Kennel Spotlight: Belglen Kennel

Spotlight on Belglen Kennels

Breeder: Sharon Schaefer

Location: Saskatchewan, Canada

Kennel Name is Belglen: this kennel name was CKC registered from 1978. Unfortunately if a kennel name is unused for 10 years it is no longer CKC registered and my last litter “before Icelandics” was registered in 1994 however I still use the name.

How long have you been breeding? : My first Belgian Shepherd Dog litter was born in 1978 and the last of 8 Belgian litters in 1994. I also bred one litter of Pembroke Welsh Corgi pups in the early 90's. In 1975-6 I had reserved a shortcoat Belgian (Malinois variety) female puppy in one of only a few litters born in North America at the time. The only female was a longcoat (Tervueren variety) so my owning and breeding began with some education on coat length genetics!

My first Iceland Sheepdog was Ima whom we received at 10 weeks of age in December 2002. Her first Icelandic litter was born in March 2005 after she reached two years, had her eyes CERF clear, and her hips and elbows OFA cleared. I sent her off to Pineridge Icelandics in BC for a honeymoonwith Alfur. The second Icelandic litter was born later the same year as we had acquired Dart as an adult in 2004. She also visited Jill & Norm for Kolur’s services. Both girls had litters of 2 boys & 2 girls. Dart had another litter of 3 boys & 3 girls in August 2006. We’ve also been breeding Katahdin Hair sheep since 1991 and had a few calves and foals prior to that.

Names of dogs: Living in our home we have Rev our 14 year old border terrier; 4 yr old Fronar Ima Belglen ‘Ima’; 4 yr old Hnuks Pila ‘Dart’; 2 yr old Belglen Riddari ‘Dari’ who is Ima’s son by Tofra Ljosalfur and lives some of the time with our daughter in Regina; and 5 mon old Greenstone’s Boogie Man of Belglen ‘Boogie’ who is Ima’s grandson. Boogie just joined our family in December and fit right in.

We also co-own several of the pups from the three litters, so they live with other families (and receive way more love and attention than we could give them) but we have access for breeding: Runa from Ima’s litter; Risi from Dart’s first litter; Skati, Spakur, and Skrytla from Dart’s second litter of six pups by Dari.

Favourite story about the dogs:
Favorite doggie activity: grazing sheep while reading a book! Especially in early spring (anywhere from late March to early May here) we take the sheep grazing sloughs, stubble fields, or ditches to give our pastures time to develop. Once ‘spring fever’ of the first few days is over this can be a very relaxing time with a good dog to control the flock.

Most proud moment: As I was fortunate to place Icelandic pups with very active owners, I’ve had several - Runa who is co-owned with Valerie at Greenstone Kennel was the second Icelandic and first female Icelandic to obtain her Canadian Championship; her sister Risna owned by Judy in California just achieved her IACBA International Championship; Roskva ‘Soley’ owned by Laura and Scott was the first UKC CH Icelandic in Canada.

These girls are also involved in herding or learning agility as well. Another proud moment has been when people come back for another good pet - they’ve enjoyed and loved their dog so much that they would like me to choose their next companion.

Favourite Icelandic in your life so far: Ima - not only is she our first Icelandic and marvelous herding partner but she’s one of those dogs who wraps everyone she meets around her paw and touches their heart. Pups have to be loved intensely during those first few weeks but with the heart knowledge that they will be let go to their own special family.


What is next for your kennel: Ima is relatively unrelated to other Icelandics in Canada (and most in the USA as well) so I plan to breed her again this year to another dog from a rare line. After the current pups mature I will be evaluating how Ima or Dart may best be used (Dart has already had 10 pups from 3 males). Ima for sure will be bred once more selectively in the future to expand the gene pool,contributing her families very good hip results as well as temperament.

Also I’m fortunate to live just three hours drive from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon which has just completed a state-of-the-art semen collection and storage facility for rare mammals so dogbreeders can gain some benefit as well. As the males I own and co-own mature and obtain their health clearances, we will be utilizing this feature to ensure semen from a good selection of our males is available into the future.