Base colour
Tricoloured
- Black mantle, rich tan colour on the head, lower parts of the body, shoulders, upper thighs and also elsewhere on the legs.
- White markings usually on head, neck, forechest, lower parts of the legs and on the tip of the tail
About the Finnish Hound
Origin: Finland
- Typical life span
- 11-13 years
- Size
- Medium — from its typical weight
- Weight
- Male
- 20-29 kg
- Female
- 20-25 kg
- Height
- Male
- 55-61 cm
- Female
- 52-58 cm
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Scent hounds and related breeds
- Origin
- Finland
- Also called
- Sabueso Finlandes
- Known hereditary risks
- Not researched yet
About
What is a Finnish Hound?
Medium-sized tricolor scent hound developed for endurance hunting of hare and fox in challenging Nordic terrain, known for its energetic nature and melodious voice
Finnish Hound history and origins
Developed in Finland since the 1800s by crossing various European hounds including French, German, Russian, and Swedish hounds to create a scent hound capable of hunting in the country's snowy, difficult terrain and harsh Nordic conditions
Finnish Hound appearance and size
Males typically weigh 20-29 kg and stand 55-61 cm at the shoulder; females 20-25 kg and 52-58 cm.
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- A hound for hunting hare and fox by following the scent. Eager to hunt also in difficult circumstances. He works independently, he is a versatile tracker and pursues the quarry with resonant barking
- Behaviour and temperament
“Calm, energetic and friendly, never aggressive”
Quoted from FCI standard n°51. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Medium
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “A hound for hunting hare and fox by following the scent. Eager to hunt also in difficult circumstances. He works independently, he is a versatile tracker and pursues the quarry with resonant barking” 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
- 3 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 3 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- Not researched yet
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Finnish Hound
What you get with the Finnish Hound
- Purpose stated in the standard: “A hound for hunting hare and fox by following the scent”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Calm, energetic and friendly, never aggressive”
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 · Finnish Hound
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording.
Coat
Undercoat short, dense and soft in texture.
Outer coat medium in length, close-lying, straight, dense and rather harsh
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°51 — 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 from 55 cm to 61 cm. Bitches from 52 cm to 58 cm. Ideal height: Males from 57 cm to 59 cm. Bitches from 54 cm to 56 cm”
- FCI distinguishes an ideal from what is permitted.
Quoted from FCI standard n°51. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the Finnish Hound 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.
Disqualifying faults
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
- Total lack of pigment in the nose.
- Undershot or clearly overshot bite.
- Kinky tail.
- Height at the withers more than 1 cm more or less than given in the standard
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Finnish Hound in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
What to ask for in a Finnish Hound
No breed-specific health panel has been written up for the Finnish Hound 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 Finnish Hound 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 Finnish Hound 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.