The catching of the Lunde has been of great economical significance for, the poor fishermen, as the downs were just as fine as eiderdown and therefore gave good income when sold. It was not unusual for a dog to catch about 30 puffins in one night, and when each hunter had 2 - 3 dogs with him, it was large quantities one got. In this way that breed came into being, which we today know as the Lundehund. It should be mentioned, however that there is a great distinction between those dogs, which were used in Lofoten and those on the coast of Finmarkin. The Lundehund is Norway's oldest pure-bred dog.
Some people think that it survived the last ice-age.
At the time Rost and Veroy were ice-free. Maasted on Veroy, where the Lundehund was originally bred, has probably got its name after a king from the Viking period, king Maas. Even dogs, which for many generations were born inland and have never seen a birds-cliff nor puffins, instinctively know how to catch the bird the first time they take part in hunting. One day in January in 1432 a fisherman with his two sons sailed from Rost to Sandeon. This description of the land of winter and the Midnight sun was no doubt contributory to more people traveling northwards in order to study the people and the nature.