Free Finnish Lapphund Colouring Pages: 3 Printable Designs

Some of the best afternoons at our house start with a rainy window, a box of crayons, and a dog who refuses to hold still long enough to be drawn. If you have ever tried to sketch your Finnish Lapphund and ended up with a fluffy grey blob, I made something for you. There are three free printable Finnish Lapphund colouring pages below, and you can grab all of them right now. They are clean, cute, and built for actual colouring rather than just looking at.

What are these Finnish Lapphund colouring pages?

They are three free, printable line drawings of Finnish Lapphunds that anyone can colour in. Think simple, bold outlines of fluffy Lappies, the kind of clean cartoon art that suits little hands and still works for grown-ups who want to switch off for twenty minutes. We drew them to celebrate the breed I love, with the big floofy coat and the curled tail front and centre.

Every page is black and white, with open spaces so the colours actually show up. There are no tiny fiddly bits that tear when a four year old presses too hard. Just a happy Lappy waiting for whatever colour you want it to be.

Who are they for?

Anyone who likes Finnish Lapphunds and a quiet, screen-free activity. I made them with a few people in mind.

• Kids. A calm, low-mess activity for a rainy day, a long car trip, or that stretch before dinner when everyone is restless.
• Lappy lovers of any age. Colouring is for grown-ups too. Many of us find it relaxing, and few things are cosier than colouring your favourite breed with a cup of tea.
• Teachers and group leaders. They print clean in black and white, so they work for a classroom, a library craft hour, or a dog-themed party.
• Future Lappy families. Waiting on a puppy from your breeder? These are a sweet way for kids to get excited while you count down the days. Waiting lists in this breed often run six months to two years, so you may need a few of them.

The 3 free printable designs

Here are the three pages. Right-click and save each image, or on a phone press and hold and then choose Save. Each one uses a different pose, so there is a little variety across the set.

Design 1: Sitting Lappy

A classic, friendly sit. This one is the easiest of the three, with big simple shapes, so it suits younger kids or anyone who wants a relaxed colour. The fluffy chest and curled tail give you plenty of room to play with shading.

Design 2: Happy Lappy with a wagging tail

A standing pose mid-wag, ears up, clearly ready for an adventure. There is more detail in the coat here, so it suits slightly older kids and grown-ups who want more to do. Reach for this one if you want to copy a real coat colour, which I cover further down.

Design 3: Puppy in the snow

A round, roly-poly Lappy puppy with a few simple snowflakes and a little ground line. It is the cutest of the bunch and a good winter or holiday option. The open background means kids can add their own scene, whether that is a sun, more snow, a ball or something they dream up.

How to print and colour them

It takes about a minute to go from screen to crayons. Here is the quick version.

What paper and supplies work best?

Plain printer paper is fine for crayons and pencils. If your household is a marker household, print on the heaviest paper your printer will take, somewhere around 90 to 120 gsm, and the ink will stop soaking through. Watercolour pencils work beautifully on the coat, because the Lappy's fur is exactly the sort of thing that suits a soft blended edge.

Print in black and white to save colour ink, and set your printer to its normal quality setting. The lines are bold on purpose, so a draft print still comes out clean. If you want the page to last, print two copies. The first one usually goes wrong somewhere around the tail, and every child I have handed these to has wanted a second go.

What colour should a Finnish Lapphund be?

Here is the fun twist. Finnish Lapphunds come in one of the widest colour ranges in the dog world, so there is no single correct way to colour these pages. You can go classic black and tan, soft cream, rich chocolate brown, or that wolfy grey called wolf sable. They are all real, and they are all purebred. My own two dogs, Timber and Tundra, do not match each other.

The rule from the breed standard is simple. One main colour covers most of the body, with lighter markings on the head, neck, chest, underside, legs and tail (AKC standard, hosted by the Finnish Lapphund Club of America). So pick one colour for the body, then a lighter shade for the face, chest, legs and tail tip, and you will have something that looks like a real dog.

Want the full rundown on which colours are real and what to call them? My guide to Finnish Lapphund colours walks through every one with photos, so you can match your crayons to the real thing. And if you would rather have the artwork already coloured in, the shop's black and tan designs and wolf sable designs are drawn from real dogs in those coats.

Three details that make a drawing look like a real Lappy

If you are colouring alongside a child who wants theirs to look right, these are the three things to point at. They are also the three things most stock dog art gets wrong.

