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FinnishSpitzUpClose A special site where we can share our knowledge and pictures of Finnish Spitz. |
The History of the Finnish Spitz- by Bethene Occhiuto |
The Finnish Spitz is a very old breed tracing back thousands of years ago when the Finno-Ugrian people were still living in Russia. It is possible, still today, to find art work with a red spitz type dog usually running next to a horse drawn sleigh called a Troika. The Troika is a sleigh pulled by three horses and driven by a elegantly dressed coachman, it was once considered a symbol of one's wealth and status.The red dog ran along side the sleigh barking making the horses look firey and spirited. The horse in the middle would run at a trot, while the horses on the side would gallop and prance. It was a very spectactular sight, staged by the proud owner. As Finno-Ugrian people travled deeper into Finland, they brought with them their dogs, along the way their dogs mixed with the Old European Spitz-type dogs. At the begining of the Christian era a part of the Proto-Finnic tribe moved across the Baltic sea and along the coast of the Gulf of Bothina they moved deeper and deeper into Finland, these dogs stayed fairly pure. To look at Finland today, it's beautiful landscape, the people who seem so easy going it is hard to imagine the hardships they have gone through. The Finnish People have fought for hundreds of years for what they have. They were brought into battle for the Swedish, in 1617. Russia invaded in 1710 and took over Finland finally ending up with part of Finland, Karelia. Many times throughout history Finland has had to struggle to keep it's land, people and government. Finland even has a word for it "Sisu" meaning a special strength and stubborn determination not to give up in the face of adversity. What this meant to the red spitz dog of the early Finnish Spitz people was that it became a tough little dog, able to survive on very little. He was also a very capable hunter, who helped his owner to survive by being able to sell the furs and animals they hunted so well togther. |
The early Finnish people used the little red spitz as a point-barking hunter of small fur game and birds. Around 1880 two hunters rom Helsinki, discovered the little red dog and brought several good examples of the breed home with them. Their names were Hugo Roos and Hugo Sandberg. By 1891 they had enough dogs and interest to enter a dog show where Mr.Sandberg who had also helped to write the standard for the breed was asked to judge, five Finnish Spitz were awarded ribbons. Hugo Roos went on to become a very important breeder of early Finnish Spitz and helped to set the type of the breed we see today. In 1892 the standard was written for the Finnish Barking Bird Dog, at this time the dog had quite large ears, a longer body with considerably more white hair. In 1897 the standard was amended and the name became The Finnish Spitz. This is where the breed became shorter rather than longer. In 1979 it became offically recognized as the National Dog of Finland. |
The Geography of Finland Finland sits between Sweden and Norway with a main portion of it running along the boarder of Russia. It is easy to see how the early peoples would have traved with their dogs finely ending their journey in beautiful Finland. Finland is known as the Land of Lakes, it has over 188,000 lakes. Two thirds of Finalnd is covered with froest, the only mountainous area in the country is the northwest, near Norway, where the peak rise to just over 3,300 feet. Wtih so many trees you can see how the Finnish Spitz developed into a point-barker, it would be easy to loose a normal pointing dog in such a forest. There are many species of animals available for hunting, including elk, fox, squirrel, whitetail deer, wolf and bear. And of course reindeer from the upper part of Finland called Lapland. When we think of Finalnd we seem to picture snow, ice and very cold temperatures, which is true but, it is also one of the warmest country's in that area too. The summers average about 68f, and can go up to 86f degrees during the day. |
