Icelandic Sheepdogs and their amazing intuitive abilities
By Jill Fike
We have been amazed at the seemingly innate ability of Iceland sheepdogs when visiting those who are sick, wherever they might be. I think particularly of three instances which illustrate this so well, and have permission of two of the authors of their stories, the third was an experience of my own.
The first story comes from Monika Karlsdottir and it happened when she was living in Norway. I will quote her story.
I used both Frigg and Freyja as companion dogs at an old age home in Oslo. This had not been used as therapy there yet so we were guinea pigs of a sort. I had no idea what to expect and I started out doing it as therapy for Frigg because she needed socialising that she lacked her first two years. Unfortunately I only got to go about half a year or so because Frigg and Freyja had litters and soon after that we moved back to Iceland. I do know that it seemed to work so well that a few other dogs (a golden retriever among others) took over when we left. I will never forget the difference in their "approach" and it seemed they always knew best. Dogs never cease to amaze me. Frigg had her special friends that she had to visit and Freyja had different friends that she felt needed her special attention. And they seemed to go directly in the direction of their own different "friends" each time we arrived. The first time I took Freyja she got to visit a lady who was bedridden and couldn´t talk clearly so never talked much at all. She had very shakey hands as well and I had not visited her with Frigg so I didn´t know how I was to go about letting Freyja "talk" to a bedridden woman because the bed was so high up that it was difficult for her to get at her to be able to pet her.
Well Freyja KNEW how to approach this case and before I could blink she had hopped up into bed with the woman lied down and started licking her hand. I gasped and the woman started crying hysterically, right away I tried to tell Freyja to get off the bed. At that the woman talked to me for the very first time and said "please let her stay!" I realised that the reason she was crying was because she felt the love from Freyja and she missed her dog that she had to leave when she got sick. I let Freyja stay on the bed and the two of them had a special time together, the woman spoke endlessly to Freyja and petted her with her shaking hand. The nurses were amazed! This was a moment I will never forget and I learned that sometimes we have to just let the dogs do their work without human interferance. That day it was hard to leave. I thought how I would so love for someone to bring a dog to visit me if I were in that situation.I encourage anyone who can, let your dog be a therapy dog. They do so much good that it can never be measured but I know it´s true because I have felt it firsthand. The second story came from someone in Arizona who had two of our puppies and then arranged for one to go to her husband's family.
Again I will let Leslie tell the story.
I wanted to let you know how much John's sister, Jan, has been enjoying Kria. Unfortunately in August Jan's husband passed away of cancer. So Jan is taking care of the two kids (12 and 15) and a small printing business. But Kria has just been such a wonderful comfort. She was right there withMike through the worst of it, lying next to him on the couch when he was very ill at home. Then every night that Mike was in the hospital, Kria would go to bed in their bedroom on her doggie bed, and then get up in the middle of the night to sleep at the top of the stairs and wait for Mike. They brought Mike home at the end, and they were careful to keep Kria back because they were afraid she'd jump all over him, but she just came up to his bed and would put her head where Mike could reach it. Mike passedduring the night, then, after he got home. Kria seemed to know and never went back to the bed. Then the next night Kria got up on the bed and slept next to Jan, which she had never done before, and she didn't get up in the night, but remained there. And she's been sleeping with Jan ever since.She also acts like this little cheerleader when the kids get home from anything or when things seem too quiet in the house. It really is remarkable the way she has helped during this difficult time. I'm so
glad we have our dogs and were able to get another one from you for Jan.
The last story is one that I witnessed.
One of my friends at the coast had often looked after our puppies as they were en route to various destinations in The States. On this occasion I happened to be at the coast too and the particular puppy's flight was delayed. I had worked at SFU with Judi and her mother for many years so when Judi was getting ready to visit her mother in a Care Residence with Thor and Frekja, she suggested we also take the puppy, which we did.
It had been years since Judi's mother had spoken, as she was suffering from Alzheimer's, she used to sit quietly smiling in her chair, off in her own world, but always responded with great affection when Thor and Frekja came to visit. On this occasion we then put the puppy on Norma's lap, and she played with it and then it must have playfully nipped her finger and we suddenly heard "Don't you do that!" We couldn't believe it - not only did Norma speak for the first time in several years, but the sentence was relevant.
When we left, I put the puppy on her lap and she looked up at me and said "You won't let him go will you." And then went back into her own world of silence, but it was such an astounding thing to witness that when you think thought processes might not still be there, you never know what might trigger them.
I hope you enjoy these very moving stories of the ability of the Iceland sheepdog to make an amazing difference in the lives of people who are having a very difficult time.
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