News & updates 2022

Huli has a new profile picture - thank you Niina Nyrhinen!

Rasmus attended the Helsinki Winner/Nordic Winner/Finnish Winner show cluster on 2-4 Dec getting a Very Good grading each day. The judges were Satu Ylä-Mononen, Marjatta Pylvänäinen-Suorsa, and Tiina Taulos. Photo by Tiina Pääkkönen.

Poca's profile picture and gallery updated.

Let me introduce the new kid on the block! This charming Vappu daughter has just moved to her partnership home. For more information, go to Ella's personal page! While on the subject of partnership dogs, I have just signed Tove's ownership over to her co-owner. A well-loved family pet, Tove is perfect in that role, however, she is just too soft for my liking. Of course, I hate to exclude a bitch with excellent x-ray scores, sound conformation and a bit more unusual pedigree from my breeding programme, however, I would never acquire a puppy from a bitch like Tove myself so I just cannot justify breeding from her.

A long overdue photo update - pictures taken by Taru Vallius well over a year ago have been added to Usva's gallery.

Alma's kids have been to their first puppy shows. Arttu was shown in Tampere on 17 Sep and got a nice second place with a prize of honour under Nina Janger, while Kaja went third in baby puppy at the Drammen puppy show 25 Sep under Kjetil Andre Holmen Skalstad.

Litter siblings Tove and Sami have been through some health tests. Tove's hip score is A/A, elbow score 0/0 and spine scores LTV0, VA0 & SP0. Sami's hip score is B/B and elbow score 0/0. What is more, Sami was also eye tested clear.

Tove has a new profile picture and her gallery has been updated.

Forssa International 27 Aug: Nuttu graded VG by Tino Pehar.

Joensuu group show 3 Sep: Jiska VG/4 and Noki VG under Mari Lackman.

Ähtäri group show 3 Sep: Sulo EXC/2 CQ and Salli EXC/1 CQ, junior CC, Best Junior in Breed & fourth in bitch challenge under Jari Fors. This was her crowning junior CC for her junior champion title!

Our aspiring SAR dog-handler team Bella and Hanneliisa recently passed the novice level test of tracking, which means that it is looking more and more likely that they can one day join the emergency team of The Volunteer Rescue Service of Finland. Huge congrats!

Profile pictures of Sami and Jiska updated (the latter courtesy of Sanna Parviainen).

Överkalix all-breed show, Sweden 14 Aug: Sulo won the open class with a CQ and was placed fourth in the dog challenge while Hali was graded Excellent and placed third in the champion class under Arne Foss.

Great health test results from this week: Ruusu was eye tested clear and Rasmus was x-rayed from head to toe with perfect results: hip score A/A, elbow score 0/0, patella score 0/0, spinal x-ray scores VA0, LTV0 & SP0, and shoulder osteochondritis score Unaffected/Unaffected. A big thank you to owners Tuula and Henna!

Jippo had to be given sleep a few weeks ago as his facial nerve paralysis progressed rapidly and gave him severe complications. I still struggle to believe that what at first seemed rather harmless eventually progressed to this stage and our very special boy is now gone. My condolences go out to Jippo's family.

Piteå Nordic show, Sweden 15 July: Salli Excellent/1 under Eva Liljekvist Borg.

Tornio Nordic show 16 July: Salli Very Good and Vuokko Very Good/2 under Pekka Teini.

Posio group show 23 July: Sulo Excellent/3, Salli third place in the bitch challenge, res CC, junior CC & Best Junior in Breed, and Vuokko fourth in the bitch challenge, veteran CC & Best Veteran in Breed under Tuula Savolainen. As this was Vuokko's third veteran CC, she finished her Finnish Veteran Champion title at this show!

Pihtipudas group show 31 July: Sulo (pictured left) Excellent/1 and Salli (pictured right by Hanna Pasanen) runner-up to best bitch with her second junior CC and first adult CC. She was also Best Junior in Breed. This was Salli's last show for a while as she is going through a moult right now.

Rovaniemi group show 13 Aug: This was Rasmus's first open class show and he was graded Very Good by Markku Kipinä.

The P2 puppies have got their personal pages each - go to Litters to view them.

Latest show results below:

Lappeenranta all-breed show 18 June: Vappu Very Good/4 (judge Outi Piisi-Putta).

Kuusamo group show 18 June: Salli Excellent/2, CQ & res CC, Ruusu Very Good/2 and Vuokko Very Good/2 (judge Aila Lehmussaari).

Haapajärvi group show 19 June: Luka Very Good, Sulo Very Good, Salli Excellent/3, Ruusu third in the bitch challenge & res CC, and Vuokko Excellent/1 (judge Maarit Hassinen). As we had four Cantavia dogs entered, we were able to show a team that went Best Team in Breed.

Gällivare Nordic show, Sweden 1 July: Salli Best of Breed with Swedish and Nordic CCs (judge Marianne Holmli). She is pictured below against the show's signature backdrop of midnight sun.

Oulu International 2 July: Salli Very Good (judge Harto Stockmari).

Tuusniemi group show 2 July: Sulo third in the dog challenge & res CC (judge Sakari Poti).

Ruusu and Sulo underwent conformation examinations organised by the Breeding Committee of the Lapphund Club of Finland at Kiiminki on 16 June. The judges were Tapio Kakko and Taru Vallius. Both dogs were deemed "Approved for breeding".

