SPOTLIGHT ON: GREENSTONE KENNELS, CANADA
[Editor: For the Breeder’s Spotlight feature, which lets us know more about the breeders who belong to CISC, we plan to alternate between North American and European or Icelandic kennels.]
Kennel and Breeder Name: Greenstone Kennels, Valerie Sharp
Country of Owner: Canada
Number of dogs: Ten Icelandics, plus litters on the ground.
How long have you been breeding: Our first Icelandic was born in 2000, and we got him in 2001.
Names of dogs: Pineridge Vaskur (2000), Tofra Tobba (2001), Tofra Lagsi (2001), Lagsi lives with Grandma Sharp. Folda (2003) Tofra Dalla (2003), Greenstone Ada (2004) Greenstone AJay (2004) Greenstone Alaxander the Great (2004) Belglen Runa of Greenstone (2005) and if all works out my newest baby will be Greenstone Black Pearl(2006)
Favorite story about the dogs: I think some of my favorite stories of the dogs, start with finding them and traveling from Nunavut (Artic East coast) to Pineridge Kennels in B.C. West Coast of Canada to get Vaskur. I had fallen in love with him the second I saw him, and I have never regretted him for a second, although for a little while, I didn’t think I was ever going to get puppies, but I guess all I needed was to move down south and get him a different girlfriend?
I have meet one of my best friends and had amazing trip to Greenland, and Norway, picking up Tobba and spending time with Monika, falling head over heels in love with Tofra Alfur at the time, and I remember calling home to Canada and saying, honey, can I bring this little male home with me, and if you can imagine at the time, I was told no, we don’t want another male. I have always been so thrilled that Pineridge choose to import Alfur, and was truly honored that Sharon from Belglen would allow me to welcome my home to his daughter, Belglen Runa, a very special little heart girl.
I still remember finding Folda, what an adventure that was, I wanted and needed another female, and spent two years looking at every litter born, in every country you can imagine, and this one day, a litter came on one of the yahoo groups, and it had a link to the website with puppy pictures, and I took one look and wanted puppy female number two. I picked up the phone and called Iceland, as its ringing, I think, I wonder if they speak English, well Bibi does and a truly lovely lady, was this one puppy available, well it was the other puppy she wanted to sell, but yes, she was available, but not sure she wanted to send a pup to Canada, so I said, well do you know Monika, she has met me, and so she said she would think about it, and I was to call back at a certain time. So I called Monika straight away, do you know this breeder, do you know this bitch, do you know this puppy. As it turns out, Bibi had been at Monika’s the day before buying dog food, and Monika had meet Folda at that time.
The funny thing was, Monika’s cell phone rang and her husband picked it up, and it was Bibi checking up on me, so Monika had each of us on a different phone, asking the same thing, do you know this person and would you let them have the puppy! Needless to say, Folda flew into Boston, where Jason was waiting for her, and brought her home safe and sound to us in the artic.
Then came Tofra Dalla, what a special dog she is, it was a hard birth, and there were only two puppies, one came to me in Canada, for which I am always grateful, and her brother, went to Norway.
Then come my own puppies. Goodness, what can I say, they were a surprise and turned out to be some of the most wonderful dogs. I think I can honestly say, I watched Alaxander take breath, and knew that he would never leave my side, and I hope I am right.
Favorite doggie activity: Well which one, I don’t know if I have a true favorite, but I think Conformation, Agility, and Herding would be my top three, but we have also done obedience, tracking and therapy work with the dogs. I work very hard to keep the dogs busy, and also to find what each dog’s natural talents are, and then work on that..
Favorite Icelandic in your life so far: I don’t know if I can say, I only have a single Favorite but I can say, that Pineridge Vaskur and his son, Alaxander both hold very special boy places in my heart, and for girls - well I truly love them all, but I would have to say, my happy girl Oppa, always brings a smile to my face, but Dalla and Runa are just as special, we have a different bond, they are so soulful, Oppa and Ada are always happy girls, but I often snuggle and just gaze into Dalla and Runa’s eyes and I think they have a lot of depth to them.
Most proud moments:
Vaskur-Flying in a Helicopter, and being an exploration Dog, and becoming a father!
Tobba-Taking my first BOB and MISC Group Class, taking her to school to help teach the children in Nunavut about Iceland.
Lagsi-Dancing with Grandma Sharp, and being her man!
Folda- 1st Icelandic in CKC to get her CGN, for being the first Icelandic in the Canadian Rare Breeds shows to win multiple Best Puppy of Groups, Best of Group, and Best in Puppy Sweeps. First Greenstone Icelandic to earn her Certified Therapy title. First Icelandic in Canada to have earned her Herding Instinct certificate and competed in the CKC herding program.
Dalla (left)- Watching her learn agility, she is going to be amazing, Second Greenstone ISD to earn her CKC HI, and is now allowed to compete in CKC herding events, First ISD in Greenstone kennel to complete her Tracking training.
Runa: First Female Champion in CKC in Canada!!
AJay- First Male Champion in Canada, First Group Placing ISD in Canada, First Multiply Group Placing ISD in Canada.
Alaxander - First Greenstone ISD to finish his advanced obedience training and we are working toward his CD this fall.
Ada (above left) - First Greenstone Female to point in CKC, Ada has her HI, and she is being actively trained in Agility at this time. Watch for this little lady in the ring near you.
