The Finnish Spitz has the personality, character and temperament of a large dog while considered to be a medium size dog. The males average seventeen and one half to twenty inches in height while the females may be considerably smaller with a height of fifteen and one half to eighteen inches. They are both excellent house dogs and wonderful sporting companions.

As demonstrated by their name, they were first bred selectively in Finland where they were called Suomenpystyykorva" which means Finnish prick-eared dog. They have been used for centuries in Scandanavia as a hunting dog and in those countries they cannot earn their championship title without a trials or working certificate. They are used primarily to hunt game birds but have also been known to hunt elk or bears.

The original Finnish Spitz breed was allowed to cross breed with other breeds until 1880 at which point it was nearly extinct. Two Finns, Hugo Sandberg and Hugo Roos, took steps to save the breed in its original form. The Finnish Kennel Club accepted the Suomenpystykorva for registration in 1892 based on the efforts of Mr. Roos and Mr. Sandberg. Their written description was in large part the basis for the Finnish Kennel Club standard and Mr. Roos was primarily responsible for registering the foundation dogs. The standard was revised in 1897 and the breed’s name changed to Finnish Spitz. The standard was again revised in 1925 and the latest revision was in 1996. Approximately 2,000 Finnish Spitz are registered annually in Finland today, and it is the national dog of Finland.

Finkies were first imported to England in approximately 1920 and the Finnish Spitz Club in Britain was formed in 1934. Their popularity and the quality of dogs in England increased after World War II, and the first Finnish Spitz was imported into the United States from England in 1959. The first breeding in the U.S. was in the 1960’s and the Finnish Spitz Club of America was formed in 1975. The first U.S. standard, written in 1976, was based on the Finnish standard. In 1983, the American Kennel Club accepted the Finnish Spitz into the Miscellaneous class and the breed was approved for showing in 1984. On January 1, 1988 the Finnish Spitz first became eligible for AKC licensed shows in the non-sporting group where it remains today.