The Finnish Spitz is a medium-sized hunting dog bred to find game birds and hold them in a tree by barking until the hunter arrives. That job explains most of what owners notice first: the voice, the independence and the stamina. Males weigh 25 to 33 pounds (about 11 to 15 kg) and females 20 to 28 pounds (9 to 13 kg), with a life expectancy of 13 to 15 years, according to the American Kennel Club breed profile. Of its health problems, idiopathic epilepsy is the best studied.
The bark
The breed's nickname is the Barking Bird Dog. Once a bird is treed, the dog holds it there with slow swings of the tail and rapid-fire barking that can reach 160 barks a minute. In Finland, owners hold contests to crown a "King Barker". Barking is the working trait the breed was selected for, so training will not remove it.
That makes a Finnish Spitz a hard fit for a flat or a house with close neighbors. Training can shape when the dog barks and for how long, but it will not stop it. Teach a cue for quiet and reward it generously. Work out what the dog is alerting to and cut down those triggers, such as a view of the street or birds at a feeder. And give it enough exercise and mental work that boredom barking has less room.
The breed bonds closely with its family and should never be kept apart from its people. Shut away from the household for long hours, a Spitz has more to call about and less to occupy it, so plan for company as well as exercise.
A neutered 11 kg Finnish Spitz starts at roughly 675 kcal a day by the standard formula, and the breed puts on weight easily. A personal plan works out portions for one dog.
Build your dog's personal food plan →Temperament and training
The Finnish Spitz is intelligent and a challenge to train. Keep sessions short and fun, with plenty of praise and reward, because long, repetitive drills lose its attention quickly. Food is a strong motivator. That helps in training and makes weight control harder.
With strangers the breed is wary but not shy, which makes it good at announcing visitors. Calm, early socialization keeps that wariness polite rather than anxious. It is good with other dogs under supervision. Introduce new ones on neutral ground, and watch play between adults of the same sex.
A hunting dog that ranges far on scent needs a solidly fenced yard. Practice recall in enclosed areas, and use a long line in open country until the dog comes back reliably.
Epilepsy
When owners of Finnish Spitz dogs aged one to ten were surveyed across Finland, an estimated 5.4% of the dogs had idiopathic epilepsy. Males were affected more often. Half had their first seizure by age 3, though the first one came anywhere from about 7 months to 10 years. Heritability was estimated at 0.22, which points to many genes rather than one.
Most affected dogs did reasonably well. In about two-thirds the seizures did not get worse over time, and in about four out of five treatment controlled them easily.
Seizures in this breed mostly start as focal ones (85% in the Finnish study), so an episode can look nothing like a dog falling over and paddling. Owners may see:
- staring, confusion or unresponsiveness for seconds to minutes
- twitching of the face, lips or one leg
- sudden fear, hiding or clinging, drooling or lip smacking
- a focal episode that spreads into a full convulsion
In the Finnish study, dogs whose seizures spread into a generalized phase were more likely to get worse over time. Film suspected episodes on a phone and keep a seizure diary, because both help the vet a great deal. A seizure lasting more than five minutes, or several in a row without recovery in between, is an emergency.
Diet and epilepsy
On anti-seizure medication, regular meals and a stable diet help keep drug levels steady, so talk to the vet before any large change. Medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil is one add-on that has been tested in controlled trials. When 28 epileptic dogs already on medication got MCT oil at 9% of daily energy, they had fewer seizures than on a control oil. Responses were very uneven. Two dogs became seizure-free and three had their seizures at least halved, while 12 improved less and 11 showed no change or got worse. The oil adds calories and can upset the stomach, so agree the amount with the vet and cut the dog's food to match.
Diabetes, joints and eyes
Diabetes often appears on lists of Finnish Spitz risks, but direct evidence for this breed is limited. The closest data come from its Nordic relatives. Among more than 180,000 insured dogs in Sweden, the breeds with the highest diabetes incidence included the Swedish Elkhound and Swedish Lapphund, both Nordic spitz types, along with the Australian Terrier and Samoyed. The Finnish Spitz was not among the breeds the study highlighted, but that does not show its risk is low.
Female dogs were at higher risk, and in some Nordic breeds nearly every diabetic dog was female. An intact female that starts drinking and urinating much more, loses weight while eating well, or turns lethargic in the weeks after a season needs prompt testing.
Responsible breeders screen for patellas, elbows, hips and eyes, and the number of affected dogs in North America is very low. Joint problems are not a defining feature of the breed. Still, limit vigorous exercise while a puppy is growing, and have a dog checked if it skips on a hind leg or limps after rest.
The double coat
A harsh outer coat sits over a soft, dense undercoat, and the breed standard allows no trimming except the feet. For most of the year it is close to wash and wear. A light mist of water and a pin brush every two to three days is enough.
The twice-yearly shed takes more. Brush daily with a slicker and a comb, or bathe the dog and dry it on a cool setting before brushing to loosen the undercoat. Intact females shed more heavily, while a spayed female's coat can turn softer, denser and harder to keep tidy. Outside the shed, bathe only when the dog is dirty, since the coat sheds dirt well once dry. Shaving is not needed, and it strips the outer coat that protects the skin from sun and wet.
Exercise
Bred to hunt all day in dense forest, the Finnish Spitz has moderately high exercise needs. Most adults do well on a long daily walk with time to sniff and investigate, plus some running in a secure area. Hikes, scent games and tracking put its nose and hunting style to use. For a breed that barks when bored, mental work counts too, and puzzle feeders and short training sessions supply it.
Cold weather suits the breed and heat does not, so in summer walk early or late and watch for heavy panting.
Portions and body weight
A breed expert quoted by the AKC calls the Finnish Spitz's metabolism "extremely efficient" and warns that overfeeding leads to obesity quickly. The table uses the Merck Veterinary Manual starting formula. Resting energy requirement (RER) is 70 times body weight in kilograms to the power 0.75, then multiplied by 1.8 for an intact adult, 1.6 for a neutered adult or 1.4 for a dog that gains easily. With this breed the two right-hand columns are usually the realistic ones.
| Adult weight | RER | Intact (1.8) | Neutered (1.6) | Gains easily (1.4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 kg (19.8 lb) | 365 kcal | 655 kcal | 580 kcal | 510 kcal |
| 11 kg (24.3 lb) | 425 kcal | 760 kcal | 675 kcal | 590 kcal |
| 13 kg (28.7 lb) | 480 kcal | 865 kcal | 765 kcal | 670 kcal |
| 15 kg (33.1 lb) | 535 kcal | 960 kcal | 855 kcal | 745 kcal |
Feed two measured meals a day, and count every training treat in the total, which adds up fast with a dog this keen on food. The coat hides fat, so check by hand for ribs that are easy to feel with light pressure and a clear waist behind them. If the dog gains on these amounts, feed less rather than switching brands. A healthy Finnish Spitz needs nothing beyond a complete and balanced adult food. High-fiber and prescription diets are for dogs with a diagnosis, chosen with the vet.
Sources
- Finnish Spitz dog breed information. American Kennel Club.
- Phenotype, inheritance characteristics, and risk factors for idiopathic epilepsy in Finnish Spitz dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2013.
- A multicenter randomized controlled trial of medium-chain triglyceride dietary supplementation on epilepsy in dogs. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2020.
- Diabetes mellitus in a population of 180,000 insured dogs: incidence, survival, and breed distribution. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2007.
- Nutritional requirements of small animals. Merck Veterinary Manual.
Get the Fudini app
It's free. Add your dog or cat with one photo, and the app suggests food, activity and care for that animal, with daily tips and a community of owners.
Download free on the App Store