The ears come first. A Finnish Lapphund carries broad, triangular ears standing upright, set fairly wide apart, and covered in thick fur inside and out. Floppy ears belong to another breed. The tail comes second. It is long and heavily plumed, and it curls up over the back or the side when the dog is moving, rather than hanging down. The mane comes third. Males in particular carry a heavy ruff of longer hair over the neck and shoulders, which is why a Lappy looks wider at the front than it really is.

Colour the ruff a shade lighter than the back and the drawing suddenly reads as a real dog. Do the same on the eyebrows, and you have the expression that gets Lappy owners in trouble at dinner time.

Can I use these colouring pages at school or a party?

Yes, please do. These pages are free for personal and classroom use, so print a stack for a class, a library event, a birthday party, or a rainy day at home. I ask one small thing. Please do not sell them or pass them off as your own work. They are a little gift from my family to the Lappy Pack, and I love knowing they are out there making people smile.

For a classroom, they pair well with a short talk about where the breed comes from. Finnish Lapphunds were bred by the Sami people of Lapland to herd reindeer, they bark at work on purpose, and their double coat is built for an Arctic winter. Ask the class why a herding dog might need to be loud, and you will get better answers than you expect. My Finnish Lapphund history guide has the background, and my guide to saying Finnish Lapphund settles the pronunciation argument before it starts.

What else can kids do with these pages?

A few ideas that have worked at our kitchen table and at more than one birthday party.

• Colour your own dog. Print Design 2, put a photo of the family Lappy beside it, and match the markings. It is a surprisingly good observation exercise.
• Make a card. Print at 50 percent, colour, then fold a sheet of cardstock around it. Lappy birthday cards go over very well with other Lappy people.
• Build a colour chart. Print the same design seven times and do one page per coat colour from the table above. It makes a lovely bedroom wall for a dog-obsessed kid.
• Name the dog. Colour first, then pick a name. My list of Finnish Lapphund name ideas is full of Finnish options that sound wonderful shouted across a park.

A little something for the Lappy lovers

I hope these pages bring a few cosy, crayon-covered afternoons your way. I started Lapphund Designs because I could not find products that actually looked like my dogs, and these free colouring pages come from the same place, a real love of this floofy, curly-tailed breed. If colouring leaves you wanting more Lappy in your life, come and see the breed-true Finnish Lapphund t-shirts, mugs and stickers, all designed by fellow owners. And if you colour one of these in, I would love to see it.

Related Finnish Lapphund guides

• Finnish Lapphund colours, every coat explained
• How to pronounce Finnish Lapphund, and what Lapinkoira means
• 200+ Finnish Lapphund name ideas
• Are Finnish Lapphunds good with kids and cats?
• Best gifts for Finnish Lapphund owners
• The complete Finnish Lapphund breed guide

Finnish Lapphund colouring pages: quick answers

Are these Finnish Lapphund colouring pages really free?

Yes. All three printable designs are completely free to download and print for personal and classroom use. There is no sign-up and no cost. Just save the images and print them at home.

How do I download and print them?

Right-click an image and choose Save image. On a phone, press and hold, then save. Open the saved file and print it on standard letter or A4 paper, using "fit to page" for the best result.

What colours should I use for a Finnish Lapphund?

Any of the real breed colours work, including black and tan, cream, brown, sable, domino, solid black and grey wolf sable. One main colour usually covers the body, with lighter markings on the head, chest, legs and tail. See the Finnish Lapphund colours guide for examples.

What paper works best for these colouring pages?

Plain printer paper suits crayons and pencils. For markers, use the heaviest paper your printer takes, around 90 to 120 gsm, so the ink stops bleeding through. Printing two copies is wise, since the first one often goes sideways at the tail.

Can I use these for a classroom or event?

Yes. They are free for personal and classroom use, so they suit schools, libraries, craft hours and parties. Please just do not sell them or claim them as your own work.

Are there other free Finnish Lapphund activities for kids?

Colour your own dog from a photo, fold a coloured page into a birthday card, or print one design seven times and do a page for each real coat colour. Pairing the pages with a short talk about Sami reindeer herding works well in a classroom.

Sources

• Finnish Lapphund Club of America, AKC breed standard
• FCI Standard No. 189, Finnish Lapphund (Suomenlapinkoira)
• American Kennel Club, Finnish Lapphund breed page

Written by Jill, co-founder of Lapphund Designs. Jill lives in Castlegar, BC with her husband and their two Finnish Lapphunds, Timber and Tundra.