We have decided to expand our family with the addition of a puppy, Miska. Specifically, we got a suomenlapinkoira, or a Finnish Lapphund. How did we come to this decision?
Let’s go back in time a bit to April. In April, there was an event at an animal shelter, and Bochuan wanted to go see the animals available for adoption. After taking care of a dog for a few months in 2016, I have been waiting for the opportunity to have a dog again. I was waiting for a time in my life when I felt more confident I wasn’t going to move countries any time soon and everything felt sufficiently stable that I could invite a four-legged creature into our family.
April of 2022 felt like it could be that time. After all, we plan to raise Alaya in Finland, and she’s not going to be an adult for another 15 years. That is—on the longer side—about the lifespan of a dog. However, when we went to the shelter, they had about seven cats and two rabbits available for adoption. That was it.
We’d come to realize that dogs in Finland didn’t find themselves in shelters very often, and if one did, they were adopted pretty quickly. The few dogs available for adoption in Helsinki, by far Finland’s largest city, were only there because of the strict requirements for what type of home the dog could be adopted into. They were the types of dogs that needed owners who had experience working with sensitive dogs, and we did not meet those requirements. Even if we did, we had a young child, and most of the time, that alone disqualified us for adoption.
Unlike the United States, where the motto “Don’t shop, adopt” is appropriate; in Finland, the situation is quite different. It became clear that if we wanted a dog from inside the country, we would have to get one from a breeder. This was how most Finns got their dogs, and then they kept those dogs. The system seems to work remarkably well here in that regard. This isn’t the case in surrounding countries, such as Estonia or Russia, so some organizations work to rehome stray dogs in Finland. But again, in many cases, these organizations would not rehome a dog to a family with children under the age of eight. So, if we wanted to get a dog with a young child, we came to realize that getting a puppy that we could train and appropriately socialize was our best, perhaps only, option.
With this in mind, we began researching an appropriate dog breed. It was important to us that the dog be good with children. This was our number one priority. A secondary consideration was the dog’s energy level. We didn’t want a couch potato, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to keep up with the exercise and mental stimulation demands of a border collie, for example. Some breeds are just too smart or active for us. A third consideration was the size of the dog. Bochuan did not want a toy dog, and I didn’t think I could handle (or afford to feed) a large dog. That left us looking at breeds of a medium size.
Beyond these three main factors, we also considered shedding, grooming needs, adaptability, tendency towards separation anxiety, and openness to strangers and other animals. After creating an Excel sheet where we recorded the different traits of breeds we were considering, we ended up deciding on getting the Finnish Lapphund.
We like this breed because they are good with children (4 out of 5), have moderate exercise requirements (3 out of 5), have simple grooming needs (2 out of 5), were open to strangers (4 out of 5) and moderately so to other dogs (3 out of 5). They were also quite adaptable (4 out of 5). As an added bonus, they weren’t heavy droolers (2 out of 5). In comparison to other dog breeds we were considering, like the Labrador Retriever, they also didn’t suffer a great deal from separation anxiety (3 out of 5). This dog would need to be separated from us for several hours during the day. While we would get a dog walker if we needed to be away from home for more than 3-4 hours at a time, we were hoping to avoid doggy daycare, not least, because we couldn’t afford it.
We also liked that this was a local breed. We wanted a breed that would be able to manage the cold Finnish winters. The Finnish Lapphund has two main breeding lines. One line is bred for herding reindeer. Yes, you read that right. Not sheep, but reindeer. So, these dogs are accustomed to the cold and snow. In fact, they love it. When investigating what items to get for our puppy, one Finnish Lapphund owner recommended not buying a dog bed. They said this breed prefers to sleep on the floor. My guess is that a dog bed is simply too warm, and they prefer the coolness of the floor. In fact, some people collect this breed’s fur when they shed their coats once or twice a year and have it made into hats and scarves because this fur is so warm. We are considering doing that as well. The other line is bred to be companion dogs, which is what we were looking for.
This breed isn’t perfect, though, of course. They shed a good bit (4 out of 5) because of the double coat that keeps them warm in the Finnish winter. However, this is normally just a few weeks once a year for males, and twice a year for females. Our pup is a male. They are also considered a very vocal breed in terms of barking (5 out of 5). Unlike other dogs who might use their stare or nipping to herd sheep, Finnish Lapphunds herd reindeer using their bark. While we weren’t planning to get a Finnish Lapphund of the reindeer herding line, the ancestors of the companion line were also reindeer herders. So, the breed as a whole is considered pretty vocal. Of course, we have to account for individual differences, and we were encouraged to ask the breeders if the parents were very vocal. I initially was not interested in this breed because we live in an apartment, but additional research suggested that their barking could be mitigated. It's only been a week since we've had Miska, but he rarely ever barks.