Black Magic Women- It was another late night and after three lovely boys were born, all yellow gene, and fresh blankets were in the box, and everyone was nursing and settled, I sighed and turned off the lamp, and said to Jason . . . No girls and no Black tris, I guess it just was not meant to be, and I heard, grunt, and slurp, slurp, and I flicked the lamp back on, and thought, that puppy is black, and then I leaned over into the whelping box to help, thinking I just wished that. And when I got the chance, I checked sex and I swear I laughed/cried, it’s a female, and it’s black tri. O my god, she is just meant to be mine . . . she is Magic . . . and so her name is Black Magic Women. So for now my most proud moment of her is that she was born!!
(Update, Although Black Magic Women is a very special puppy in my heart, I made the hard choice and kept back Greenstone Black Pearl, a lovely long hair Black tri female)
What was it about Icelandics that made you choose them for your personal breed of dogs: I wanted a medium size dog, that was active enough to go out on camps and hiking/camping trips with Jason and myself, low prey drive because we had cats and would very much like to be parents someday if we are blessed enough, We wanted double coated for the high artic winters (even though the dogs lived inside, it was still cold out there), and I wanted smart enough to be able to work in agility and pretty enough to hold their own in the show ring . . . and after a very long hard search, I found the Iceland Sheepdog.
What is next for your kennel?
1) Finish as many of the dogs CKC Championships as possible
2) Special AJay in CKC in the coming year(s)
3) I would like to get CGN on most of the younger dogs
4) I would like to earn my first obedience and Agility titles on the dogs next year
5) I would like to get more small camping trips, and hiking the river trips in the next year.
6) Anything that puts a smile on their faces, a dance in their step and wag on their tails.
Showing posts with label Kennel Spotlights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kennel Spotlights. Show all posts
Monday, March 26, 2007
Tofra Kennel-Newsletter Spotlight- Summer Issue 2006
SPOTLIGHT ON: TOFRA KENNELS, ICELAND
By Monika Karlsdottir
[Note from the editor: For the Breeder’s Spotlight feature, which lets us know more about the breeders who belong to CISC, we plan to alternate between North American and European or Icelandic kennels. The current Spotlight on Tofra Kennels is well-timed since several of the dogs currently being shown in Canada are Tofra descendants. As well, two Tofra dogs, Hofi and Snubbur, were the first two registered CKC Miscellaneous class Icelandic sheepdogs, in 1992. Tofra dogs continue to blaze new ground worldwide as recently another Tofra descendant, a grand-daughter of Tofra Stjarna, is the first ISD to be exported to Scotland. ]
Kennel Name: Töfra Icelandic Sheepdogs (Töfra means Magical or Charming)
Country of owner: Iceland
Number of dogs: 3 females at the moment, 4th coming soon
How long have you been breeding: Got my first ISD in January 1989. I had my first litter in 1991.
Name of dogs:
International Nordic Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian Champion Foldar Freyja, age 12 years.
Nordic, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish Champion Norwegian Winner 1999 Töfra Frigg age 9 years. Töfra Birta Freyja age 3 years.
Hólmfrídur fra Olafsfjördur born Nov.26th 2005.
Favourite story about the dogs: I have a few favourite "moments" with my dogs, stories of puppies that beat the odds, a heart wrenching yet miraculous story of when Freyja was hit by a car in front of my eyes and only had minor injuries, wonderful memories of the times when the German
Shorthaired Pointers and Icelandics interacted together. To pick out just two I’d have to say a visit to an old age home and the time my two females had a litter together are very dear to my heart.
I used both Frigg and Freyja as companion dogs at an old age home in Oslo. I will never forget the difference in their "approach" and it seemed they always knew best. Frigg had her special friends that she had to visit and Freyja had different friends that she felt needed her special attention. And they would 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 shaky 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 interference. 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.
The other favourite moment that brings a smile to my face every time I see the photos, was when Frigg and Freyja each had a litter of puppies that were all raised together. Freyja needed a C-section and Frigg had given birth to her litter that same day. Freyja of course was groggy and sore and her milk glands weren't quite working yet so in dire need we decided to see if she would allow Frigg to feed her puppies until she was feeling a bit better. Well it was the sweetest thing, they accepted our interference and the two of them settled down together in the whelping box, all through the upbringing they took turns but it was obvious that Frigg would rather feed them and Freyja preferred to clean them. It was so sweet. One of my favourite moments was when at just a day old they got into the whelping box together and Freyja gathered ALL the puppies as if to say "MY puppies" but she left one of her own for Frigg so she wouldn't feel left out. Then the two of them looked at me so proud of their little family. These two love each other dearly there is no doubt about that.
Favourite doggie activity: I used to like agility but we don't have that here except for an amateur practice group. I guess I'd say clicker training is my favourite doggie activity, that and just lazing on the couch with a blanket of dogs!
Favourite Icelandic in your life so far: Wow, it's hard to answer this question, they are all so special in so many ways. Hófi was an amazing mind reader and so in tuned to my emotions. Her son Snubbur had a special place in my heart as does Frigg and Frigg's son Töfra Ljósálfur, he is a little angel. All my dogs claim a bit of my heart but I will admit that the most special one even though she wasn't born in my home has to be Freyja and I really don't know why. She is like a soul mate, she is a bit of a character and sometimes a real brat but I think she'll take a very large piece of my heart the day she leaves this world.
