How we use AI

Most of the pictures on this site, and the artwork on our products, are made with AI image tools. We check every one before it goes on a product or a page. Here is why we work this way, and the rules we keep.

Updated 8 November 2026

Why we started

When we brought home our two boys, Timber and Tundra, we went looking for Finnish Lapphund gear and found almost nothing. We figured other owners loved their Lappies as much as we love ours and would want a way to show it. That is how Lapphund Designs started.

Pictures were the hard part. We can't take other owners' photos of their dogs from social media, least of all as a business. Asking permission or paying a licence for every photo, in every post and every design, would never keep up. We looked for Lapphund stock photos we could buy the rights to. There are very few, and the poses and settings repeat.

The breed also comes in a lot of colours and patterns. We'd love to own a Lappy in every one of them as a model, but that isn't realistic.

So we use AI to make our own stock photos and artwork. The other choice was to stop making things, and we love this breed too much for that.

Where we use it

• Product designs. The art on our tees, sweatshirts, mugs, blankets and everything else is made with AI image tools from our own ideas. We review each design for the breed's look, the coat colour and the spelling, and we redo the ones that miss.
• Product photos. Most product photos are generated scenes. The design printed in each photo is our real print file, so the print you see is the print that arrives. When a photo doesn't match the file, we redo it.
• Social posts and short videos. Many are made with AI. When they show Timber and Tundra, our own photos of them are the guide.
• Breed guides. We use AI to help research and draft our guides, then we read and edit every one before it goes up.

What is real

• Every product. Each one is printed when you order it and shipped to your door.
• Timber and Tundra, our two black and tan boys.
• Us. We run the shop from Castlegar, BC, and read every message ourselves.
• Our reviews. Every review on the site comes from a real customer.

Our rules

• We only use another owner's photo of their dog with their permission.
• We make our own designs and leave other artists' work alone.
• A generated dog is never presented as a real customer's dog.
• The design in a product photo matches the print file you receive.
• When someone tells us a coat colour or a breed detail is wrong, we fix it.

Tell us what we missed

We've spent hundreds of hours learning to do this well, and we still miss things. Lappy owners know this breed better than any tool. If a coat colour is off, a face doesn't look like a Lappy, or something just looks wrong, email lapphunddesigns@gmail.com and we'll fix it.

We know not every owner will agree with how we work, and that's fair. For us, making something for the Lappy community beats making nothing. This path lets us keep doing it. Our closets are full of Lappy gear. The best part of this job is hearing from customers who wear theirs to remember a Lappy they lost, or to celebrate the one asleep on the couch.