Finnish Lapphund Colours: A Guide to the Beautiful Diversity of the Breed

Few dog breeds demonstrate the vast possibilities of canine coat colour quite as beautifully as the Finnish Lapphund.

Within the breed, owners can encounter intense black, brown, cream, red, sable, wolf sable and the distinctive pattern known as domino, together with a remarkable variety of lighter markings, shades and patterns. In fact, no two Finnish Lapphunds are alike and the diversity between lappies within the same litter can be extraordinary. ​Some dogs appear almost monochromatic; others seem to contain several colours at once. ​A puppy can begin life with mostly dark black shading and then develop a considerably lighter adult coat, particularly around the face, as it matures.

​This diversity is not simply a matter of breeders combining different colours. It is the visible result of several interacting genetic systems that determine which pigment is produced, where it is produced, when it is produced, and how strongly it is expressed.

Understanding Finnish Lapphund colour therefore requires going beyond a list of colour names and into the scientific basis for coat colouring. At the biochemical level, two forms of melanin (pigment) provide the foundation:

• eumelanin, responsible primarily for black and brown pigmentation; and
• phaeomelanin, responsible for yellow, cream, gold and red pigmentation.

Multiple genes then influence how these pigments are produced and distributed, while additional genes modify their intensity and pattern. The result is the extraordinary Finnish Lapphund palette!

What Does the Breed Standard Permit?

The starting point is the official breed standard which is very similar in Finland, Australia, UK and the USA. The breed standard is actually very broad: “All colours are permitted. The base colour must be dominant.”

Secondary colours may occur on the head, neck, chest, underside, legs and tail. The judges' guide further emphasises that no particular colour should be preferred over another and notes that Finnish Lapphund coats commonly contain different shades because of variation within the undercoat.

The only colour patterns not permitted, are brindle and saddleback, and so these are rarely, if ever, produced. The Australian breed standard follows the same fundamental principles.

This is significant because the Finnish Lapphund is not a breed whose standard confines it to a small number of narrowly defined or limited colours. Instead, the standard accommodates considerable variation in both colour and markings and one is not preferred over another, all are equal!

While the standard describes phenotypes (visual appearance), genetics explains why those phenotypes occur.

Black tan & white, Brown tan & white and Cream                         Brown tan and white                                         Wolf sable with spectacles    

A Domino boy, and three varieties of Black tan & white Finnish Lapphunds (two have spectacles)

The darkest shade/intensity of cream                                         Wolf sable                                                                     A black sable                 

What Colours are Recognised in the Finnish Lapphund?

As discussed, the Finnish Lapphund breed does not have a limited list of colours, instead its standard accommodates a broad spectrum of colour expression. Of the colours listed below, there is great variety in intensity and colour expression. For example 'cream' can range in shade from vivid white to an almost apricot/red colour. Similarly, the tan points in black tan and white may range from a dark tan through to a pale white. 

​Among the colour descriptions encountered within the breed are:

Dominant colours:

• black tan and white
• wolf sable
• sable (black based or brown based sable)
• dominant solid black

Recessive colours:

• brown tan and white
• solid brown
• recessive solid black
• cream
• domino
• dilute colours (blue and lilac)

A variety of patterns:

• 'irish marked' (combinations incorporating white markings similar to border collies)
• 'spectacles' (vivid white rings around both eyes)
• 'masks' (very wide variety of facial masks from broad to very minimal)
• 'snow nose' (lightly pigmented line at the centre of the nose, more common in domino dogs)

It's interesting to note that these are the standard names used and alternative names you'll see such as 'tricolour' are not used for this breed. Within Wolf Sable, Sable and Domino colours, the dog's base colour can be either black or brown or even blue or lilac if the dilute gene is present.