Most proud moment: I have a few proud moments that involve my dogs, of course dog shows are always fun and the obedience trials that we received our medallions pop to mind. However I will admit that the proudest moment had to do more with the second generation and onwards, when my vision seemed to become reality. It was at a specialized breed show where Töfra Stjarna was honoured in a sense for her great contribution to the breed.
What was it about Icelandics that made you choose them for your personal breed of dogs: I don't really know if I can say I chose the Icelandic, I'd say it probably chose me. I have some Canadian Indian blood in me and I suppose that's why I feel strongly about saving creatures from extinction and my over the top fascination with wolves. Since I can't save the wolves my interest turned to dogs! When I went to look at Hófi and her siblings the Icelandic sheepdog was still on the verge of extinction and I realised that what I wanted to do was to help keep this ancient and precious jewel of Iceland alive. The history of the ISD impressed me to the point that I felt strongly about wanting to be part of it having a future as unchanged as possible. Iceland has given me a home and a life I couldn't have imagined as a young child growing up in Canada so I felt destined to give something back.
I had a German Shepherd when I got Hófi, I had always loved the wolf like look of the GSD. I later learned that my great grandfather trained GSD's in the war in Germany so maybe dogs are in my blood through him. I am a Spitz breed lover, the ISD was to me the perfect sized dog for a home, not too big and still large enough to be a "real" dog. Little did I know that once I got Hófi there'd be no turning back, the ISD is definitely a dog breed that grows on you. My intentions of helping a breed survive grew more intense after getting to know the breed up close and personal. They are so beautiful with an incredible sociable temperament and learning ability, to my surprise far easier to train than the GSD or any other breed I'd met.
I was extremely lucky to find the litter Hófi was born in, black tricolor was very rare in those days and Hófi's breeder was also very particular to use only dogs with double dewclaws and good tails. I feel I couldn't have gotten a foundation animal from a better bloodline. From the moment I got Hófi I realised that the breed needed to be preserved with all it's special traits including the double dewclaws, strong erect ears (erect during the first 8-10 weeks unlike many other breeds), color variety, their cute little butt with the ancient trait (mentioned in 1900 but that is fast disappearing in the population) the hair growth covering the anus that is so special to our breed (photo included) along with the tightly curled up tail that gives them that special happy wiggle, their smiling expression and harsh weather resistant coat.
I decided when I started out to emphasize on breeding for well structured short hairs, while also keeping the long haired and all the color varieties in my dogs. Everyone was focussing on the long haired just for their cuddliness and saleability and they become the rage and unfortunately still are to a large extent, bad structure and all.
It's my belief that it's much harder to breed good short haired dogs because they can't hide faults under their coat, every fault in a short haired dog is visible and thus makes it more of a challenge to breed for structure.
Breeders of only longhaired dogs I feel often get more credit than breeders of shorthaired and the longhaired often do better at shows because of their coats alone, they are definitely more "showy". Today we are getting a new type of coat and it’s becoming more and more popular because it is eyecatching. It’s an in-between coat that is hard to tell if the dog is longhaired or shorthaired.
Freyja was my second female, I didn’t plan on another female at the time but she was impossible to pass up due to her sheer beauty and special traits. Some of which Hófi didn’t have like the slightly longer coat, the hairy butt, and the more refined better head with smaller ears that are correctlyplaced.
What is next for your kennel: My Kennel is in a bit of a waiting stage at the moment. Although I call myself a breeder, my dogs are family members above all else. This has been a bit of a negative in a "popularity" sense since I only have very few litters. I tend to think of them as little miracles and every one is special. I don't "throw" my dogs away to make room for more and I also don't add too many into the home that will make it harder to give them adequate attention.
Frigg and Freyja are old now and will have no more puppies, my youngest Birta is 3. I originally took her back to find her a new home but I might have 1 litter from her and possibly keep her, she is so much like her mother it’s uncanny.
My hope however is wrapped up in one of my great grand puppies that I am importing from Holland this summer. She is out of Frigg's daughter Töfra Ljósbrá Lotta who was born in Norway and Icetop's Samur who is out of Skessu Salka, a daughter to Snælukku Bjartur (Hófi's grandson). Little Hófi as I call her (Hólmfridur frá Olafsfjördur) is a sweet little red and white shorthaired with double dewclaws, she is most likely a homozygous tan so I’ll have to find a black tri male for her to bring back that color to my line again. I wouldn’t want to lose that little bit of the original Hófi. She is out of a rarer bloodline which makes it exciting to try to find mates for her to bring out the best of the lines in future and to hopefully add to family lines that have almost died out due to others using the "popular dogs".
Hófi will hopefully improve hip status in my kennel and I will try to find a good strong male to improve on bone as well. My main concern has always been to keep bloodlines alive without losing the looks, special traits, working ability, temperament or personality that characterises THE ICELANDIC SHEEPDOG of old. I definitely want to continue to build on what I started with and keep the variety as best I can.
