QUOTE
Finnish Spitz are a lively, faithful, and intelligent breed of dog. They love playing with children, and are excellent companion dogs, which makes them an ideal family pet. They rarely show aggression unless needed (they are a breed who like to protect their family) but they do love the sound of their own voices. Careful training will need to be undertaken to teach him that his barking is both unnecessary and unwanted, although the barking does come in useful if you are looking for a watchdog, as the Finnish Spitz will very happily locate anything that is out of the ordinary and alert their owners to it.
Because of his intelligence, he is an independent and strong-willed dog and is best trained with a soft voice and touch. He will easily become bored with repetitive training and so sessions should be kept short and to the point, making patience a must-have for any owner. Obedience, agility and field training should be understood from the dog's point of view. Finnish Spitz are very obedient with a light touch and lots of "positive reinforcement" but most owners and trainers don't understand the subtle difference and use too much punishment. Top trainers have found Finnish Spitz to be manipulative and sometimes too smart for their owners, so beware, you may not own a Finnish Spitz but your Finnish Spitz may own you.
Finnish Spitz can excel in obedience, agility and rally as a companion dog.
Because of his intelligence, he is an independent and strong-willed dog and is best trained with a soft voice and touch. He will easily become bored with repetitive training and so sessions should be kept short and to the point, making patience a must-have for any owner. Obedience, agility and field training should be understood from the dog's point of view. Finnish Spitz are very obedient with a light touch and lots of "positive reinforcement" but most owners and trainers don't understand the subtle difference and use too much punishment. Top trainers have found Finnish Spitz to be manipulative and sometimes too smart for their owners, so beware, you may not own a Finnish Spitz but your Finnish Spitz may own you.
Finnish Spitz can excel in obedience, agility and rally as a companion dog.
My dog is very much like that. She constantly makes noises when she wants something (to be let inside, to hurry up with dinner when she knows we're getting it, to kick the football, etc). She also uses her paw to pat your leg when she wants some food from the dinner table (which we don't give her nor encourage).
Various other websites describe them as bird hunting dogs. This was evident when one time, she caught a bird in the backyard. She didn't kill it - but she did pin it down and start to remove its feathers. She let go as soon as I yelled at her to release it.
They are very loyal dogs. I would highly reccomend getting one if you're looking for a dog.
More information is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Spitz (note: the photo on there looks exactly like my dog).
and its nice to know other people adopt from shelters 
