Though small, the Norwegian Lungehund is a mighty hunter.
Though it is a small country, Norway casts a large shadow in the field of dog breeding and dog sports. From the familiar Norwegian Elkhound to the relatively unknown Dunker, this nation boasts a palette of native breeds guaranteed to draw stares... and stares are precisely what you’ll get should you be seen with a Norwegian Lundehund. From the rotary-beater front movement to the ears that fold and close tight, from the multi-toed feet to the often-missing teeth, this is one breed you can’t knock off a pedestal, as it would in all certainty crawl right back up.
Writings on the Norwegian Lundehund date back to the 1500s, with some references suggesting the breed existed as a “style” or type of dog several thousand years ago. In The Norwegian Lundehund — A Breed Compendium, the Swedish and Norwegian parent clubs write that the dog we see today “originates from the Lofoten Islands, more exactly from the fishing village Mostad on the Vaeroy Island. It is not possible to say how far back in time the breed first appeared. Scientists theorize that the breed existed as early as before the last Ice Age, and it maintained the glacial period in the ice-free zones where it found fish and seabirds to eat. It’s known this dog as early as several hundred years ago was a very valuable and useful working dog... If Mostad on Vaeroy did not have the location as it had — secluded and almost inaccessible in other ways than by boat — we would not have any pedigree specimens left of the original Lundehund.”
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