By Monika Karlsdottir
[Note from the editor: For the Breeder’s Spotlight feature, which lets us know more about the breeders who belong to CISC, we plan to alternate between North American and European or Icelandic kennels. The current Spotlight on Tofra Kennels is well-timed since several of the dogs currently being shown in Canada are Tofra descendants. As well, two Tofra dogs, Hofi and Snubbur, were the first two registered CKC Miscellaneous class Icelandic sheepdogs, in 1992. Tofra dogs continue to blaze new ground worldwide as recently another Tofra descendant, a grand-daughter of Tofra Stjarna, is the first ISD to be exported to Scotland. ]
Kennel Name: Töfra Icelandic Sheepdogs (Töfra means Magical or Charming)
Country of owner: Iceland
Number of dogs: 3 females at the moment, 4th coming soon
How long have you been breeding: Got my first ISD in January 1989. I had my first litter in 1991.
Name of dogs:
International Nordic Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian Champion Foldar Freyja, age 12 years.
Nordic, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish Champion Norwegian Winner 1999 Töfra Frigg age 9 years. Töfra Birta Freyja age 3 years.
Hólmfrídur fra Olafsfjördur born Nov.26th 2005.
Favourite story about the dogs: I have a few favourite "moments" with my dogs, stories of puppies that beat the odds, a heart wrenching yet miraculous story of when Freyja was hit by a car in front of my eyes and only had minor injuries, wonderful memories of the times when the German
Shorthaired Pointers and Icelandics interacted together. To pick out just two I’d have to say a visit to an old age home and the time my two females had a litter together are very dear to my heart.
I used both Frigg and Freyja as companion dogs at an old age home in Oslo. I will never forget the difference in their "approach" and it seemed they always knew best. Frigg had her special friends that she had to visit and Freyja had different friends that she felt needed her special attention. And they would 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 shaky 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 interference. 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.
The other favourite moment that brings a smile to my face every time I see the photos, was when Frigg and Freyja each had a litter of puppies that were all raised together. Freyja needed a C-section and Frigg had given birth to her litter that same day. Freyja of course was groggy and sore and her milk glands weren't quite working yet so in dire need we decided to see if she would allow Frigg to feed her puppies until she was feeling a bit better. Well it was the sweetest thing, they accepted our interference and the two of them settled down together in the whelping box, all through the upbringing they took turns but it was obvious that Frigg would rather feed them and Freyja preferred to clean them. It was so sweet. One of my favourite moments was when at just a day old they got into the whelping box together and Freyja gathered ALL the puppies as if to say "MY puppies" but she left one of her own for Frigg so she wouldn't feel left out. Then the two of them looked at me so proud of their little family. These two love each other dearly there is no doubt about that.
Favourite doggie activity: I used to like agility but we don't have that here except for an amateur practice group. I guess I'd say clicker training is my favourite doggie activity, that and just lazing on the couch with a blanket of dogs!
Favourite Icelandic in your life so far: Wow, it's hard to answer this question, they are all so special in so many ways. Hófi was an amazing mind reader and so in tuned to my emotions. Her son Snubbur had a special place in my heart as does Frigg and Frigg's son Töfra Ljósálfur, he is a little angel. All my dogs claim a bit of my heart but I will admit that the most special one even though she wasn't born in my home has to be Freyja and I really don't know why. She is like a soul mate, she is a bit of a character and sometimes a real brat but I think she'll take a very large piece of my heart the day she leaves this world.
Most proud moment: I have a few proud moments that involve my dogs, of course dog shows are always fun and the obedience trials that we received our medallions pop to mind. However I will admit that the proudest moment had to do more with the second generation and onwards, when my vision seemed to become reality. It was at a specialized breed show where Töfra Stjarna was honoured in a sense for her great contribution to the breed.
What was it about Icelandics that made you choose them for your personal breed of dogs: I don't really know if I can say I chose the Icelandic, I'd say it probably chose me. I have some Canadian Indian blood in me and I suppose that's why I feel strongly about saving creatures from extinction and my over the top fascination with wolves. Since I can't save the wolves my interest turned to dogs! When I went to look at Hófi and her siblings the Icelandic sheepdog was still on the verge of extinction and I realised that what I wanted to do was to help keep this ancient and precious jewel of Iceland alive. The history of the ISD impressed me to the point that I felt strongly about wanting to be part of it having a future as unchanged as possible. Iceland has given me a home and a life I couldn't have imagined as a young child growing up in Canada so I felt destined to give something back.
I had a German Shepherd when I got Hófi, I had always loved the wolf like look of the GSD. I later learned that my great grandfather trained GSD's in the war in Germany so maybe dogs are in my blood through him. I am a Spitz breed lover, the ISD was to me the perfect sized dog for a home, not too big and still large enough to be a "real" dog. Little did I know that once I got Hófi there'd be no turning back, the ISD is definitely a dog breed that grows on you. My intentions of helping a breed survive grew more intense after getting to know the breed up close and personal. They are so beautiful with an incredible sociable temperament and learning ability, to my surprise far easier to train than the GSD or any other breed I'd met.
I was extremely lucky to find the litter Hófi was born in, black tricolor was very rare in those days and Hófi's breeder was also very particular to use only dogs with double dewclaws and good tails. I feel I couldn't have gotten a foundation animal from a better bloodline. From the moment I got Hófi I realised that the breed needed to be preserved with all it's special traits including the double dewclaws, strong erect ears (erect during the first 8-10 weeks unlike many other breeds), color variety, their cute little butt with the ancient trait (mentioned in 1900 but that is fast disappearing in the population) the hair growth covering the anus that is so special to our breed (photo included) along with the tightly curled up tail that gives them that special happy wiggle, their smiling expression and harsh weather resistant coat.
