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Norwegian Lundehund

The breeds · companion

AKC Non-Sporting · UKC Northern Breed · FCI standard 265

Norwegian Lundehund.

FCI 265 utilization: by his anatomical peculiarities this dog is predestined to puffin-hunting on the steep rocks around the fjords and along the shore (without working trial). FCI history: an ancient breed used for hunting seabirds on the Norwegian coast, with descriptions of puffin-hunting dogs more than 400 years old; the extra functional toes, a neck that bends to touch the back, closable ears and ultra-flexible forelimbs let it climb near-vertical screes, enter the narrow twisting burrows of puffin nests and retrieve the birds alive; today the puffin is protected and the dogs cannot be used for the original purpose. AKC standard: used to wrestle and retrieve live puffin birds from the crevices of steep vertical cliffs on remote arctic Norwegian islands. UKC: believed to have developed its extra toes, double-jointed neck and flexible forelegs to locate puffin nests on steep rocks around the fjords. Wikipedia: hunted puffins and their eggs on inaccessible nesting places; the first written record is from 1591 on Vaeroy. VCA: bred to wrestle and retrieve live puffins from crevices on steep cliffs as far back as the 1500s..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
12–18LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 12 to 18 lb; breed bitches 12 to 18 lb.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 13 to 15 in · bitches 12 to 14 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard

AKC calls it the desired height. No source prints a single ideal; center is blank. FCI cm converted to inches.

Weight

dogs 12 to 18 lb · bitches 12 to 18 lb

Breed clubAKC

Center blank, as for males. Breed-wide ranges from Wikipedia and VCA count in both sex rows.

Coat

AKC: double coat, harsh outer coat and dense soft undercoat; short on head and front of legs, longer and thicker on neck and back of thighs; dense on the tail with little feathering; male has a thicker ruff; no trimming; fallow to reddish brown to tan with black hair tips and white markings, or white with red or dark markings. UKC: outer coat rough and dense, undercoat soft; also black and gray. VCA: a double coat; heavy shedders but easy to groom.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Double coat, harsh outer coat and dense soft undercoat (AKC, UKC)

DerivedAKC breed standard

Derived from the coat description (medium double = 3). No measured data.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

VCA: high; needs to walk every day, plus some running and play; a long walk or jog every day is a must. AKC page: Energy Level 3 of 5, Mental Stimulation Needs 3. AKC standard temperament: alert, very energetic, loyal and protective.

EditorialVCA Animal Hospitals (LifeLearn)

No Royal Kennel Club band was found for this breed, so exercise_need_min is left blank. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Energy

AKC breed page: Energy Level 3 of 5, Mental Stimulation Needs 3, Trainability 3, Barking Level 4, Good With Other Dogs 3, Openness To Strangers 3, Watchdog/Protective Nature 3. AKC standard temperament: alert, very energetic, loyal and protective; wary of strangers but never aggressive toward people. FCI and UKC: alert, energetic, lively. VCA: loving and playful, bonds strongly with family, can be extremely hard to housetrain.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands, not measured.

Grooming load

2 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming

VCA: a heavy shedder but easy to groom; brush a few times a week, bathe only when necessary. AKC breed page: Coat Grooming Frequency 2 of 5, Shedding Level 3, Drooling Level 1.

EditorialVCA Animal Hospitals (LifeLearn)

No Royal Kennel Club grooming band was found, so grooming_load is left blank.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 265 utilization: by his anatomical peculiarities this dog is predestined to puffin-hunting on the steep rocks around the fjords and along the shore (without working trial). FCI history: an ancient breed used for hunting seabirds on the Norwegian coast, with descriptions of puffin-hunting dogs more than 400 years old; the extra functional toes, a neck that bends to touch the back, closable ears and ultra-flexible forelimbs let it climb near-vertical screes, enter the narrow twisting burrows of puffin nests and retrieve the birds alive; today the puffin is protected and the dogs cannot be used for the original purpose. AKC standard: used to wrestle and retrieve live puffin birds from the crevices of steep vertical cliffs on remote arctic Norwegian islands. UKC: believed to have developed its extra toes, double-jointed neck and flexible forelegs to locate puffin nests on steep rocks around the fjords. Wikipedia: hunted puffins and their eggs on inaccessible nesting places; the first written record is from 1591 on Vaeroy. VCA: bred to wrestle and retrieve live puffins from crevices on steep cliffs as far back as the 1500s.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2011

Historical work; the breed is not worked on puffin today. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Primary game

Puffin (Fratercula arctica) and its eggs, on the sea cliffs of the Norwegian coast, with the work kept alive on Vaeroy (Maastad) in the Lofoten islands (FCI, Wikipedia). Puffin meat was a main part of the winter diet in coastal areas and the down was used or exported (FCI history).

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2011

The puffin is now a protected species (FCI). Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Search pattern

FCI and AKC: not a field search in the gundog sense. The dog climbs, descends and brakes on near-vertical cliff faces, crawls into the narrow twisting nesting burrows and retrieves the bird alive. AKC standard anatomy that does the work: a minimum of six toes on each foot with elongated rear pads, an elastic neck that lets the head bend back to touch the spine so the dog can turn round in narrow caves, shoulders flexible enough to extend the front legs flat to the side and hug the cliff, and ears that fold shut against debris. UKC: front legs turn to the side at 90 degrees; six toes on each foreleg with at least five bearing weight, and at least six on each hind foot with four bearing weight; eight pads on each front foot and seven on each hind foot. No source describes voice or pack versus single work.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

The judge should not ask a handler to demonstrate the neck flexibility in the ring (AKC standard note). Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Field trial standard

FCI 265: without working trial. The original work is no longer possible because puffins are protected (FCI history).

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2011

Cold water

3 of 5 · Double coat; worked wet, cold arctic sea cliffs of northern Norway (AKC, FCI)

DerivedAKC breed standard

Derived from coat plus cliff work. No measured data; the breed climbed and crawled rather than swam, and no source describes water work.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Most common disorders

Lundehund syndrome (gastroenteropathy; intestinal lymphangiectasia): Wikipedia describes a protein-losing enteropathy with intermittent diarrhoea, vomiting, weight loss and ascites, predisposing to chronic atrophic gastritis and gastric neoplasms, with loss of ability to absorb nutrients; there is no cure and it can be managed, with a low-fat, higher-protein diet reported to help. A mortality study cited by Wikipedia found 30% of deaths before 11 years were from Lundehund syndrome and another 10% from other gastrointestinal disease. VCA: highly prone to a group of gastrointestinal disorders called gastroenteropathy or Lundehund syndrome; treatable but not curable; how it is inherited is unclear and no genetic test exists. Wikipedia also records inbreeding depression (small litters, low sperm quality) after a population bottleneck: distemper left only a handful of dogs after World War II and in 1963, about 1,500 dogs worldwide in 2022, and an outcross programme with other Nordic breeds is under way.

EditorialWikipedia

Wikipedia summarises studies not read at source; VCA agrees on the syndrome. Stated plainly: Wikipedia says dogs with the syndrome have repeated acute episodes and poor quality of life. Not softened.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 4; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 5 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Norsk Lundehund, Puffin Dog, Norwegian Puffin Dog, Lundehund

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Your norwegian lundehund, on the record.

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