A Short History of the Iceland Dog
By Mark Watson
 During the settlement of Iceland, which started in 874, dogs came from Norway,
like other domestic animals, and became common to every farm. There are references to dogs in many of
the saga, in the Sturlunga Saga, written in the thirteeenth century, it is stated that "farm dog follows
man whereever he goes and that a dog always accompanies man between farms and ton the long journeys"; and
Pjetur Resen in the seventeenth century states that "Icelanders were so attached to dogs that hardly a single
commoner could be seen without the company of a dog."
Exported to England
During the Middle Ages there appears to have been some export of Iceland
Dogs to other countries. When the English had most of the trade with Iceland during the fifteeth century they
sought out good looking Iceland Dog puppies, wich at that time were the favorite chamber dogs for English
ladies. The Iceland Dog is mentioned in Shakespeare's Henry V. Act II, Scene 1 Pistol: "Pish for thee,
Iceland Dog! thoug prick-ear'd cur of Iceland!"
In the "Genealogical Table of the different races of Dogs" from "Natural History" by Count de Buffon, published in
France in 1755, the Iceland Dog is on the chart, witch at that time included realitively few breeds. Of the Iceland
Dog which belongs to the Spitz group, embracing roughly fifty distinct varieties of dogs, the Huskies of the
Western World account for about one third of these, whilst the Laika of the western hemisphere represents the
majority of the remaining two-thirds (including the Spitz - which had wandered from their orginal home -
Pomeranians, Wolfespitz, Keeshonden, Iceland Dogs and others).
In former times the Iceland Dog, besides being used fo sheeherding, guarding the tún (home-meadow), rounding up
ponies and warning farmers of the approach of strangers, was also used to keep pack-pony trains on the path.
Up to the early 1920's the Icelandic Pony was used exclusively to transport people, stroes, timber etc. from one
place to another away from the coastal settlements. Towards the end of the last century, when there was an
epidemic of distemper that was fatal to three-fourths of Iceland's dogs, farmers would exchange one horse and two
sheep for one true Iceland Dog.
Close Contact with Humans
The general apperance of the Iceland Dog is a Spitz type of
slightly under middle size, lightly guilt and with a game temterament. The ears should be eaect and the tail very
bushy and carried over the back. The colours should be white with fawn markings, golden, and light fawn with black
tips to the long hairs. The height should be from thirteen to sixteen inches and the weight about twenty five
pounds. The Iceland Dog develops rather slowly and is not fully mature until the age of approximately eighteen
months. He appears to require close contact with humans to mature fully and thus is in every sense a family
dog. He is most intelligent and affextionate and makes an ideal house pet.
The Iceland Dog was first shown in a Dog Show in London in 1880, but the breed was not recognized by the Englished
Kennel Club until 1905. During the last years of the 19th century some Iceland Dogs were taken to Denmark and the
breed was recognized by the Danish Kennel Club in 1900. There are very few Iceland Dogs in the U.S.A. and Canada
and they are not recognized by their respective Kennel Clubs. Most of Icelandic farms today have one or more dogs,
but the pure type is becoming rare and has only been found on farms situated in the most remote valleys and
fjords. Although there have been regulations since 1904 preventing the importation of foreign dogs, there was
before that time a sertain amount of mixing of blood and within the last forty years, a small number of collies
were legally omported into the country and interbred with the native dog.
Breeding the Pure Type
The Iceland Dog imported to England from Iceland in the 1950's
were very carefully selected and the progeny have been true to type. Since 1958 many Iceland Dogs have been
entered in Dog Shoes in England under the auspices of the Kennel Club and have won prizes. There are now (1972)
between fifty and sixty Iceland Dogs in Great Britain. A dog and a bitch have been recently been imported from
Iceland in order to introduce fresh blood to the Iceland Dogs in England, which are becoming inbred. It is
believed that the breed will become very popular in Great Britain. In the past the average Icelander has not
been interested enough in the Iceland Dog to start selective breeding, which is the reason that the pure type is
seldom seen. However there is a lady in the south of Iceland who is breeding the pure type. Several
years ago this same lady acquired a pure Iceland Dog and decided to breed and thus save the Iceland Dog from
extinction. Within a year she had becomethe owner of five pure Iceland Dogs in various age groups and since
that time has had many litters, which have bread true to type. She has exported puppies to the U.S.A., Canada, and
several European countries.
Good and Useful Friend
Three years ago, a small group of dog lovers founded an
Icelandc Kennel Club with the same aims as kenne clubs elsewhere in the world. The fame of the Iceland Dog has
recently been on the increase and enquiries for it are being received from many countries. As far as can be
seen, the immediate danger of the extinction of the Iceland Dog has passed and it is to be hoped will not return,
as the Iceland Dog hs been a good and useeful friend to the Icelandic nation in good times and bad since the first
years of settlement. It is expexted that a Dog Show will be held this year in Iceland under the auspices of the
newly formed Icelandic Kennel Club.
Mark Watson, and Englishman, became interested in Iceland at an early age and for a time
specialized in the breeding of the Iceland Dogs.
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