Characteristics and Appearance of a Female Finnish Spitz Dog

Our latest furry addition to our family is a female Finnish Spitz dog that we named Foxy. Rescued on May 11th from the neighborhood park, we intended to find her a good home, but ended up adopting her instead. Her pleasant nature and cuteness made her hard to resist. The Finnish Spitz is an old breed. The Finnish Spitz became the national dog of Finland in 1979 and is known there as a hunting dog. Here in the U.S.A. and other countries, the Finnish Spitz is more of a family pet. In Finland though they are known as a bark pointer, which simply means that the dog barks to alert the hunter that a prey has been spotted. The barking trait is one draw back to having this breed as a pet, but only if the dog has not been trained while still young to not bark. The Finnish Spitz dog is related to the Finnish Lapphund and the Lapponian Herder. The Finnish Spitz breed is a very healthy dog and owners have few health concerns for this dog.

In appearance, the Finnish Spitz looks much like a fox in the face and facial expression. From a distance one would swear they are looking at an adult fox. Up close, it may become more noticeable that you are indeed looking at a very friendly dog. Finnish Spitz puppies are born looking very much like fox cubs and are usually gray or fawn in color with lots of black coloring. Adult Finnish Spitz dogs are varying hues of red, from pale honey to dark chestnut. The puppy will start to take on the coloring of the adult at around four months of age. The darkest coloring on the adult dog is on the back of the body, growing lighter in hue the closer you look towards the belly, where it can be quite light almost cream in color. The Finnish Spitz has two layers to the coat. The undercoat is soft, dense and short. The upper coat is long and has harsher hairs, perhaps up to 1 - 2" in length. The Finnish Spitz is a very heavy shedder, so if you do not like to pick up dog hair, this is not the breed to get. A female will shed the upper coat twice a year in large clumps. The body of the Finnish Spitz is the same in height as in the length of the body, giving it a square built look. The feet are rounded, like a cat's feet and dewclaws can be seen on all four feet. The most noticeable appearance trait is that a Finnish Spitz tail will curl up over it's back. The nose, lips and rims of the eyes of the Finnish Spitz dog are black. The typical height of the female Finnish Spitz is from 15.5" to 18" and the weight is typically 23 lbs to 29 lbs. The Finnish Spitz dog can easily become overweight, as they love to eat and owners need to be aware of this appetite trait so they can be strict on amounts of daily food given to this breed of dog.

The characteristics of a Finnish Spitz dog are what make the breed an excellent family pet. The Finnish Spitz is a very lively and friendly dog. You will find that this dog is very intelligent, strong willed and independent minded. This is a breed that loves children and would be great with young children. You can train the Finnish Spitz dog if you keep the training sessions short, as they tend to lose interest quickly, but are very good at understanding commands. They are eager to please and if you have patience and understand their temperament, you can train this breed. My ten-year-old daughter has been very successful at training our Finnish Spitz. She keeps their training sessions to about 10 to 15 minutes in duration and Foxy has been quick to learn new tricks and desired behaviors. I must caution you that this breed does not like to be left alone for more than 4 or 5 hours at most. They tend to get nervous and fearful that you will not return. This breed tends to become upset if you leave them longer than short periods of time. They really need to be around their people, and get along great with other dogs and cats. We have four cats and two other dogs and Foxy loves to play with her furry siblings and is never aggressive with them. This breed besides being excellent pets, also make for good watch dogs as they are keenly aware of objects in their environment, what belongs and what does not. They are very loyal and protective of their family members. Foxy is always looking to see where my daughters are and likes to keep them in view. She loves to play with our kids and is a very active dog that loves to run and exercise with the family.