Norrbottenspets

The Norrbottenspets can be traced back to the 17^th century and is thought to have originated in Norrbotten, Sweden or maybe in Lappland/Kainuuland, Finland. Finland and Sweden have argued for centuries about the origins of the Norrbottenspets. It is safe to say that he became a popular hunting companion for hunters in both countries. He was on the verge of extinction by the end of World War I and in 1948 the Swedish Kennel Club closed its studbook since there were such a small number of Norrbottenspets left. There were some Norrbottenspets preserved, however, those were located in the far north in non-Swedish speaking areas and he adapted to being an all-around farm dog and companion. Successful breeding of the Norrbottenspets began taking place in the late 1950s and early 1960s with a new official breed standard being put in place in 1966. Their name was also made official in 1966 by the Federation Cynologique Internationale. The Swedish Kennel Club opened the studbook for the Norrbottenspets again in 1967 under the new breed standard. Immigrant farmers in Sweden began calling him Norbottens-skollandehund. Finland accepted a new breed standard for the Norrbottenspets in 1973 and began registering dogs under the name Pohjanpystykorva. Finland closely monitors the breeding of these dogs in an effort to keep them a relatively healthy breed. Sweden has followed suit and is also beginning to regulate the breeding of the Norrbottenspets in an effort to preserve the breed. The Norrbottenspets is still a rare breed, especially outside of Sweden and Finland. Enthusiasts of the breed have imported a small number of these dogs into the United States. In 2007, the American Kennel Club began registering Norrbottenspets in its Foundation Stock Service.