The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2007, Blaðsíða 8

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #1
Icelandic Dogs
by Tanya Johannson
It is one of the oldest pure breeds in the
world, one can trace its roots back to the
beginning of Iceland itself in 874. In fact,
the Iceland Dog is the national dog of
Iceland.
There are references to the dog in
many of the Icelandic sagas; Sturlunga and
Njal’s Sagas as well as Shakespeare’s Henry
V.
The breed was taken to Denmark at
the end of the century; there the Danish
Kennel Club recognized the breed and
dogs were exhibited between 1905 and
1914. The first dog in England was regis-
tered as an Iceland Sheepdog, or Iceland
Collie in 1915. The Iceland Kennel Club
was organized between 1969 and 1970, thus
preserving its original type and saving the
breed. In October 25, 2005, the breed was
recognized for registration purposes by
The Canadian Kennel Club. Effective
March 1, 2006 the breed will also be eligi-
ble to compete in CKC approved standard
of the Breed.
However, these facts only intrigued us
more than ever. What did these dogs look
like?
Firstly, the Iceland dog, is a member of
the Spitz family. They resemble a smaller
version of a Husky because their tightly
curled tail that rests on their back. They are
short in statute, and are lighter in bone
structure. The head is wedged shaped with
a short muzzle, with a black nose and lips.
The eyes are dark brown, the
golden/browns have the Cleopatra look,
while the ears are pointed and erect.
Colours vary greatly from fawn with white
blazes, all white, brown, golden and the
most rare being black. I feel that the
Icelanders bred the dog for a purpose,
keeping only the best herders, the most
intelligent, and affectionate, loyal dogs. In a
litter of puppies, one can expect long hairs
or short hairs. The hair consists of two
lengths: the top hair can be much longer
and coarse while the undercoat is soft and
fluffy and dense. These dogs climatize
with the season, developing thicker hair
on the body, (ruffed chest for long hairs)
in the fall in preparation for winter. Tufts
of hair also appear on their feet, giving
them a feathered look. They seem to
expand in size and become more compact
due to the bulk of hair. The dog stands
about 16 to 18 inches high and weights 25
to 30 pounds. One of the most distinctive
features is the dew claws on their back
feet. In this breed, the majority of dogs
may have double dew claws. The Iceland
dog is in a very real sense a family dog. He
is very intelligent and affectionate and
makes an ideal house pet. They love
climbing, ( the higher the better) and of
course water and snow to play in. A con-
stant companion in every sense of the
word.
In Iceland, the dog served an impor-
tant role in farm life, herding sheep from
the mountain ranges, rounding up ponies,
guarding the home and warning of
approaching strangers.
Towards the end of the century there
was a epidemic of distemper that was
almost fatal to the Iceland dog. The dogs
became so valuable that one dog was
worth a horse and two sheep.
While on a family visit to Iceland in
1983, we thought to find many; indeed we
came away not seeing a single dog. After a
lot of searching, we were able to find a
breeder in the Interlake.
The first Iceland dog came from a
Canadian breeder named Joe Sigurdson of
Lundar, our second came from Mountain,
North Dakota, followed by two half sis-
ters originally from Holland via Burns
Lake, B.C. We decided to become breed-