World Small Animal Veterinary Association praises the work done for the health of Finland’s national dog

Finland’s national dog – the Finnish Spitz – has been presented as breed of the month in DogWellNet this month. An extensive article focusing on the breed’s health status and work done for its health has been published on the website.

WSAVA, World Small Animal Veterinary Association, always writes a report of its own of breeds of the month presented in DogWellNet, highlighting breed-specific diseases in the article.  In its report focusing on the Finnish Spitz, WSAVA compliments the extensive, long-term cooperation which has led to good control of health issues in this breed with a small population: 

"A beautiful, national breed. An admirable regional effort to support breed health strategies. A commitment to openness and sharing of statistics on individual dogs and the breed. A collaborative approach involving breeders, breed clubs, kennel clubs, veterinarians, and researchers. This month we present the Finnish Spitz, which stands as a model of how to manage sustainable development of a breed, especially one of limited numbers. And - did we mention how beautiful they are? 

We often get bogged down in the challenged breeds and big problems. This month we celebrate a healthy breed of dog. Granted, the kennel clubs in Scandinavia are well-prepared to support breed health strategies – with open, public registries of dogs, sires and dams, including their status on health tests, and provision of breeding statistics. But this shows – it can be done!

The Finnish Spitz is the national dog of Finland, and the country’s pride comes to bear on efforts to protect this breed for the future. The Finns work to ensure temperament as well as health and structure. We challenge other countries to share information with IPFD on similar work you are doing for your national breeds – we will be happy to profile your efforts!”

More information about the cooperation between the Finnish Kennel Club and DogWellNet can be found here.

The report on DogWellNet can be found here.

The article by WSAVA can be found here.