A cream female finnish lapphund

The Main Genes Involved

The easiest way to understand Finnish Lapphund colour is to stop thinking of the genes as separate colour switches. They behave more like an interconnected system. The coat system is indeed so complex that there are still many genes and interactions yet to be discovered, but here are the main genes that have been identified:

Locus                    Principal function                                    Finnish Lapphund relevance

E     Controls eumelanin/phaeomelanin signalling          Cream (e), domino (Ea/Eg), mask (Em)

A    Controls spatial/temporal pigment patterning    Sable (Ay), wolf sable (Aw), tan-point (At),
                                                                                                               recessive solid (a)

K          Can suppress A-locus patterning          Solid colours (KB), brindle (Kbr) or normal (Ky)

B                   Alters eumelanin chemistry                                 Black (BB) or Brown (bb)

D                        Dilutes eumelanin                                          Blue (BB dd) or Lilac (bb dd)

I            Reduces pheomelanin intensity            Paler cream/white expressed on tan/red points
                   (area of current research)                                            

S                           White spotting                                          White markings, e.g. ‘irish marking’

Additionally, Finnish Lapphunds may (or may not) exhibit 'Urajiro' which is similar to the I locus in that it lightens the tan points to a pale white, and is found in some spitz breeds, such as the Shiba Inu & Akita. The gene is expressed gradually as the puppy develops with a gradual lightening of these darker areas to white as they grow. Current theory is there may be some similarity or interaction with the domino phenotype found in Northern Spitz breeds, as it may produce a similar phenotype.

A wolf sable male finnish lapphund

Choosing the Colour of your Finnish Lapphund

For many people, colour is part of what first attracts them to the Finnish Lapphund.
A prospective owner might particularly admire the silver tones of wolf sable, the warmth of brown, the dramatic contrast of black and tan, or the softness of cream. Everybody is different! The only difficulty arises only when colour becomes more important than the dog. 

Everybody has a different preferred colour and desiring a certain colour is completely normal, but colour production should never drive breeding or choice alone. If a breeder is advertising a particular colour at a higher price or as 'exceptionally rare', that's a big sign to walk away and instead support an ethical, sustainable and preservation breeder who does not display these commercial interests.

The breed standard itself makes an important philosophical statement: no colour should be preferred over another.

For responsible breeding, health, temperament, soundness, genetic diversity and overall breed quality have considerably greater significance than whether the resulting puppies happen to be one shade rather than another.

1. A colour that's recessive/rare is not inherently superior.
2. A dominant/common colour is not inherently inferior.
3. Rarity and quality are entirely different concepts (quality is highly desired).
4. All puppies from the same litter should be advertised at the same price.

​Be wary of anyone offering colour-based pricing for individual puppies, which all ethical breeders find to be highly unethical. This occurs when a 'rare colour' puppy is priced at a much higher cost than his/her siblings of a different colour. It is of course normal to expect slight fluctuations in price among different litters, due to the reasonable costs breeders incur to produce certain litters, by artificial insemination, importing overseas dogs, imported frozen semen, different stud fees, additional reproductive veterinary costs and many other important factors. This should not be confused with colour-based pricing which artificially increases the cost of single puppies based only on cosmetic attributes, like colour or markings.

A domino male featuring a 'snow nose'

Another important point to realise is that a litter of Finnish Lapphunds does not typically represent the whole colour spectrum, usually only one or two colours at a time.
​
Indeed, a breeder may produce several litters without actually producing the particular colour a prospective owner is hoping for. Conversely, an unexpected colour may occasionally appear when the genetic possibilities of the parents allow it. For this reason, someone with a strong colour preference should be prepared to establish a relationship with an experienced breeder and wait for the appropriate time.

Understanding Finnish Lapphund colour genetics is therefore about more than naming shades. It involves a true appreciation for the breed standard, the structure of the coat, genetic inheritance, how puppies mature and the realities of responsible breeding and sustainably preserving the breed.

A brown tan and white finnish lapphund

If you'd like to find an ethical, sustainable and reponsible breeder in Australia, please enquire with Diamontali Finnish Lapphunds and also visit Dogzonline (for all registered pedigree breeders).