Breed Priorities – Norwegian Elkhound

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296 – February, 2025

By Nikki Riggsbee

TheNorwegian Elkhound has been called the “Dog of the Vikings,” but has been around for thousands of years, well before the Vikings. Elkhounds were used in rural Norway as watch dogs, flock guardians, and for tracking large game, such as moose and bear. His AKC name is a mistranslation of “Norske Elghund.” “Elg” is “moose”, not “elk,” and hund is “dog.” He might have been named Norwegian Moose Dog.

This is a typical northern breed, medium-sized with prick ears, a wedged head, a thick protective coat, and curled tail. In addition to needing the stamina to track game over long distances in all weather, the Elkhound doesn’t attack and kill the game when it is found, but instead annoys the game by barking and dodging until the hunter arrives. The experts’ priorities are expected to focus on features that reflect the hunting function and the northern climate.

We found twenty-two Norwegian Elkhound breeder-judges, added six very long-time breeders (averaging over fifty years in the breed), and invited them to participate in the survey on their breed. Twenty responded that they would do the survey. Sixteen surveys were returned, more than fifty percent of those contacted. Almost all have judged their regional; their national uses only foreign judges, usually Scandinavian. Almost all have judged other Norwegian Elkhound specialties.

Norwegian Elkhound Virtues

The experts were asked to rank two lists, one of virtues and one of faults, both from the AKC breed standard. The experts’ ranks were averaged, and the lists below are in sequence by the average ranks. This first list is of virtues from the Norwegian Elkhound standard, ordered by most important to least important.

Click here to read the complete article
296 – February, 2025

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