I decided when I started out to emphasize on breeding for well structured short hairs, while also keeping the long haired and all the color varieties in my dogs. Everyone was focussing on the long haired just for their cuddliness and saleability and they become the rage and unfortunately still are to a large extent, bad structure and all.
It's my belief that it's much harder to breed good short haired dogs because they can't hide faults under their coat, every fault in a short haired dog is visible and thus makes it more of a challenge to breed for structure.
Breeders of only longhaired dogs I feel often get more credit than breeders of shorthaired and the longhaired often do better at shows because of their coats alone, they are definitely more "showy". Today we are getting a new type of coat and it’s becoming more and more popular because it is eyecatching. It’s an in-between coat that is hard to tell if the dog is longhaired or shorthaired.
Freyja was my second female, I didn’t plan on another female at the time but she was impossible to pass up due to her sheer beauty and special traits. Some of which Hófi didn’t have like the slightly longer coat, the hairy butt, and the more refined better head with smaller ears that are correctlyplaced.
What is next for your kennel: My Kennel is in a bit of a waiting stage at the moment. Although I call myself a breeder, my dogs are family members above all else. This has been a bit of a negative in a "popularity" sense since I only have very few litters. I tend to think of them as little miracles and every one is special. I don't "throw" my dogs away to make room for more and I also don't add too many into the home that will make it harder to give them adequate attention.
Frigg and Freyja are old now and will have no more puppies, my youngest Birta is 3. I originally took her back to find her a new home but I might have 1 litter from her and possibly keep her, she is so much like her mother it’s uncanny.
My hope however is wrapped up in one of my great grand puppies that I am importing from Holland this summer. She is out of Frigg's daughter Töfra Ljósbrá Lotta who was born in Norway and Icetop's Samur who is out of Skessu Salka, a daughter to Snælukku Bjartur (Hófi's grandson). Little Hófi as I call her (Hólmfridur frá Olafsfjördur) is a sweet little red and white shorthaired with double dewclaws, she is most likely a homozygous tan so I’ll have to find a black tri male for her to bring back that color to my line again. I wouldn’t want to lose that little bit of the original Hófi. She is out of a rarer bloodline which makes it exciting to try to find mates for her to bring out the best of the lines in future and to hopefully add to family lines that have almost died out due to others using the "popular dogs".
Hófi will hopefully improve hip status in my kennel and I will try to find a good strong male to improve on bone as well. My main concern has always been to keep bloodlines alive without losing the looks, special traits, working ability, temperament or personality that characterises THE ICELANDIC SHEEPDOG of old. I definitely want to continue to build on what I started with and keep the variety as best I can.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Kennel Spotlight: Pineridge Icelandic Kennel
SPOTLIGHT BREEDERS: PINERIDGE ICELANDICS
By Jill Fike
Our farm is in the Interior of British Columbia, cold and snowy usually for about five to six months of the winter, and often up to 100 degrees in the summer. Our Icelandic Sheepdog journey began quite by accident. We were at one of the large Icelandic Horse breeding farms close to us looking for a mare and happened to mention that we were getting Icelandic sheep. The owners of the farm, who are Dutch, had bred ISDs in Holland and said we absolutely must get one to round out our Icelandic family and they had friends in Gimli, Manitoba, which has a significant Icelandic settlement, who were looking for a home for a two year old male. We have always had German Shepherds and had never heard of the Icelandic Sheepdog until then and weren’t sure how we’d feel about a mid-size dog, but decided to try.
In March 1996 we set off to pick up Eric, who, I was told on the journey "was to be an outside dog." When we arrived, Eric was stretched out on a leather couch and we were told he really likes to sleep on your bed! I didn’t want to look at Norm at this point!
Anyway we duly arrived home and as Eric was two years old, we quite expected it would take him a while to settle in to his new farm surroundings. However, not so! Once he was through the door, he hustled around until he found our bedroom, hopped up on the bed and fell fast asleep. Our "outside" dog still sleeps on our bed every night, ten years later!
The next morning when we went out to feed, every time you looked back at the house, Eric had managed to get to a window so that he could keep an eye on us. He was such an affectionate dog and settled in so well, was so good with our grandchildren, tolerated the cats, learned quickly that we preferred him not go in with the horses and donkeys, and won our hearts over for the breed in no time at all.
My husband had always wanted to breed dogs and when we finally had our farm, it hadn’t worked out with our chosen German Shepherd because she had a bad case of hip dysplasia, so he began to consider it again, this time with Icelandic sheepdogs. We had a friend going to Iceland so he brought Una fra Skalmholti (11 mos.) and Lukka fra Keldnakoti (nearly 3 mos.) back with him for us from Iceland in June of 1996.
In December 1997 Una and Eric had their first litter, three little girls, two little boys, and there was huge excitement over this. We kept Frekja and Samur from this litter as we couldn’t bring ourselves to let them all go, but then came the interesting job of finding people who would like to own an Icelandic sheepdog! Like us, hardly anybody in B.C. had ever heard of them and when we advertised them, we had questions like "are they like the English sheepdog?", "are they a good deterrent to unwanted visitors?", "are they a good guard dog?" and on and on went the questions, so it did take quite a while to get the breed known and the Icelandic Sheepdog to become a recognized dog, and the Internet initially was our best advertising tool. Since then Dogs In Canada has been excellent at introducing the ISD to the Canadian market and we’ve had many people come back for a second dog, and many of our puppy owners who have been approached by people enquiring about the breed and then contacting us.
