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Extremely rare, and their history explains why. Numbers crashed at one point, leaving the breed with a very narrow genetic base, and today it continues only in small numbers watched over carefully by its clubs. Finding a puppy means joining a preservation effort as much as buying a pet, for a lively dog found almost nowhere else.
Lundehunds are clever, agile and affectionate, with a primitive independence and a comedian's physicality. Puppies are bright, foxy charmers; adults are keen, devoted companions that climb everything climbable and supervise the household from height.
The individual dog still matters more than any general answer: lines, socialisation and the home it lands in bend every breed average, which is why breeder choice carries so much weight.
The temperament record reads: Confident, lively, devoted and strong willed. The energy rating of 4 out of 5 explains most Norwegian Lundehund behaviour questions: a dog built for work, given 45 to 90 minutes to spend it in.
By the numbers: a small dog standing 12 to 15 inches, weighing 12 to 18 lb, living 12 to 15 years, with insurance typically $29 to $54 a month. The detail on this page hangs off those figures.
The growth record behind the breed: a Norwegian Lundehund puppy weighs 8 weeks at about 2 to 3 lb, 6 months at about 7 to 10 lb, 9 months at about 9 to 14 lb, on the way to 12 to 18 lb fully grown at 12 to 15 inches. Standard colors: red-brown to yellow-brown with white areas. The breed belongs to the Non-Sporting group and its home ground is Norway.
Senior age arrives at about 10 years in a small breed, and the whole arc deserves planning. Owners who accept the terms upfront call the Norwegian Lundehund easy; owners who discover them call the same numbers a burden. The full Norwegian Lundehund profile carries the complete record: health screening, life stages, growth and the questions owners ask next.
Every answer on this page traces back to the breed's record: the same size, temperament, exercise and health facts set out in full on the Norwegian Lundehund profile, linked below.
The record's verdict is With enough exercise. Suitability turns on the daily routine more than the floor plan: an exercised Norwegian Lundehund, given its 45 to 90 minutes, settles in small spaces, while the same dog left idle in a large house becomes the problem. Meeting adult dogs of the breed remains the best final check on any written answer, this one included.
Food alone runs about $13 a month for a typical adult of 15 lb, with insurance at $29 to $54 on top before routine vet care and grooming. The Norwegian Lundehund has its own full cost question page, linked from the profile, with year one worked out separately. The breed quiz on this site runs the same record against your household answers, which is a useful second opinion.
Run the honest checklist: 45 to 90 minutes of exercise daily, grooming effort 3/5, keeping costs led by food at about $13 a month, and a 12 to 15 year commitment. The breed quiz compares your answers against every breed on the site, the Norwegian Lundehund included.
What a Norwegian Lundehund costs to keep, line by line, from the first puppy year to the lifetime figure.
How much exercise a Norwegian Lundehund needs, what fills the minutes best and how training doubles as exercise.
That is where it started: Yorkshire Terriers carrying a piebald gene, selected by the Biewers from the 1980s.
Last updated: November 4, 2026