About Me

I am Maggý, I was born and raised in Reykjavik, Iceland but now I live in Dayton Ohio along with my husband Jeff, our son Kristinn and Five dogs, Rocky, Adrienne, Snotra, Spurðann and Spurðanella.

Our first dog Rocky, a Boston Terrier came to us in 2002. A year later we got Adrienne, also a Boston Terrier. I guess I could say, at that point I was hooked, I just knew I was getting another dog, I just had to convince my husband that we needed more than two.

While growing up in Iceland, my father would tell me stories about his dogs Spurðann (Ask him) and Hvað (What).  They were his best friends and went everywhere with him, when they encountered  people who asked him what his dogs were called, he would reply with "Ask him" or "What" and that would make people so furious, once a Lady went to his father and told him that his son was so rude and would not tell he the dogs names. I loved listening to his stories about the adventures he had with his dogs and always dreamed of having Icelandic Sheepdog myself. Now for the hard part, I had to convince Jeff we needed another dog, but he said, go ahead and look but I don't think we are ready for another dog, little did he know...  I started looking on the internet and was surprised that Icelandic Sheepdogs were being bred here in the States. I knew I wanted a dog from Iceland though and happened to come across Hörður Þorsteinssons website. I used the email and talked to his wife Stína on the phone to coordinate getting my first Icelandic Sheepdog from him. Now for the hard part I had to tell Jeff we were going to take a six hour one way trip to Orlando to pick up our puppy. I guess I had forgotten that I was only looking at the dogs.

Now after all these years my dream finally came true when we got Snotra from Hnúks Kennel in Iceland in 2004.
Like most other people with Icelandic Sheepdog, one is just not enough, so again I had to convince Jeff what we needed another Icelandic Sheepdog, this time he didn't say much I think he knew that it wasn't a matter of if, but when. I started searching and talked to Hörður and Stína again, they found a wonderful puppy for me from Iceland. Hörður knew the story so he asked the breeder to name him Spurdann in honor of my father and his dog.  Jeff and Kristinn went to Frederick Maryland to pick him up from a wonderful lady Álfhildur who was gracious enough to get him from the airport in Baltimore and keep him overnight.

Spurðann joined us in January 2005.  Spurðanella is our baby from Spurðann and Snotra litter 2008.  Now with 3 Icelandic Sheepdogs in our household I am very happy and very busy to keep all three of them occupied and happy, they are always with me just like my shadow, I just love that about this breed.  

My concerns about the Breed.

Probably the best feature of this breed is its temperament, they love their family and want to be with the family as much as possible.  This breed is not a breed that can be left in a crate for long periods of a time, for centuries these dogs have worked side by side with their master, that is when they are happiest.
Breeders who collect this breed and then keep them in kennels and crates are in my opinion doing the breed harm.  This breed needs room to exercise and a nurturing loving family, they wont do well if they are left alone all day.

Unfortunately I have begun to see dogs with yellow or blue eyes, totally wrong!

From the FCI Standard with Comments:
The eyes are an important part of the expression.  They are lively, intelligent, and firm. The color of the eyes must be as dark as possible to obtain the expression strived after.  A little lighter eye is normal for chocolate color and some cream colored dogs (dogs with brown pigmentation).
Other colors, such as yellow eyes, are considered a serious deviation and blue are untypical in this breed.  The pigmentation, which also forms part of the overall expression, must be as dark as possible, no matter whether it is black or brown.

I believe breeding should be done thoughtfully and carefully.
Of course life is not perfect and sometimes things don't work out as expected, but we learn from our mistakes and should strive for pairings that will better our breeding.  When a group of people begin breeding for just one trait such as color, that really concerns me, when type, temperament, and health are much more important then "That Special Color".

Looking for a puppy

This breed is slow to mature, and while some breeders don't like to wait for the dog or bitch to reach the age of two before they begin breeding, to me it is important to follow the guidelines recommended by the Icelandic Sheepdog International Cooperation's (ISIC) Breeding Committee.  These standards were developed based on research of the ISIC countries in cooperation with the scientific community in support of the continued health of the breed.

There are two camps in the ISD world.
 
The first respects the country of origin in all matters. They are breeding the dog according to the country's standards and respect that the dog is an Icelandic heritage. They truly love the breed and care about the dog.
 
The second camp knows better. They are changing the breed to fit what they think is best and toss aside the ideas of the home country, disregard them and have no respect for the breed or Iceland itself.
 
Please use the resources of the ISAA club to start your search, thoroughly investigate a breeder before you buy a puppy.