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Updated March 13, 2010
Icelandic Dogs for Sale & Our
Icelandic Sheepdogs
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ICELANDIC SHEEPDOG LITTER PLANS FOR 2010
AND END 2009 NEWS
All our puppies born in 2009 are settled happily in their new homes and we are fortunate in that we receive updates with lovely pictures showing how they are progressing. Our Rof/Kolur litter was the last breeding for Rof and there was a very happy outcome for her. One of our new puppy owner's wife knew that we happily rehomed some of our breeding dogs if we knew of a suitable home for them, as it's so much nicer for them to be in a one or two dog home than with quite a large number of dogs where they can't get as much attention, the thing they love the most. So Raf is very lucky and is sharing a great home life with her daughter
Kira.
We kept a little girl from the Rof/Kolur breeding and will update with pictures to follow her colour and growth.
Tryna also has retired and moved to share Bren's home - one of our puppies who went to Oakland, California, many years ago. We've received great pictures from Jen and Pat, Tryna sleeps on their bed and currently both dogs are on competetive diets!
We bred Alfadis once but as she is a very small Icelandic, we don't plan to breed her again and will probably be looking for a home for her by late spring.
We are planning two litters for this year - one from Kolur and Kolla - and it will be a first litter for Kolla who came to us from Iceland (from the same breeder, Monika Karlsdottir, as Alfur), so this will be really exciting. We hope for a breeding in early spring.
Our second litter will be a repeat breeding of Narri and Gletta, this towards the end of the summer.
Please check our website for reports of breedings!
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Puppies for Sale 2009
Birth Announcement Rof and Kolur
We are delighted to announce the safe arrival of Rof and
Kolur's litter on August 27th. Five little puppies, two little boys
and three little girls. We had hoped to have this breeding last
year, but nothing happened! So we're more than happy with this
year's result as it is unlikely that we will breed Rof again.
Please contact me if you would like more information and pictures of the
puppies.
Birth Announcement Gletta and Nari
August 12, 2009
We are pleased to announce the safe arrival of three puppies, two little girls
and one little boy - parents for the first time for each are Pineridge Gletta
and Ofeigur 'Narri' fra Villiskogum. All are healthy and growing
well with really attractive coat shades from tan though black, also of course
white. We would be pleased to send photos and answer any questions.
KOLUR'S SEMEN ANALYSIS
As we have had enquiries with regard to using Kolur as a stud
and as he
isn't as young as he used to be! we had a semen analysis done last week
and the result was excellent. A lot of motility, as much as a young dog
so this was very good news for us as we are planning to breed him with
Tofra Kolbra Hektorsdottir for the first time this year.
Upcoming Litter Announcement
Great progress! We are hopeful that 2009 will be a
very happy puppy year at Pineridge, and it's looking encouraging so far!
After a disappointing breeding year last year, Narri and Gletta being one of the
disappointments, we finally had a successful breeding with the two of them and
are looking forward with great excitement and interest to seeing their puppies.
Narri (Ofeigur Narri fra Villiskogum), who came to us from Portugal, was an
adorable looking little puppy - noone could have been more appealing!
Hopefully he will produce some look-alikes! - particularly since, aside from one
littermate who accompanied Narri here and now lives in Alberta, his other three
littermates succumbed to what was thought to be a new strain of Parvo in
Portugal, as they had had all their shots for it, and they died and as if that
wasn't bad enough, their mother got out on the road and was hit by a car.
So we are really anxious to be able to carry on this line.
Gletta was one of the puppies from the last litter of one of the first two
Iceland sheepdogs who came to our farm from Iceland - Lukka fra Keldnakoti.
Alfur (who came from Norway when Monika Karlsdottir was living there) was her
father. This is the first litter for both dogs, so it's so exciting
to look forward to. Anticipated date of arrival of puppies is
approximately August 12th.
Please contact us if you would like to be put on the waiting list for this
litter.