Una was a marvellous mother, as all our ISDs have been, with the exception of Frekja from this first litter, whom we had kept, and who didn’t enjoy being a mother. There was no point in continuing to breed her so she went very happily to live with friends of ours. The variation in colours of Una’s puppies was so interesting – two were cream, the remaining three darker shades of brown, tan and white but who lightened to the traditional chestnut colour over the years.
I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Iceland in 1998 to choose a breeding male, and that is how Kolur came to our farm. I saw him and his littermates at three days old, all dark charcoal grey with some white markings, at Anders Hansen’s farm in Hella and chose him immediately. This Farm also had about 250 horses, so my attention was severely divided and it ended up not only being a puppy that came to us from Arbakki but a stallion and three mares too! This was my most interesting ISD colour observation as Kolur is far from dark charcoal grey now, as are his littermates, some of whom I still hear about from their owners and have seen pictures of them.
You will now know that we have been breeding since 1997 and have had the good fortune of making many friends through this endeavour. We did anticipate that it would be as straightforward to register our Icelandic sheepdogs with CKC as it was to register our Icelandic horses and sheep with Canadian Livestock Records. We soon discovered this not to be the case and it took nearly ten years to get to that point. We currently have eleven Icelandic sheepdogs at our farm. Sometimes when they have finished their breeding careers, they go to live with either family or friends who are able to give them a one dog, one family life, which enables them to have much more attention than we have time to give each individual animal on our farm. Otherwise they will live out their lives with us.
We have many visitors here either to see our dogs, our horses, our sheep or our Jersey cows, sometimes even the donkeys! One of the most fascinating characteristics of all our Icelandic animals, and interesting for visitors, is the huge colour variation in all of them. One reason we’ve been so pleased to be able to keep our dogs after breeding is to enable visitors to see examples of this colour variation, also the different look depending on the coat length, i.e. from Tofra Ljosalfur, very short, to Kolur, very long! The difference in coat length can almost make a different breed look.
Tofra Ljosalfur (Alfur) Kolur
Of our dogs, Kolur, Una and Lukka came from Iceland, Alfur from Monika when she lived in Norway, Raf from Denmark, and Narri and Kari from Portugal. Eric came from Gimli, Tryna from Washington, Isa from a breeding of Eric with TK Icelandics Bjardna, Ala from a breeding of Kolur and one of our earlier dogs, Gaela, in Alberta, Frekna, an Eric/Una puppy, Gletta from an Alfur/Lukka breeding. We also have Zoe, a long haired German Shepherd and Misty a Great Pyrenees.
Many of our puppy owners still keep in touch with us and we hear great stories. Last year a little boy called Cody was waiting for a puppy from us. He wrote his puppy a letter and asked us to read it to him, earned the major portion of the price of his puppy himself, and arrived here to pick it up and sat in the car giving him his present that he’d saved for and reading the story he’d written for him inside the card he’d made. It was so sweet.
Quite a number of our dogs are taken into care homes for visits and used as rehab dogs and the breed seems to have an innate capability for this, knowing when they can run up to someone or when they have to be slow and careful. Even their almond-shaped, trusting eyes, are designed for loving visits I think and they dispense affection wherever they go. A fascinating story was the time I was at the coast and we had a pup to ship and the flight was delayed for a day, so my friend Judi was going to visit her mother, who had Alzheimers, in a residential home and she suggested we take the puppy as well as Thor and Frekja, which we did. Norma hadn’t spoken a word for years. We put the puppy on her lap and after a bit it must have nipped her finger. All of a sudden we heard "Don’t you do that!", followed by a big smile. We couldn’t believe our ears, here not only was a word, but a relevant sentence. When we left, we put the puppy on her lap again and she looked up at us and said "You won’t let him go will you." Then everything closed over again. Then there’s the family in California who hike a lot and sent a picture of their dog with his little backpack made specially for him! Sandi’s dog Perla who, when she was out riding and had ridden to the top of a hill, refused to come and just stood there at the bottom of the hill barking. Eventually Sandi had to go back, and Perla was standing beside Sandi’s wallet that had fallen out of her pack.
There are so many stories of the contributions the Icelandics have made to their owners and their families. By far the majority of our puppies have gone to be family pets and it is a great joy to be able to recommend this breed with such confidence for this purpose. We are always available if questions or problems arise and have taken two dogs back where family circumstances required it and had no trouble re-homing them to very happy new home situations. We give a two year health guarantee, the same for hip dysplasia.
Eric is our most special Icelandic because he was our first and introduced us to the breed. There are different endearing qualities about all the others. Our observations have been that the males are equally as affectionate as the females. This theory was tested when Lukka was expecting a litter and we had seven people waiting for little girls, and she had seven little boys!! Fortunately no-one wanted to have a female for breeding! Some love to run and play frisbee, others are happiest settled on your lap. Some like water, some don’t. Our sheep roam freely in the summer and come to call so we haven’t yet used our dogs with the sheep, but some of them have shown their herding ability when we’ve heard thundering of hooves, not necessarily at our request! Our dogs are always so delighted to see us, whether it’s first thing in the morning or last thing at night!
