Norwegian Puffin Dog

The Norwegian Puffin Dog is an ancient breed. The first written records date back to the 16th century, from the pen of provost Erik Hansen Schonnebol. In the 18th century there were some writings about the Norwegian Puffin Dog, from Helgeland to Finnemark. The most famous is found in the book Trumpet of Nordland by poet-pastor Petter Dass, where he recounts the hunting of puffins on the island of Lovund in 1700. He describes it, in verse, as follows: "But the peasants who have a tactic, know how to hunt these birds. To do this, they use specially trained dogs, flexible by nature and of small size, which introduce themselves into deep lairs and extract live puffins."[citation needed] In the islands of northern Norway (Lofoten), the population lived from fishing and small farming and used the Norwegian Puffin Dog to hunt puffins, from May to mid-June and then in August for two to three weeks. The bird provided them with meat to supplement their diet and down to make pillows and quilts. The description made of it is that of a small, highly agile dog. During the hunting season, each dog could bring back about a hundred birds per day. With the use of nets and increasingly high taxes, the Norwegian Puffin Dog lost interest in the mid-19th century[citation needed]. In 1939, Eleanor Christie began rescuing the breed, gathering a small population from Måstad, island of Værøy. During World War II and into the 1950s, most of the dogs were decimated by distemper. Interest in the breed was nevertheless revived and the Norsk Lundehund Klubb was founded in 1962.

The Norwegian Puffin Dog is described in the FCI standard as alert, energetic and lively. It is a small, very peaceful dog, very cheerful that loves company. A bit stubborn, it educates itself with patience and gentleness.

The Norwegian Puffin Dog is a spitz-type breed of rectangular format, small size and relatively lightweight. This breed is very flexible: its elasticity allows it to contort at the neck level, allowing the head to touch almost the back. The back is strong and straight with a slightly inclined croup. The chest of medium width is long, quite deep and spacious; it should not be barrel-shaped. The neck is medium length, fairly strong with a rather developed ruff. The tail is set high, rather short, with full hair but without fringe. It is carried in a ring or slightly rolled over the back, or even pendulous. The front limbs are slightly angulated with strong forearms. They are extremely flexible, allowing the dog to do the splits. The hind limbs are moderately angulated, strong with muscled thighs. The feet are oval and slightly turned outward. The Norwegian Puffin Dog possesses six digits with five that must support the ground for the front limbs against four for the hind limbs. The gait is light and elastic. An outward rotational movement of the front limbs and a slightly tight movement of the hind limbs are characteristic of the breed. The head of medium width is equipped with a slightly domed skull with prominent brow ridges. The medium-length muzzle is wedge-shaped, with the muzzle slightly convex. The stop is pronounced but not exaggerated. The eyes are slightly almond-shaped, the iris is amber colored with a dark brown line around the pupil. The ears are triangular in shape, carried erect. They have the peculiarity of having a cartilage that retracts: the ears fold and bend in a specific way, either towards the back or at right angles upward to close the ear canal to make them water-tight and dirt-resistant. The topcoat is dense and harsh, short on the head and front of limbs, but full around the neck and behind the thighs. The undercoat is soft. The color is reddish to fawn always combined with white, more or less interspersed with black-tipped hairs.