New Litter Tofra Ljosalfur and Pineridge Alfadis
2009 had an exciting start for us! We hadn't planned to breed
Pineridge Alfadis because she is the smallest of our breeding females and we
wanted to breed Grimsnes' Rof for the last time and Pineridge Gletta and Tofra
Kolbra Hektorsdottir for the first time, also using our lovely little male from
Portugal, Narri, for the first time.
However, Alva (Alfadis - as the Icelandic pronounciation of our 'f' is 'v') was
the first of our females to come into heat, so we decided to put her together
with Tofra Ljosalfur (Alfur) for one breeding and lo and behold, on May 30th,
Alva produced four little puppies.
She has turned out to be an amazing little mother, taking such care of her
puppies, two little girls and two little boys. We are keeping a very
close eye on them as Alfa is our smallest female and Alfur is our smallest male,
but while one puppy was a little smaller than the others and one a little
larger, they are all putting on weight famously.
Please contact
us for pictures, more information and to be placed on our waiting list.
Also Pineridge Gletta is just coming into heat, so once again, after our lack of
success last year, we will try and breed her with Narri and will report on the
progress!
January 2009
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After a very disappointing year in 2008, with none
of our breedings taking, we are looking forward optimistically to 2009
and will try several different breedings.
Our first planned breeding will be between Tofra Ljosalfur and
Pineridge Alfadis, the first litter for Alfadis. We also hope to have
a breeding between Kolur and Grimsnes' Rof, which will probably be
Rof's last litter.
Our breeding between Narri fra Villiskogum and Pineridge Gletta was
another disappointment last year, so we hope for better things this
year as it would be just great to be able to continue Narri's line.
Our last try for breeding, also a first for Kolla, will be between
Tofra Kolbra Hektorsdottir (Kolla) and Kolur, both are wheaten so we
have very high hopes that we will be lucky enough to have some wheaten
offspring!
Please keep checking our website where breeding announcements,
anticipated litter arrivals, waiting list details and required deposit
information will be posted.
Tomorrow (April 4th) is the annual trek to Kamloops for CERF tests, so
results will be posted.
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Updated October 2, 2008
Icelandic Dogs for
Sale & Our Icelandic Sheepdogs
Dogs For Sale 2008
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Last year was a very quiet year for us with regard to dog breeding. We were really pleased to add two new breeding females to our kennel, but as they were both puppies, (Alfadis was one of the puppies from our litter from Grimsnes' Rof and Kolur, and Tofra Kolbra (call name Kolla) was a puppy that we were delighted to be able to bring here from Iceland from Monika Karlsdottir's lovely dog, Tofra-Birta Freyja), it will be 2009 before we can breed them, this assuming that hips and eyes are fine.
We would normally have bred Rof for a litter at the beginning of the year, but as we were expecting our new Eurasier puppy late in December, we didn't want to have a litter at the same time, so the plan was to breed Rof on her June heat, which we did, but for some reason the breeding didn't take.
In early spring 2009 we will be having hip x-rays and scoring done for our two new breeding females, Alfadis from Pineridge and Tofra Kolbra Hektorsdottir (Kolla) from Monika Karlsdottir in Iceland, pictures below, so we are looking forward to a busy year for puppies next year. Both Alva and Kolla had 'Normal' Cerf tests this year.
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Our Icelandic Sheepdogs
We have been so fortunate to have been able to own many beautiful and sweet natured Icelandic sheepdogs, with the little boys having every bit as affectionate a nature as the little girls. We seem to have an ever increasing number of dogs because, for various reasons, we keep most of them after their breeding days are over, but when we know someone or a family member who would love to have one of our breeding dogs, we are delighted to pass them on as they go to a home where they get much more individual attention than is possible when you have a large number of horses, also looking for attention, plus cows, sheep, donkeys, cats etc.
Its been very interesting for us to see how, even though a dog can have lived here for up to seven years, it adjusts so well to a new home and the great increase in attention. Many friends and family come back to see or stay with us regularly and while the dogs are obviously pleased to be back here, go to their same house in the porch, when it's clear that the new owners are packing up their cars to leave, no sign of our dogs - they are happily settled in their new owners' car! So we are very pleased about that as it shows us how well they have adjusted to their new homes.