We hope to have the opportunity to show one or two of our dogs this year but our farm, particularly the horses, keeps us very busy. Also we live in an isolated area fairly high in the mountains and away from larger cities, but we definitely hope to be able to introduce some of our Icelandics to the world of the show ring this year. We did take Kolur to the Parade of Spitz Breeds at the coast in 2004 and while he was overwhelmed with the 6 – 7,000 dogs there, he did take several days for his superior attitude to wear off when he got back to the farm! We offer a stud service. Also we’ve considered it a great pleasure to have some of our dogs come back to stay with us while their owners are away. Meanwhile we will continue to breed and do our best to produce puppies with characteristics that will sustain the proud heritage of the Icelandic Sheepdog.
www.pineridgeicelandics.com
By Jill Fike
Our farm is in the Interior of British Columbia, cold and snowy usually for about five to six months of the winter, and often up to 100 degrees in the summer. Our Icelandic Sheepdog journey began quite by accident. We were at one of the large Icelandic Horse breeding farms close to us looking for a mare and happened to mention that we were getting Icelandic sheep. The owners of the farm, who are Dutch, had bred ISDs in Holland and said we absolutely must get one to round out our Icelandic family and they had friends in Gimli, Manitoba, which has a significant Icelandic settlement, who were looking for a home for a two year old male. We have always had German Shepherds and had never heard of the Icelandic Sheepdog until then and weren’t sure how we’d feel about a mid-size dog, but decided to try.
In March 1996 we set off to pick up Eric, who, I was told on the journey "was to be an outside dog." When we arrived, Eric was stretched out on a leather couch and we were told he really likes to sleep on your bed! I didn’t want to look at Norm at this point!
Anyway we duly arrived home and as Eric was two years old, we quite expected it would take him a while to settle in to his new farm surroundings. However, not so! Once he was through the door, he hustled around until he found our bedroom, hopped up on the bed and fell fast asleep. Our "outside" dog still sleeps on our bed every night, ten years later!
The next morning when we went out to feed, every time you looked back at the house, Eric had managed to get to a window so that he could keep an eye on us. He was such an affectionate dog and settled in so well, was so good with our grandchildren, tolerated the cats, learned quickly that we preferred him not go in with the horses and donkeys, and won our hearts over for the breed in no time at all.
My husband had always wanted to breed dogs and when we finally had our farm, it hadn’t worked out with our chosen German Shepherd because she had a bad case of hip dysplasia, so he began to consider it again, this time with Icelandic sheepdogs. We had a friend going to Iceland so he brought Una fra Skalmholti (11 mos.) and Lukka fra Keldnakoti (nearly 3 mos.) back with him for us from Iceland in June of 1996.
In December 1997 Una and Eric had their first litter, three little girls, two little boys, and there was huge excitement over this. We kept Frekja and Samur from this litter as we couldn’t bring ourselves to let them all go, but then came the interesting job of finding people who would like to own an Icelandic sheepdog! Like us, hardly anybody in B.C. had ever heard of them and when we advertised them, we had questions like "are they like the English sheepdog?", "are they a good deterrent to unwanted visitors?", "are they a good guard dog?" and on and on went the questions, so it did take quite a while to get the breed known and the Icelandic Sheepdog to become a recognized dog, and the Internet initially was our best advertising tool. Since then Dogs In Canada has been excellent at introducing the ISD to the Canadian market and we’ve had many people come back for a second dog, and many of our puppy owners who have been approached by people enquiring about the breed and then contacting us.
Una was a marvellous mother, as all our ISDs have been, with the exception of Frekja from this first litter, whom we had kept, and who didn’t enjoy being a mother. There was no point in continuing to breed her so she went very happily to live with friends of ours. The variation in colours of Una’s puppies was so interesting – two were cream, the remaining three darker shades of brown, tan and white but who lightened to the traditional chestnut colour over the years.
I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Iceland in 1998 to choose a breeding male, and that is how Kolur came to our farm. I saw him and his littermates at three days old, all dark charcoal grey with some white markings, at Anders Hansen’s farm in Hella and chose him immediately. This Farm also had about 250 horses, so my attention was severely divided and it ended up not only being a puppy that came to us from Arbakki but a stallion and three mares too! This was my most interesting ISD colour observation as Kolur is far from dark charcoal grey now, as are his littermates, some of whom I still hear about from their owners and have seen pictures of them.
You will now know that we have been breeding since 1997 and have had the good fortune of making many friends through this endeavour. We did anticipate that it would be as straightforward to register our Icelandic sheepdogs with CKC as it was to register our Icelandic horses and sheep with Canadian Livestock Records. We soon discovered this not to be the case and it took nearly ten years to get to that point. We currently have eleven Icelandic sheepdogs at our farm. Sometimes when they have finished their breeding careers, they go to live with either family or friends who are able to give them a one dog, one family life, which enables them to have much more attention than we have time to give each individual animal on our farm. Otherwise they will live out their lives with us.
We have many visitors here either to see our dogs, our horses, our sheep or our Jersey cows, sometimes even the donkeys! One of the most fascinating characteristics of all our Icelandic animals, and interesting for visitors, is the huge colour variation in all of them. One reason we’ve been so pleased to be able to keep our dogs after breeding is to enable visitors to see examples of this colour variation, also the different look depending on the coat length, i.e. from Tofra Ljosalfur, very short, to Kolur, very long! The difference in coat length can almost make a different breed look.