After deciding on a breed, we needed to find a breeder. There is a central website hankikoira.fi where one can find the puppies available by breed, with a wealth of other information about the litters lineage and breeders. However, unlike the golden retriever, which seemed to consistently have several puppies available throughout the year, Finnish Lapphund puppies were scarce. I began by going to the Lappalaiskoirat Breed Association website. Here I found a list of registered breeders and went one at a time to their individual websites, when one was available to see if or when they planned to have a litter. About 20% of the way through a long list, I was quite discouraged. Some websites specifically stated that there was already a list of people interested in puppies and to not contact them. I realized that if we wanted to get a puppy of this breed, it could take us a year or more.
Bochuan’s method for looking for a puppy was more straightforward than my Excel sheet, with notes on each breeder. He simply checked the hankikoira website every single day. Then one day near the end of August, he inhaled deeply in a way I know to mean that something surprising and wonderful has happened. He said, “There are puppies available!” I almost couldn’t believe it. Still, I tried not to get my hopes up. Afterall, besides breeders either saying, “Don’t contact me. The waiting list is already too long,” there were also breeders that were only interested in giving you a puppy if you planned to take that puppy to shows or do agility training and so on. With the demand for these puppies far exceeding the number of puppies available, the breeders could be quite picky about which families they would give a puppy to.
So, when Bochuan sent the breeder an email (in Finnish I might add, because he can do that now), I wasn’t super hopeful. However, we got a response in just two hours. They had a lot of questions. What kind of home did we live in? What experience do we have with dogs? Do we know what it’s like to raise a puppy? Bochuan answered their questions, and in the meantime, we also did our homework on them. Afterall, puppy mills do also exist in Finland, and the popularity of this breed creates the incentive. We didn’t get a response for almost two days, and I initially thought they weren’t happy with our answers.
However, when they responded, they invited us to go there and meet the puppies the following Saturday. At that point, the puppies would be four weeks old. We wouldn’t be able to take the puppy home until seven weeks, and it was a good sign that they were inviting us to meet the puppy well in advance. Most honest breeders will not agree to giving you a puppy until they have met you, and you have had a chance also to meet the puppies and mom and see where the puppies are kept. When we arrived, one of puppies came right up to me and laid down at my feet as if to say, “It’s me. I’m the new member of your family.” And he was right. That puppy is Miska.
The breeder’s family was lovely as were all their dogs. I took it as a good sign that all the dogs I saw were friendly, happy, and eager to be pet. Maisa, the mom dog, was absolutely lovely. When she came in the room, it was like “Hey guys, so glad you’re here! Has anyone offered you a cup of water? By the way, could you scratch behind my ear? Yeah, that’s amazing. Welcome!” Here I was, a complete stranger, petting her son, and she was not the least bit aggressive. She came right up to me and sniffed me, Bochuan, and our friend in turn. You could also see that she had a loving relationship with the breeder’s family, and she looked healthy and happy. We were also excited to hear that she wasn’t much a barker.
We left that day with a reservation for a puppy barring that the registration and health checkups all went well, which they did. So, on September 24th, we got a puppy! When considering a name for the puppy, we looked up “common Finnish dog names.” While Bochuan was reading through a list of names, he came upon Miska, and we both inhaled. You see, Alaya loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse series, and the intro song starts, “Miska, Muska, Mickey Mouse!” So, Alaya is always going around the house repeating this phrase. She also asks me to play or sing the song all the time.
It felt fitting. We would call the dog Miska. When I aksed Google what the name Miska meant, I was touched to learn that Miska is a name of Hebrew origin meaning, “gift from God.” That felt fitting too.
Other updates since my last post? Alaya turned three years old! Finland has moved rapidly from summer to fall and now progresses steadily towards winter. The days are getting shorter, and I am curious to know what our second winter in Finland will be like. The first was a magical winter wonderland as we were in the honeymoon period of our lives in Finland. Now, that the honeymoon is over, will my second winter in Finland be dreary? I hope not. But I’ll keep you updated on how the BAM—now BAMM—family gets on.
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