Our Male Icelandic Sheepdogs
Eric
Eric was our introduction to the Icelandic Sheepdog breed, so even though he is getting to be an old man now, 14 years old, he holds the initial pride of place. He was supposed to be an "outside" dog, but when we got him at age 2, he had been used to sleeping on his owners' bed and made it quite apparent he expected the same treatment here! We got him in 1996 and he is still sleeping on our bed, so he made his point very well!
Eric sired many of our first litters, therefore contributed in a major way to the happiness of many families. Occasionally he looks a little bit stiff and his hearing isn't quite as sharp as it used to be, but he still enjoys his life very much. Even after all these years, he still starts to yip a bit around ten o'clock just to make sure his night on the bed isn't overlooked!
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We will always be grateful to Eric and his splendid character as we had always had German Shepherds (and still have) and were not sure that a transition to a smaller breed was what we wanted. I think Eric took two days to change our minds! |
KOLUR
In 1998 I went to Iceland for the purpose of selecting a new breeding male Icelandic sheepdog. I had seen an article in the Eidfaxi Icelandic Horse magazine before I went showing some truly fine Icelandic horses (one in particular!), so contacted this farm and lo and behold, they were also expecting a litter of puppies! So Arbakki Icelandic Horse Farm is where I went and by the time I got there the puppies had been born and were three days old. Every puppy in the litter was a very dark charcoal grey - Kolur had a little white ruff and that was why I chose him, anticipating the biggest colour contrast. He is a marvellous example of the colour change that frequently happens from when a puppy is born until a few months later.
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As his first flight here was cancelled, he was several months old before he finally arrived here and the colour transformation had already happened. Although still a puppy, he was very stoic and remained almost completely silent for at least a couple of months. This was a prime illustration of how behaviour is learned, i.e. barking! By the time he eventually left Iceland, it had been determined that he was one of the best looking male Icelandic sheepdogs for many years and the question was, how did I know that at three days old!
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Kolur has been the favourite of many family members and visitors here. As is typical, he is extremely affectionate, a very good breeding partner to our females and an enormous frisbee enthusiast. He made his liking for this pursuit quite clear when our grandchildren visited and played frisbee and he wanted to join in. His frisbee catching ability was sorely tested at the start as I was really bad at throwing it and had little idea where the frisbee was going, so between Kolur and my husband with the video camera, everyone's patience was sorely tested!! I'm much better at throwing it now, although recently Kolur did sit underneath a tree looking up for about five minutes waiting for the latest frisbee thrown to drop!!
My grandchildren and I are now taking Kolur for lessons in the show ring, so hopefully we might be able to put him in some shows. When I first tried with him, I held a piece of liver treat in front of him, but as he was so anxious to get to it, he walked on his hind legs beside me trying to get it and I didn't think that would go over well in the show ring, which is why we're taking lessons!
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TOFRA LJOSALFUR
Alfur arrived in Vancouver from Norway, where his breeder Monika Karlsdottir, had been living for a while (she is Icelandic and normally lives in Iceland). He had been shown as a puppy there, so arrived with a little treasure chest with his toys and rosettes that he had won in puppy classes. He could "take 5", "shake a paw" and "wave goodbye", so our grandchildren were enormously impressed.
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The difference in coat length between Eric, Kolur and Alfur is so great that they almost look like different breed of dog. Alfur is a small Icelandic, has a double curled tail, short coat lying flat and could almost be mistaken for a Jack Russell! Eric has a medium length coat and has a typical Spitz look, and Kolur a long haired upright coat and looks a little more like a Husky. Alfur has also sired a number of litters and passes on the remarkable trait that nearly all puppies sired by him and practically born with their ears pricked! If not it generally takes about three weeks for this to happen.
Affectionate again, Alfur can jump to a huge height. It's always been disappointing for us that, with the farm and living in an isolated spot, we've never been able to put him into agility because he would do well. Learned behaviour again - we had Grimsnes' Rof (Raf) in a run beside Alfur and she can now jump nearly as high! |
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OFEIGUR NARRI FRA VILLISKOGUM
Narri came to us from Portugal, as his breeder had moved there and had taken her breeding Icelandic sheepdogs with her. When Narri's litter was born there were five little boys and virtually no-one in Portugal had heard of the breed. We saw his picture on the Internet and he looked such a beautiful little puppy that we thought he had to come here!
