The Icelandic Sheepdog (, ), is an Icelandic

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of dog of Nordic Spitz

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

. It derives from dogs brought to Iceland by

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

settlers in the ninth century; it is both similar and closely related to the Buhund of Norway and the Vallhund and Norrbottenpets of Sweden, which derive from the same ancestral stock. It is the only dog breed indigenous to Iceland. Its traditional uses include herding of both sheep and horses.

History

The Icelandic Sheepdog is one of very few breeds of dog for which claims of ancient origin are demonstrably supported by both archaeological and written evidence. It derives from dogs brought to Iceland by

colonists from 874 onward; these are thought to have been from the same ancestral stock which gave rise to the modern Buhund of Norway and Vallhund of Sweden. As a result of commerce with Iceland in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the dog became fairly well known in other European countries including England and France; an early description dates to 1492. It is mentioned by

John Caius John Caius (born John Kays ; 6 October 1510 – 29 July 1573), also known as Johannes Caius and Ioannes Caius, was an English physician, and second founder of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Scholar and physician to Edward VI and Mary I ...

in his writings on dogs in 1570, and by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in '' Henry V'', thought to date from about 1599. In his ''Account of ''Island'', alias ''Ice-land''; in the Year 1662'', published posthumously, Sir

Thomas Browne Sir Thomas Browne ( "brown"; 19 October 160519 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a d ...

wrote: "... they bring another sort over, Headed like a Fox, which they say are bred betwixt Dogs and Foxes; these are desired by the Shepherds of this Country". The or Iceland Dog was both discussed and illustrated in the fifth volume of the ''

Histoire Naturelle The ''Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du Cabinet du Roi'' (; ) is an encyclopaedic collection of 36 large (quarto) volumes written between 1749–1804, initially by the Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, Comte ...

'' of

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (; 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French Natural history, naturalist, mathematician, and cosmology, cosmologist. He held the position of ''intendant'' (director) at the ''Jardin du Roi'', now ca ...

, published in 1755. In 1788 it was classified by

Johann Friedrich Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German natural history, naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist. Education Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp F ...

as a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, ''Canis islandicus''. Plague and canine distemper destroyed over 75% of the breed in the late nineteenth century, leading to a ban on the importation of dogs to Iceland. The purebred Icelandic Sheepdog was again bordering extinction in the late twentieth century. A national kennel club, the or Icelandic Kennel Club, was formed in 1969; at its first dog show, at Hveragerði in 1973, twenty-three of the sixty dogs shown were of this breed. In 1979 a breed society was established, the or Icelandic Sheepdog Breed Club. In 1994 the Alþingi (national parliament) determined that the Icelandic Sheepdog was part of the

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

of the country, and should be protected as a national breed. In 1996 an international breed association, the Icelandic Sheepdog International Cooperation, was formed; it has ten European member kennel clubs (including that of Iceland), plus the

American Kennel Club The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit breed registry, registry of purebred dog pedigree (animal), pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions eve ...

. The breed was definitively accepted by the

Fédération Cynologique Internationale The (; FCI; ) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs and purebred registries. The FCI is based in Thuin, Belgium and has 98 members and contract partners (one from each country). History The FCI was founded in 1911 un ...

in 1972, and was recognised by the American Kennel Club in 2010. In 2015, registrations in the Nordic countries were: 137 in Iceland; 100 in Denmark; 44 in Finland; 35 in Norway; and 76 in Sweden. In 2022 the total number registered world-wide was approximately .

Characteristics

It is a muscular and hardy dog, and moves with ease over the rough terrain of rural Iceland. Weights are commonly in the range , with heights at the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

of about for dogs and a few centimetres less for bitches. The coat is thick and provides good protection from the weather; there are two distinct types: short-haired and long-haired. It may be light, tan or fawn, ranging from milky-white, cream-colour to a reddish brown; or black, chocolate-brown or grey. White and light markings, often extensive, occur with all colours; light, tan and grey animals may have a black mask. Dogs may be expected to live for some twelve to fifteen years.

References

{{bots, deny=Citation bot Dog breeds originating in Iceland FCI breeds Herding dogs Rare dog breeds Spitz breeds