Norrbottenspets' have a natural two-layer coat that provides excellent weather protection against cold and wet weather, and actually also against hot summer conditions!

They originate from northern Sweden - where the winters can get very cold - comparable to conditions in Alberta. The breed has been fortunate that it is not very popular as a pet breed, so the Norrbottenspets has retained its original properties, physically as well as mentally, as a very effective outdoor dog used for all kinds of hunting. When these dogs are allowed to spend a lot of time outdoors when winter approaches, they develop a very thick and strong coat that protects them extremely well against all kinds of weather conditions. This coat is naturally preserved with grease from the glands at the hair follicles. This grease makes the coat water repellant, and the dog can even take a swim without getting wet to the skin!

There are, however, two significant ways you can destroy the coat's ability to protect the dog:

It is my experience with all of the Nordic breeds (including the Norrbottenspets) that they have an excellent ability to keep themselves nice and clean. The grease being produced by the follicle glands provide a steady slow transport of material from the skin and out to the tips of the hairs, so the coat constantly cleans itself from within - a very practical measure that totally eliminates any need for ever bathing the dog. The only exception would be that the dog has got into an oil spill or other kinds of man-made chemicals - Nature did not provide a protection mechanism for that....

It is also important to note that a thick coat does not bother the dog when it is indoors during wintertime. The dog cools itself through panting, not by sweating, as a human would do, so the thick coat does not in any way restrict the dog's ability to cool itself. The conclusion of this is that these dogs can easily thrive under extreme temperature variations, such as being outdoors for hours in the winter cold and then, for instance, being indoors at the fire place by night. However, if they are "protected" by being given very constant temperature conditions all the time, the do not train their own metabolism to adjust quickly to changing conditions - and the dog may freeze when suddenly being exposed to severe cold.

HUMAN DOG LEADERSHIP INC.
Mogens Eliasen, President