Lapponian Herder Puppies: Care, Cost, and Developmental Guide

Lapponian Herder is a medium-sized dog which is originated from Finland. It is a member of Spitz family and was originally used for reindeer herding.

The Lapponian Herder gives birth to 5-8 puppies at once. The cost of the puppy is around $800 on average. The developmental stages of Lapponian Herder until one year is explained below.

Stage 1: Newborn

The Lapponian Herder puppies spend around 9 weeks on average inside its mother’s womb before coming out in the world. The puppies come out fully blind, deaf and toothless. They are not able to walk, hear, and see at the first two week of the birth. The puppies are mostly black in color and their paws and mouth are somewhat reddish. The color changes as the puppy grow up.

Stage 2: Neonatal (0-2 weeks)

The neonatal stage is a critical stage for the Lapponian Herder puppies which last for 2 weeks since birth. The puppies need extreme care at this time. They are not able to see, hear and walk so they should be kept close to mother. Despite not having the hearing and seeing sense, they have the smelling and touching sense which helps them to crawl towards their mother by her breast’s milk scent.

The Lapponian Herder puppies needs warm so they should not be separated from their mother as they might die due to cold. They only need mother’s milk at these weeks as it contain antibodies which protects the puppies from all kind of diseases. The Lapponian Herder puppies need lots of sleep to grow. Therefore, they should be kept by their mother’s side, warmly without disturbing.

Stage 3: Transitional (2-4 weeks)

The transitional stage is a very important stage for the Lapponian Herder puppies. At two weeks they will be able to hear and their eyes start to open slowly, allowing them to see the world. They get to see how their mother looks like.

Between 2-4 weeks, the puppies are able to walk and move here and their playing with their siblings. They have rapid physical changes at this stage where they grow double in size with every part of their body developing.

Stage 4: Socialization (4-8 weeks)

After the Lapponian Herder puppies are familiar with the canine world, they slowly begin to accept family members (people) as the part of their life with the help of their mother.

As they start to accept their family members and get along with them, know that the time for socialization has come. Slowly expose them to a variety of people but do not let them accept every person as their family. Teach them to distinguish between their own family and strangers by only letting them interact with people for a short period of time.

Stage 5: Juvenile (3-6 months)

Following the socialization stage, the Lapponian puppies continue to Juvenile period which is between 3-6 months. The puppies become more independent and sometimes quite stubborn. Therefore, they should be handled with patience but do not use harsh words or force hand as they will be scared and that fear will remain inside them for a long time. Continue socialization and training some basic commands so that they grow up as a well trained and obedient adult.

Stage 6: Adolescent (6-12 months)

As soon as Lapponion puppies cross the age of 6 months, they are considered as an adult. They grow up both physically and mentally but the growing process does not end here. It will continue for some more months. In the adolescent stage, they should be given solid food and training should be moved to advance.

Enroll them in agility training and obedience class. They should not be trained off leash and should always be kept on a leash while taking out for a walk or a play.