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Swedish Elkhound

The breeds · northern

UKC Northern Breed · FCI standard 42

Swedish Elkhound.

FCI 42 utilization: hunting dog, mainly used for hunting elk (moose), but also for bear and boar; FCI history adds lynx and says the breed is expected to bay the game intensely for considerable time, which demands great strength and endurance. FCI temperament: courageous and energetic but also stoically calm. UKC: mainly used for hunting elk, sometimes bear and lynx. Svenska Jämthundklubben (translated): a ståndhund (baying dog) that gives stand-bark on game that stops and defends itself, working calmly so the game stays and the handler can shoot on the stand-bark; bred first to hunt elk. RAS 2023-2027 (translated): a standing elk dog, whose job is to stop the elk and keep up stand-bark until the hunter can sneak in and shoot; stand-bark hunting is one of Sweden's oldest cultural heritages. Wikipedia: historically used on bear, elk, wolf and lynx..

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.

24 / 22INHeightdogs 24, bitches 22. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
55–77LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 66 to 77 lb; breed bitches 55 to 66 lb.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

dogs 24 in (22 to 26) · bitches 22 in (20 to 24)

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2019

Low and high span FCI, UKC and Wikipedia. FCI and UKC print the same ideal (56 cm = 22 in).

Weight

dogs 66 to 77 lb · bitches 55 to 66 lb

EditorialWikipedia

Single editorial source; no registry weight.

Coat

FCI: top coat rather close lying but not flat, short soft light undercoat preferably cream; smooth on head and front of legs, longer on neck, chest, tail and back of legs and thighs; colour lighter and darker grey with light grey or cream markings on the sides of the muzzle, cheeks, throat, chest, belly, legs and under the tail. UKC: same description; absence of the characteristic cream markings disqualifies. Wikipedia: long, hard, close-lying double coat, grey with light grey or cream muzzle, underside and legs.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2019

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Double coat: rather close-lying top coat over a short soft undercoat, longer on neck, chest, tail and back of legs (FCI, UKC)

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2019

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.

Energy

Svenska Jämthundklubben (translated): hunt-mature from about a year; a well-trained dog can hunt well many days in a row, its paws must hold up to all normal ground, and a lot of conditioning is needed; with good condition it can be hunted until about 10 years of age. RAS: owners are warned against too hard hunt training before the dogs are fully grown. FCI: courageous and energetic but also stoically calm; strength and endurance for baying game for considerable time.

Breed clubSvenska Jämthundklubben

Translated from Swedish by the research pass.

The work

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

Role

FCI 42 utilization: hunting dog, mainly used for hunting elk (moose), but also for bear and boar; FCI history adds lynx and says the breed is expected to bay the game intensely for considerable time, which demands great strength and endurance. FCI temperament: courageous and energetic but also stoically calm. UKC: mainly used for hunting elk, sometimes bear and lynx. Svenska Jämthundklubben (translated): a ståndhund (baying dog) that gives stand-bark on game that stops and defends itself, working calmly so the game stays and the handler can shoot on the stand-bark; bred first to hunt elk. RAS 2023-2027 (translated): a standing elk dog, whose job is to stop the elk and keep up stand-bark until the hunter can sneak in and shoot; stand-bark hunting is one of Sweden's oldest cultural heritages. Wikipedia: historically used on bear, elk, wolf and lynx.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2019

Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Primary game

FCI: elk (moose). UKC: elk. Svenska Jämthundklubben (translated): the clearly dominating use is elk hunting. RAS: elk first.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2019

All sources agree on elk. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Also used on

FCI: bear, boar and lynx. UKC: bear and lynx. Svenska Jämthundklubben (translated): wild boar, bear, badger, red deer and lynx; historically also woodland birds; a trained, worked dog over 4 years should not hunt other game. RAS (translated): the club's 2022 owner survey found 33 percent of respondents hunt bear with their Jämthunds and 61 percent wanted a bear trial; hunters in southern Sweden have taken up the breed as a boar dog and Swedish Elk Hound Club boar trials began in 2008 (champion on boar possible from 2011); bear trials are run under the Swedish Plott Hound Club, judged by dog camera, GPS and witness accounts. Wikipedia: bear, elk, wolf, lynx.

Breed clubSvenska Jämthundklubben

Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Range

Big, by the club's own description (translated): the search should be large, about 10 to 25 minutes at a trot of 7 to 12 km/h; the dog works independently far from the handler and must find its way back (orienting ability) and keep contact; a dog that loses contact in the search is not breed-typical.

Breed clubSvenska Jämthundklubben

The club prints a large search in words, not as close/medium/big.

Search pattern

Svenska Jämthundklubben hunting standard (translated, adopted 2014): the search should be large, about 10 to 25 minutes, mostly at a trot of 7 to 12 km/h, with good contact with the handler and searching the stand the hunter wants hunted; searches by air scent and ground scent, and a trained dog should wind game at 1 km in good scenting conditions and follow a night track for several km; pursuit is silent to stop the game and set a firm stand-bark: barking on air scent or track alone is not breed-typical; stand-bark at 5 to 15 m from the game, moving round it to give the handler a shot, calm and self-assured, without attempting to attack the game; stopping fleeing game repeatedly is among its most important qualities; a trained dog should work at least 5 hours with the game and preferably breaks off the stand-bark by itself after nightfall; at least 60 barks a minute without long pauses; bark should be clear and loud, not hoarse or high-pitched; tracking on the line is calm and silent. FCI: expected to bay the game intensely under considerable time.

Breed clubSvenska Jämthundklubben

Translated from Swedish by the research pass. Single dog hunting loose and baying (the club's loose-dog trials). Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Field trial standard

RAS (translated): loose-dog trials on elk under the Swedish Elk Hound Club are the breed's working test; male breeding dogs must be trial-merited and so must bitches; about 70 to 71 percent of registered dogs fall out of the breeding base on trial merit, and the club's target is 35 percent prize winners among registered dogs; a male used for more than 5 litters must show a prize-winner rate of 29 percent among offspring. Boar trials began in 2008, with a champion-on-boar title from 2011; the club found few boar trials and about half of owners did not want them used in breeding evaluation. FCI: working trial only for Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Breed clubSvenska Jämthundklubben and Svenska Älghundklubben

Translated from Swedish by the research pass.

Cold water

4 of 5 · Double coat built for elk, bear and boar work in the northern Swedish forest (FCI, club)

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2019

Derived from coat plus the breed's northern forest work. No measured data; no water-work source read.

How common the problems are

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

Most common disorders

RAS 2023-2027 (translated): the club and Agria's breed profile count the Jämthund among Sweden's healthiest breeds. In the club's 2022 owner survey (859 owners; 832 answered the illness question) 34 percent had owned no sick Jämthund, and throat infection was the most common illness. Low-frequency conditions listed: kneecap luxation, progressive nephropathy (PNP), hypothyroidism, osteochondrosis, glaucoma, cataract, pulmonary oedema, umbilical hernia and cryptorchidism. Hips: about 40 percent of registered dogs are X-rayed; for dogs born 2016 to 2020 (2,321 examined) grades were A 73.8, B 19.3, C 5.7, D 1.1, E 0.1 percent (Swedish Kennel Club data).

Breed clubSvenska Jämthundklubben and Svenska Älghundklubben

Translated from Swedish by the research pass. Swedish A-E grading is not the OFA scale, so it is not entered as hip_dysplasia_pct.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

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. 4 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Jämthund, Jamthund, Jämtlandsspets

Every breed, read the same way.

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