Danish Dog Breeds

The Kingdom of Denmark is a Northern European country. It is made up of the peninsula of Jutland along with more than 400 islands. This Scandinavian nation is also home to a handful of its very own dog breeds, which to most people’s surprise doesn’t include the Great Dane (it’s actually a German breed). So here are the Danish dog breeds and what you’ll want to know about them.

Broholmer

The Danish Broholmer was named in recognition of Count Sehested of Broholm. Around 1850 he helped to prevent this old breed from dying out by starting a breeding program at his estate on the island of Funen. He also helped to refine the breed.

The Broholmer is also known as the Danish Mastiff and like other mastiff breeds it is has a large and powerful body with a massive head. This big Danish breed was used to guard large farms and manors. It is a self-confident canine that is known for having a calm temperament yet that is at the same time watchful and alert to any threats.

Danish Spitz

The origins of this Danish dog breed are believed to stretch back to the time of the Vikings. This medium-sized dog has a lively and friendly personality. In the past, the Danish Spitz was used as a farm dog and family companion. And because of its gentle nature and patience with children, it has been referred to as a “nanny dog.”

While it was once a fairly common breed on farms around the country the breed declined in numbers. Luckily however an effort was made in the late 1980s by the Danish Kennel Club to form a standard to help preserve the Danish Spitz as a pure breed. Today it is still not well-known outside of Denmark.

Danish Swedish Farmdog

This small Danish breed has a predominantly white coat with patches of various colors and sizes on its body and head. It is a compact canine that is both fast and agile which allows it to be able to catch rats and mice, a job it has performed on farms in Denmark (and southern Sweden which was formerly part of Denmark) for hundreds of years.

It also functioned as a hunting dog and watchdog that would alert its family when visitors came around. This is considered to be a pinscher-type dog as opposed to a terrier.

Old Danish Pointer

An elegant yet muscular canine with graceful curves, the Old Danish Pointer, is a gun dog that can be used to hunt a range of game birds. Males and females can easily be distinguished from one another as the males are larger and more powerfully built.

This Danish hunting dog was created by Morten Bak who crossed eight generations of gypsy dogs to farm dogs creating the piebald brown and white pointers we know today. While it is a calm and quiet canine, the Old Danish Pointer is a dog that needs a large yard and is not a breed for apartment living or confined spaces

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Greenland Dog

Greenland is the world’s biggest island. And it also happens to be a territory of Denmark which makes the Greenland Dog one of the Danish dog breeds as well. This is a spitz-type dog with a thick double coat that is perfectly suited for the Arctic climate and it is the only remaining native dog breed on the island of Greenland.

It originally functioned not just as a sled dog but also as a hunting dog. The breed was used by the native people of Greenland to hunt seals since the dogs’ keen sense of smell allowed them to locate the seals’ breathing holes in the ice.

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