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Shortly before he was to leave Portugal, his breeder asked if we could possibly take one of his brothers as they were having difficulty finding homes for the puppies and Lufthansa would let them share a crate. To cut a long story short Kari also came, so it was nice company for them at the start and Kari eventually went to Alberta to the son of friends of ours who had one of our dogs some years before. This was probably very fortunate for both Kari and Narri as a new strain of Parvo appeared in Portugal and even though the puppies had had all their shots, the other three little brothers succumbed to it.
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Narri has a nickname of "Jiggs", as he would also do very well in agility! We are planning for him to sire his first litter this year and looking forward to seeing what puppies from Narri and Alfadis will look like. We are also hoping to use him for some herding as he has boundless energy and it would be a good idea to harness some of it.
Our Female Icelandic Sheepdogs
GRIMSNES' ROF (call name Raf)
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Raf arrived in Vancouver from Denmark in 2001 on the same weekend that Alfur arrived from Norway, so they were able to be good playmates for one another. Raf is predominantly black with a long coat but it lies flat, so her appearance with her long coat is much different from even one of our dogs with a medium but upright coat. She is slightly built, compared with some of our other females, and when bred with Kolur we've tended to have a mixture of puppy looks, some tubbier and more like Kolur and others small and slender with the Raf look. |
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Raf has, as is usual, been a very good little mother to her litters of puppies. We usually start weaning the puppies at three weeks of age, but Raf is always really anxious to keep an eye on her puppies even after they've been weaned. She is a very athletic little female, having learned the jumping from Alfur. When she runs and then jumps, she lands like a feather. Again a very affectionate little dog and the favourite of many visitors here. |
Pineridge Gletta
Gletta was a puppy from our last breeding of one of our first females, Lukka fra Keldnakotti. Lukka was bred with Alfur and all three puppies were fairly slight, inheriting this characteristic from Alfur, as well as the upright ears very quickly.
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I had thought of showing Gletta, but so far her only keen interest in walking nicely is when she's following one of our cats! So a lot of work has to happen there. This same sister Vanadis has just had has first litter in Alberta and we are looking forward greatly to Gletta's first litter. Gletta is an excitable little dog, again highly athletic. Even though the boys are traditionally taller than the girls, some of our little girls are pretty fast. |
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Tofra Kolbra (Kolla) and Pineridge Alfadis
Kolla (born March 10, 2007 in Iceland) is growing fast and enjoys farm life. We started taking her to "show" classes but the people giving the classes, who breed and show Alaskan Malamutes, have moved so we have to
practice on our own. It's so interesting to see how similar Kolla's and Alva's colouring is, Alva being a puppy from Grimsnes's Rof and Audur's Kappi. When we had them at the vet's for shots, people in the waiting room thought they were twins! I don't think they really enjoyed last winter, when the snow begain in November and was still falling in May, making for some very deep areas of it where Kolla and Alva would have completely disappeared had they jumped into it!
Both of them went for their CERF tests in April and happily the results were both 'Normal'. Hip x-rays will be done at the beginning of 2009 and sent for scoring. We will breed probably Kolla to Kolur, so will soon be taking him for a sperm check, just to be sure, as he isn't quite as young as he used to be, although not that that shows when he's playing frisbee.
Both Alva and Kolla are very quick to learn and have become accustomed to many different animals, large and small. Kolla is the more inquisitve of the two and is practising her running skills trying to outwit our cats. We always keep our dogs out of the horse paddocks and fields because while the horses would never intentionally kick one of the dogs, they do occasionally send a hoof in the direction of one another and it's not worth risking a dog being in the way!
I'll try and get some interaction pictures with some of the other animals just to show their reactions. Please keep checking our Website to see when the breedings occur in the spring of 2009 for Kolla and Alva.
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