Norwegian Lundehund Did You Know?

• The Norwegian Lundehund has been assigned the Non-Sporting Group designation.
• The Norwegian Lundehund has been recorded in the Foundation Stock Service since 1996.
• The Norwegian Lundehund is also known as the Norwegian Puffin Dog.
• The Norwegian Lundehund always has six toes on each foot, not dew claws, but toes.
• The Norwegian Lundehund can fold "prick" ears closed, forward or backward, at will.
• The Norwegian Lundehund was almost extinct after World War II and the modern breed is based on five dogs from a remote island in the Arctic Ocean (no other breed was ever on the island).
• The Norwegian Lundehund's unique structure allows "tipping" of head backwards so top of head touches back bone.
• The Norwegian Lundehund has an odd "rotating" front leg movement when coming back (American judges somewhat startled at this oddity).
• The breed is considered a national treasurer in Norway.
• The breed has appeared on Norwegian postage stamps.
• Originally kept by Norwegian farmers to retriever Puffin birds, which nest on the cliffs of the Artic Ocean islands and mainland coast.
• The Puffin birds were a meat and feather crop. The meat was pickled and was important food for poor farmers during long Norwegian winters, especially if crops failed in the short summer. Feathers were prized for stuffing pillows and comforters. The Puffin bird is considered the Arctic parrot (colorful beak), no longer hunted, and has been protected since the turn of the 20th century.
• The breed is identified (by description, not name) in Norse and Danish writings as far back as the 1500's