were brought to Finland by the Sami people. This breed is used as a herding dog and for sledding.
Read more about Finnish Dog Breeds here.
Icelandic dog breeds
Iceland has just the one native dog breed, the Icelandic Sheepdog.
Icelandic Sheepdog
The Icelandic Sheepdog (Islenskur fjárhundur) is a small to medium sized breed that was once used for herding sheep.
The only dog breed indigenous to Iceland, the Icelandic Sheepdog is an offspring of the dogs that the first Viking settlers between 870 and 930 brought to Iceland.
Today, they make excellent family pets and are often used in agility and obedience trials.
Norwegian dog breeds
Norway has seven native dog breeds. The Norwegian Buhund, Norwegian Elkhound, and Norwegian Lundehund are all popular dogs in Norway.
Halden Hound
The city of Halden in southern Norway, just on the Swedish border, is where this Norwegian scent hound gets its name.
Hygen Hound
The Hygen Hound gets its name from procurator Hans Fredrik Hygen, who began breeding local scent hounds in northeastern Norway around 1930.
Norwegian Buhund
The Norwegian Buhund is a direct descendant of the dogs used by Norway’s first settlers.
Norwegian Elkhound Black
The Norwegian Elkhound Black is a local spitz breed that emerged on both sides of the Norwegian-Swedish border from local spitz breeds.
Norwegian Elkhound Gray
The Norwegian Elkhound Gray is an old breed that developed from local spitz breeds in the areas along both sides of the Norwegian-Swedish border.
Norwegian Hound
The Norwegian Hound is a direct descendant of the dogs used by Norway’s first settlers.
Norwegian Lundehund
The Norwegian Lundehund is a small, agile breed that was once used for hunting puffin and seal. Today, they make excellent family pets and are often used in agility and obedience trials.
Swedish dog breeds
Sweden has a total of twelve native dog breeds. One of these, the Danish-Swedish farmdog is shared by Denmark and Sweden.
Swedish Vallhund
The Swedish Vallhund is a small, robust breed that was once used for herding cattle. Today, they make excellent family pets and are often used in agility and obedience trials. Similar in appearance to the Welsh Corgi.
Drever
The Drever is without a doubt one of Sweden’s most popular hunting dogs. It isn’t just the most popular hunting scent dog; it’s also by far the most numerous, with no other comparable scent hound on the market.
Gotlandsstövare
The Swedish scenthound is a cross between continental hounds from Eastern Europe and was bred in Sweden after returning soldiers brought them during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Hamiltonstövare
The Hamiltonstövare is based on continental hounds, similar to those from Eastern Europe that arrived in Sweden with the Vikings.
Hälleforshund
The Hälleforshund is a Swedish breed of elkhound. It was produced from a litter of elkhounds born in the late 1930s at the ironworks in Hällefors, Sweden.
Jämthund
The Jämthund is probably the most impressive of Sweden’s native breeds with its size and grand stature. The breed derives from large hunting spitzes.
Norrbottenspitz
The origin of the spitz is unknown, but it is thought to have come from tiny hunting societies that inhabited the North Cape with little laikas during ancient times.
Schillerstövare
The Schillerstövare, like the Hamiltonstövare, is named for its creator, but it also takes inspiration from East European hounds that arrived in Sweden.
Smålandsstövare
Like in the case of the Schiller- and Hamiltonstövare it is believed that the Smålandsstövare also derives from continental hounds.
Svensk vit älghund
The history of the Svensk vit älghund (which means Swedish white elkhound) is said to have begun in 1942 in the County of Jämtland.
Swedish Lapphund
Lapphunds (Swedish lapphund) are most recognized as reindeer herders, although they were originally developed as hunting dogs.
These are just some of the wonderful Scandinavian dog breeds that you can choose from. So if you’re looking for a new best friend, be sure to consider one of these dogs. You won’t be disappointed!
Which Scandinavian dog breed is your favorite?