Home / Questions / Finnish Spitz
Finnish Spitzs are moderately easy to train, with consistency: trainability is rated 3 out of 5 in our breed record, the middle of the scale, and the middle is an honest place. A Finnish Spitz learns everything a pet dog needs to learn, but it learns at its own pace, checks whether each cue is worth obeying today, and improves in weeks rather than days. The breed is Alert, loyal, foxlike and full of character, high in energy, a Non-Sporting dog from Finland. The same breed that frustrates a sporadic trainer, five minutes when someone remembers, delights a steady one, because the dog's memory is good and its Alert, loyal, foxlike and full of character temperament responds to clear, kind repetition.
Harsh methods damage a sensitive dog's confidence. Finnish Spitz are bright and learn quickly with reward based, varied training, with an independent hunter's streak that engages when lessons bore them. Socialize widely so the reserve stays comfortable. The northern spitz package is fur, voice and brains in equal thirds. The history of the Finnish Spitz is the history of a working dog from Finland, kept to work as an all purpose northern farm, hunting and companion dog in a hard climate.
Scores only make sense as a set. For the Finnish Spitz: trainability 3 out of 5; energy 4 of 5; exercise 45 to 90 minutes daily; bark level 4 of 5. Its social ratings read Good with children for children, With early socialization for other dogs and Reserved with strangers for strangers. Trainability never acts alone: it is filtered through that energy, that size and that temperament every single day, which is why two breeds with the same score can feel so different to teach.
The stall point with a Finnish Spitz is usually adolescence plus distractions. The puppy that knew everything at four months becomes a young dog that audits every cue outdoors, where the breed's Non-Sporting instincts outbid your voice. This is not regression and it is not spite; it is a maturing brain repricing its options. With that, a 3 out of 5 breed becomes quietly reliable; without it, the same dog gets labeled stubborn by the very inconsistency that trained it.
Owners who keep training playful describe a willing, clever companion, and the barking champions of Finland would add that the voice, channeled, is a feature of real beauty. Owners who keep training playful describe a willing, clever companion, and the barking champions of Finland would add that the voice, channeled, is a feature of real beauty. Puppies need socialization, coat handling, protected joints while growing and training foundations laid early, including the quiet cue while the voice is still negotiable.
Owners describe sunshine with a soundtrack. Finkies are cheerful, intelligent and deeply devoted, with a hunter's independence and a companion's heart.
Look sideways for a moment at the breeds this record finds most similar: the Black Norwegian Elkhound, the West Siberian Laika and the Danish Spitz. Their training scores are not identical to the Finnish Spitz's 3 out of 5, which is worth remembering in both directions: do not borrow a similar breed's training reputation, good or bad, and do not lend this one out. Each score on the record was assigned breed by breed, and the shortlist exists for comparison, not for averaging. The Finnish Spitz's 3 out of 5 is its own: plan lessons from it, not from a lookalike's reputation, because two similar breeds can be very different students.
Use the breed's own instincts as the syllabus. A Non-Sporting dog learns fastest when the lesson rhymes with its heritage, so channel the Finnish Spitz's drives into the training itself rather than competing with them: retrieve games for retrievers of every kind, scent games for the nose led, controlled chase for the swift. Pair that with management for the known health watch list, which for the Finnish Spitz includes Epilepsy, Hip dysplasia and A sound hunting dog overall: training positions and exercises should be adapted with your vet once any of those are in play, especially in seniors past age 8 years. Keep rest days genuinely restful: consolidation happens off duty, and a 3 out of 5 breed returns from them sharper, not rustier.
The rest of the record rounds the picture out. The record's color line for the Finnish Spitz reads: Standard colors: red, red gold or gold. The coat is described as A thick double coat with a dense undercoat and a weather resistant outer layer, and apartment suitability is rated With enough exercise. The record's color line reads: Standard colors: red, red gold or gold. Owners teach the dog in front of them; the record just makes sure it is the whole dog.
Read the record as a trainer does. Trainability 3 out of 5; energy 4 of 5; barking 4 of 5; grooming 3 of 5; shedding 4 of 5. Height 15 to 20 inches and weight 23 to 36 lb decide the physical side of the work, from jump heights to how much dog is pulling on the other end of a loose lead lesson. Senior age arrives around 8 years years, and training does not retire when it does: older Finnish Spitzs keep learning, more slowly and with joints in mind, for the whole of their 12 to 15 year span. Budget the treats, schedule the 45 to 90 minutes, and the record's other numbers take care of themselves.
For this breed, owners consistently name the same theme: keeping the dog's agreement. The Finnish Spitz's own numbers frame it: trainability 3 out of 5 alongside energy 4 out of 5 is a specific combination, and it produces a specific kind of student rather than a generic one. At 3 out of 5 for trainability, the Finnish Spitz understands quickly and then applies its own judgment, filtered through an Alert, loyal, foxlike and full of character temperament. The work is motivational, not mechanical: high value rewards, short varied sessions and rules the whole household enforces identically. Owners who crack that code stop calling the breed hard and start calling it particular, which is fairer to both parties. The priorities are a quiet cue, the breed's life skill, taught early and kindly; recall, managed honestly outdoors; lead manners; a settle; and cooperative care for the coat.
Classes help this breed twice over: the instruction, and the controlled room full of other dogs and people to practice around, given its record reads Reserved with strangers. For the Finnish Spitz specifically, a Non-Sporting dog with high energy and 45 to 90 minutes of daily exercise, that plays out in short daily lessons rather than in occasional long drills. At 3 out of 5 for trainability, a good force free class gives the owner more than the dog, a system, a sequence and feedback on timing. Private lessons suit owners working on a specific problem. What the breed does not need is a heavy hand: board and train programs built on punishment are a poor match for the Finnish Spitz's temperament and a good way to damage a working relationship.
The day the puppy comes home. In the Finnish Spitz's case the setting matters as much as the method: bark level 4 out of 5, shedding 4 out of 5, and a home routine built around a dog of 23 to 36 pounds shape what practice actually looks like. Young Finnish Spitzs are learning in every waking hour whether anyone is teaching or not, so the only choice is whether the lessons are yours. Start with name recognition, recall to a whistle or cue, toilet routine, crate comfort and gentle handling, all paid in food and play. Formal cue lists can wait a few weeks; the habits cannot. A breed rated 3 out of 5 keeps what it learns early, in both directions, for a 12 to 15 year life.
Last updated: November 10, 2026