Tofra Ljosalfur (Alfur) Kolur
Of our dogs, Kolur, Una and Lukka came from Iceland, Alfur from Monika when she lived in Norway, Raf from Denmark, and Narri and Kari from Portugal. Eric came from Gimli, Tryna from Washington, Isa from a breeding of Eric with TK Icelandics Bjardna, Ala from a breeding of Kolur and one of our earlier dogs, Gaela, in Alberta, Frekna, an Eric/Una puppy, Gletta from an Alfur/Lukka breeding. We also have Zoe, a long haired German Shepherd and Misty a Great Pyrenees.
Many of our puppy owners still keep in touch with us and we hear great stories. Last year a little boy called Cody was waiting for a puppy from us. He wrote his puppy a letter and asked us to read it to him, earned the major portion of the price of his puppy himself, and arrived here to pick it up and sat in the car giving him his present that he’d saved for and reading the story he’d written for him inside the card he’d made. It was so sweet.
Quite a number of our dogs are taken into care homes for visits and used as rehab dogs and the breed seems to have an innate capability for this, knowing when they can run up to someone or when they have to be slow and careful. Even their almond-shaped, trusting eyes, are designed for loving visits I think and they dispense affection wherever they go. A fascinating story was the time I was at the coast and we had a pup to ship and the flight was delayed for a day, so my friend Judi was going to visit her mother, who had Alzheimers, in a residential home and she suggested we take the puppy as well as Thor and Frekja, which we did. Norma hadn’t spoken a word for years. We put the puppy on her lap and after a bit it must have nipped her finger. All of a sudden we heard "Don’t you do that!", followed by a big smile. We couldn’t believe our ears, here not only was a word, but a relevant sentence. When we left, we put the puppy on her lap again and she looked up at us and said "You won’t let him go will you." Then everything closed over again. Then there’s the family in California who hike a lot and sent a picture of their dog with his little backpack made specially for him! Sandi’s dog Perla who, when she was out riding and had ridden to the top of a hill, refused to come and just stood there at the bottom of the hill barking. Eventually Sandi had to go back, and Perla was standing beside Sandi’s wallet that had fallen out of her pack.
There are so many stories of the contributions the Icelandics have made to their owners and their families. By far the majority of our puppies have gone to be family pets and it is a great joy to be able to recommend this breed with such confidence for this purpose. We are always available if questions or problems arise and have taken two dogs back where family circumstances required it and had no trouble re-homing them to very happy new home situations. We give a two year health guarantee, the same for hip dysplasia.
Eric is our most special Icelandic because he was our first and introduced us to the breed. There are different endearing qualities about all the others. Our observations have been that the males are equally as affectionate as the females. This theory was tested when Lukka was expecting a litter and we had seven people waiting for little girls, and she had seven little boys!! Fortunately no-one wanted to have a female for breeding! Some love to run and play frisbee, others are happiest settled on your lap. Some like water, some don’t. Our sheep roam freely in the summer and come to call so we haven’t yet used our dogs with the sheep, but some of them have shown their herding ability when we’ve heard thundering of hooves, not necessarily at our request! Our dogs are always so delighted to see us, whether it’s first thing in the morning or last thing at night!
We hope to have the opportunity to show one or two of our dogs this year but our farm, particularly the horses, keeps us very busy. Also we live in an isolated area fairly high in the mountains and away from larger cities, but we definitely hope to be able to introduce some of our Icelandics to the world of the show ring this year. We did take Kolur to the Parade of Spitz Breeds at the coast in 2004 and while he was overwhelmed with the 6 – 7,000 dogs there, he did take several days for his superior attitude to wear off when he got back to the farm! We offer a stud service. Also we’ve considered it a great pleasure to have some of our dogs come back to stay with us while their owners are away. Meanwhile we will continue to breed and do our best to produce puppies with characteristics that will sustain the proud heritage of the Icelandic Sheepdog.
www.pineridgeicelandics.com
Yeoman Farms and Icelandic Sheepdog Kennel
SPOTLIGHT BREEDER : Yeoman Farms
Country of owner: Canada
Number of dogs: 5 Icelandic Sheepdogs: One Icelandic Import, Four Canadian Born
How long have you been breeding: Our first litter was Nov. 26, 1995
Name of dogs: Heiðða (1992), Tryggur (1995), Týra (1995) Yoni ((1996) and Gutti (1997). All but Tryggur are neutered.
Favourite story about the dogs: Manitoba was looking for a special photo for their phone book and decided that they would like a photo of Icelandic Sheepdog puppies to go on the cover, as they have the largest Icelandic community in Canada. Much to their surprise the only person in Canada to have a litter was Yeoman farm. So they sent a driver to come get Stefania and family, the photo shoot went great (in fact someone working on the photo shoot loved the puppies so much that she took one home with her), but then it happened - the big snow storm hit - the really big one that made the news where the mayor called in the army. Well if you can imagine, a whole litter of puppies confined to a hotel room during the middle of a blizzard, O what fun!! Everyone was very happy to finally get home even if it was a few days later than planned!
Favourite doggie activity: I think taking them out in the bush with me. I count on them to keep the bears away from me!
Favourite Icelandic in your life so far: All of them and that includes my sheep as well.
Most proud moment: Every time anyone expresses their admiration for them.
What was it about Icelandics that made you choose them for your personal breed of dogs? My birth nationality is Icelandic.
What is next for your kennel: Just keep on enjoying life.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
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.
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.
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