- Disqualifying: Any colour - solid or parti-coloured –, except albinos and dogs with merle-markings which should be disqualified
About the Greenland Dog
Origin: Greenland
- Typical life span
- 10-14 years
- Size
- Large — from its typical weight
- Weight
- 30-32 kg
- Height
- Male
- 58-70 cm
- Female
- 50-61 cm
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Spitz and primitive types
- Origin
- Greenland
- Also called
- Perro de Groenlandia
- Known hereditary risks
- Not researched yet
About
What is a Greenland Dog?
A powerful, heavy-built spitz-type dog of ancient origin with thick double coat, bred for endurance as a sled dog in harsh Arctic conditions. One of the world's oldest dog breeds with erect ears and a tail that curls over the back.
Greenland Dog history and origins
One of the world's oldest dog breeds, descended from dogs brought to Greenland by the Thule people over 1,000 years ago. Kept in purest form by the Inuit as essential partner for sled pulling and hunting in harsh Arctic environment.
Greenland Dog appearance and size
Males typically stand 58-70 cm at the shoulder and females 50-61 cm.
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Sledge dog
- Behaviour and temperament
“The predominant temperamental qualities of the Greenland Dog are energy, mental strength and boldness. He is a passionate and tireless sledge dog. To people - also strangers - he is friendly, and while acting as sledge dog not closely attached to any particular person and therefore not suitable as a guard dog. On hunting seal and polar bear he will show a strong hunting instinct”
Quoted from FCI standard n°274. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Large
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Sledge dog” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 4 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 4 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 2 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- Not researched yet
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Greenland Dog
What you get with the Greenland Dog
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Sledge dog”
- The standard describes the breed as: “The predominant temperamental qualities of the Greenland Dog are energy, mental strength and boldness”
- Low grooming needs, fitting for a busy owner — the coat is “On the head and the legs the hair is rather short, on the body it is longer and more…”
What you are taking on
Nobody has written this side yet. It is a judgement rather than data, so it waits for a person — not for a missing source.
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Greenland Dog
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged disqualifying.
Coat
Double coat, i.e. a soft, dense undercoat and an outer coat of dense, straight and coarse hair, without curl or wave.
On the head and the legs the hair is rather short, on the body it is longer and more pronounced.
The coat is longer on the underside of the tail, giving it a bushy appearance
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°274 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What the breed standard says
- Size
- “Height at the withers: Males Females 60 cm and upwards, 55 cm and upwards”
- FCI gives a bound on one side only, so there is no range to state.
Quoted from FCI standard n°274. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the Greenland Dog down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Severe faults
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
- Condition which affects the dog’s soundness in a negative way.
- Coat long and soft.
- Ears not carried firmly erect
Disqualifying faults
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
- Albinism.
- Merle markings
- Eyes of different colour.
- Blue eyes
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Greenland Dog in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
What to ask for in a Greenland Dog
No breed-specific health panel has been written up for the Greenland Dog on this platform yet. That is a gap in our records, not a clean bill of health — ask the breeder which hereditary conditions their lines are tested for, and ask to see the results for both parents, dated and from a named laboratory.
Gallery
No photographs yet
This is where Greenland Dog owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
Puppies
No puppies listed right now
No Greenland Dog breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.