Once upon a time, there were two wolf-colored spitz type dogs in Scandinavia, and although the two of them were of different sizes, they were judged as one breed for decades. In 1877, Norwegians decided that the smaller of two was to be called the Norwegian Elkhound (or Gråhund), and because the larger one was mainly known in Jämtland, a province in the middle of Sweden, it was called the Jämthund, or Swedish Elkhound.

Mind you, there are three Elkhounds: The Norwegian Elkhound, the Black Norwegian Elkhound and the Swedish Elkhound, or Jämthund, and of them, the Jämthund is the largest.  Some felt it was so similar in appearance to the Norwegian Elkhound, however, that for all those years, it was thought to be a just larger variant of the Norwegian Elkhound. That said, some pointed out differences between the two that needed to be addressed given that the two breeds were being judged as one; the Norwegian Elkhound was shorter, broader, and close coupled, while the Jämthund was taller and longer. Debate over this was so “robust” in the 1930s that it spilled over to newspapers.

Enter Aksel Lindstrom. An enthusiastic sledder, Lindstrom wanted to buy a Jämthund, an accomplished sled dog particularly suited to cope with the harshest Nordic weather in the world. He was appalled to find that it was all but impossible to find one in his own country.  Concerned that the breed was on the brink of vanishing, Lindstrom was moved to write an article for a local newspaper about his concern.

The piece was picked up by the national press in Stockholm and got the attention of Count Björn von Rosen, a diplomat and respected dog fancier. The two met, and together, they convinced the Swedish Spitz Dog Club in 1942 that this ancient breed was in trouble. In 1946, the Jämthund was recognized as its own breed, separate from the Gråhund (Norwegian Elkhound). In 2006, the United Kennel Club recognized the Swedish Elkhound.

The Jämthund is little known outside of Sweden, but as of 2015, there were 1,851 breed registrations inside the country.

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