A couple of photos added to Kerttu's gallery.

Kuopio group show 11 June: Rasmus Very Good/3 under Leni Finne.

Uusikaarlepyy group show 11 June: This was Salli's last show as a puppy and she finished her puppy career in style by taking yet another Best Puppy in Breed! I look forward to seeing how she fares as a junior. Ruusu's (pictured) result was Excellent/2 with a CQ and Vuokko's Excellent/2. The Finnish Lapphund judge was Juha Putkonen.

Rasmus attended a sheep herding aptitude test at Vehmersalmi on 9 June. Unfortunately he did not show enough interest in the sheep this time to pass the test. I hope to see him have another go later!

Bella and Hanneliisa took part in a BH trial at Haapavesi on 10 June passing it with flying colours. Congratulations!

Tornio group show 26 May: Another Best Puppy win for Salli (who this time was the only puppy), Ruusu (photo below) Very Good/2, and Vuokko BOS veteran taking her second veteran CC. Lappies were judged by Matti Palojärvi.

Lestijärvi group show 28 May: Salli Best Puppy again out of an entry of four while Vuokko was graded Excellent/2 under Riitta Niemelä.

Photo updates: Nuttu and her gallery (thank you Johanna!), Jiska (thank you Outi!), and Kerttu.

Oulainen group show 21 May: Another great show day for Salli, who went Best Puppy out of an entry of five puppies under Jari Fors. Bella (pictured below) was graded Excellent but not placed this time in a large open class, while the big surprise of the day was Vuokko going BOS veteran and getting her first veteran CC, a novelty in the Finnish show rings.

Oulu Nordic show 7 May: Salli went BP out of three puppies entered while Rasmus got his very first Excellent grading, placing first the intermediate class. Vuokko, who has zero undercoat, was graded Very Good and placed second in veteran bitch. Lappies were judged by Erja Nummi.

Oulu group show 15 May: Salli was placed second in a class of four bitch puppies and got a prize of honour under Mari Lackman. Photos © Taru Vallius.

Vappu was temperament tested in Oulu 14 May under Riikka Maijanen and Leena Berg getting a total score of 95 points/gun-sure. A big thank you to Team Vappu!

Rasmus was tested on a decoy bear to see what his reaction to large wild animals might be, and he turned out to be a smart boy in this respect! Well done Rasmus!

Photo updates: Salli (new profile picture) and Savumerkin Noitatunturi (Nuttu's progeny page).

Rasmus has been to two shows recently. Shown in the intermediate class, his first time out this year was at the Kuopio Spitz Specialty 24 Apr where he was graded Very Good by Kirsi Honkanen, while at his second show (Tampere Nordic show 30 Apr) he was also graded VG and placed first in the class by Paula Heikkinen-Lehkonen. Photos below from the Kuopio show (and the new photo on Rasmus' personal page) © Sanna Parviainen.

Rasmus has also been to the vet for an eye test and heart auscultation with no defects found. Thank you Henna!

Puppy news! Alma gave birth to five puppies (three boys & two girls) last night. The proud sire is Taigahaun Pakkaspeikon Polkka.

The first weekend of April saw us attend the traditional reindeer herding event at Pudasjärvi. We were lucky enough to secure spots for Ruusu and Sulo. Both of them got the evaluation "retesting recommended" in the reindeer herding aptitude test: while Ruusu was slightly too eager, Sulo was actually doing a great job until one of the reindeer turned on him and he was nearly run over. This left him so bewildered that he more or less stopped working the reindeer. Perhaps the two will have another go later once Ruusu has learned to slow down a little bit and Sulo has gained more confidence. Photo of Ruusu in action by Taru Vallius.

Spring Specialty of the Lapphund Club of Finland, Rovaniemi 10 Apr: Salli had a very nice debut as she won the baby puppy class with a prize of honour. Her great-grandmother Vuokko, who was entered in the veteran class just to keep her company, decided to start moulting some time before the show and certainly did not look her best. She was graded Very Good by Tarja Kallio.

Sami has a new profile picture - thank you Riitta!

Sad to report that Ruska had to be given sleep due to old age issues at the end of February. My condolences go out to Ruska's family.

Sulo has been through extensive health testing - a big thank you to his owners! Sulo's eyes and heart are clear, patella score 0/0, hip score C/C, and elbow score 0/0. His spine x-rays came back as Lumbosacral Transitional Vertebra grade 1 (divided median crest (S1-S2)), Spondylosis 0 (clear) and Vertebral Anomaly 0 (clear). Finally, his gene test results are as follows: prcd-PRA clear, Pompe disease clear, DM carrier, and CMR clear.

Photo galleries of Salli and Kerttu updated. Salli also has a new profile picture by Taru Vallius.

Ruusu and Sulo ventured out to Lapland for a two-day crash course on reindeer herding. I am happy to report that both showed some real talent in the discipline! Pictured below is Sulo - for photos of Ruusu in action, go to her gallery. Note that she is coming out of her post-whelping moult and therefore looking rather raggedy! What is more, Sulo's profile picture has been updated. Thank you Merja for the photos!

Introducing our new team member Peppiinan Kuunkerttu aka Kerttu. Go to her personal page for more details!

Ruusu and Noki puppies now have their personal pages under Litters. My young hopefuls out of the two litters are Salli (who stayed at home) and Nuttu (placed out on breeding terms).