- History of Icelandics 8

Danish Kennel Club 1914

156. Ajax - Black with white markings, Jan 1910

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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Dogs of All Nations, San Francisco, 1915, Walter Esplin Mason

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"Iceland Dog
Color: Brownish or gray, sometimes dirty white or dirty yellow,and is frequently seen with black on the back.
Height: 14 in.
Weight: 45 lbs.
This is a slightly built dog with a "game" temperament. The head is large in proportion to the body, with a broad domed skull, and rather short, snipy muzzle. The ears are large at the base, pointed and carried erect, though sometimes semi-erect. He is a large and deep in chest, short in body, with bushy tail carried over the back. His coat is hard, or medium length, flat and shorter on the head and legs."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )
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Dogs of All Nations, 1905 - History of Icelandics 7

Two drawings from the book : Dogs of All Nations published in London in 1905 and written by Count Henry de Bylandt

I thought Fin's ruff in the drawing looked a little strange then I noticed that with her collar on her, Kria's ruff looks very similar. The hair above points "up" and the hair below the collar points "down".

Korpur has black spots on his legs similar to those of Fin.

Kata looks similar to the dog in the second drawing but she has no white collar.

Kari of Bessastadir - 1882 - History of Icelandics 6

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

Kari was a black and white pied dog given to E. J. Oswald at Bessastadir by Dr. Grimur Thomsen, the famous Icelandic poet. He wrote "By Fell and Fjord" in 1882, published in London.

From page 219: -
"He (Kari) was pure white, with the exception of his black cheeks and nose and pricked black ears, which stood up like two sharp points of rock out of a snow-drift. Indeed in snow he became almost invisible. A sweeter nature than Kari never ran on four legs: Nothing would make him bite or fight; he was friends with the whole world - except, indeed, pigs and donkeys. There are none in Iceland and he looked on them with the utmost disgust, and could scarcely be induced to pass them. I never knew a dog who understood language so well, or who tried so hard to talk. All these attempts were not always very agreeable, and as he shrieked with delight at the prospect of a game of ball, or a walk into town, etc., there were many words that we tried conceal by spelling them; but in two or three days Kari would learn the alias of anything that concerned him, and excite himself as before. Of course he learned plenty of tricks, such as picking pockets at a sign with the utmost delicacy, returning the property afterwards with apologetic grace: he was, in short, the blithest and kindest of companions, evidently inheriting the qualities of many generations with intense human fellowship."

"There are long-haired and short-haired varieties, but even the latter have fine thick coats. They are mostly black or white, or fawn, in colour: they are very fleet and hardy, and most companionable creatures."

Like Kari, my Kata often sneaks napkins off the laps of dinner guests without their knowing it.

Totty and Kria - History of Icelandics 5

Totty earned her third leg for her RN - Rally Novice - title this weekend so she is now officially: - Vinlands Totty, CGC, RN. As you can see, she's exhausted from meeting all those new people and dogs. Bear got his first leg. (Bear forgot what "Down!" means - Totally. He's really cute but - - -)

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From the Danish Kennel Club show 1901: -

152. Pillar II - Black and white from Pillar and Sampa (Sargent Andersens)
Sergent T. Lindholm, Aalborg
and
153. Danna - Black and white from Pillar and Sampa (Sargent Andersens)
Sergent T. Lindholm, Aalborg

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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Race-Hund (Pure-Bred Dogs), Copenhagen 1903, Nancy Madsen


The Iceland Dog by L. de B. Saxlund

"Undoubtedly, the Iceland Dog descends from the Norwegian Finn-Dog, but thanks to the altered circumstances under which it has lived in Iceland, it has assumed a somewhat different appearance and another character."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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Danish Kennel Club - 1903

138. Pris - Black and white, A. Scheving, Copenhagen

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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The Faroes and Iceland, Oxford, 1905, Nelson Annandale


"The Iceland Dog - - - is characterized by a pointed nose, prick ears, thick fur, and a curly tail, which is carried bent upwards over the back; obviously it is a near relative of the wolf, with which it frequently interbreeds.- - - The eyes are often blue and this peculiarity is perpetuated - - - ."
(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

Poser? - History of Icelandics 4

So far all of the research that Mark Watson did for his book refers to "black and white" when talking about "black" color in Icelandics. None of it says black, tan & white People from earlier centuries were the same as people today. They said what they meant. If they meant black & white, that's what they said. If they had meant black, tan & white, then they would have said that, in my opinion.

(Let me be perfectly clear: I like tricolor dogs - black, tan, & white. I like all of the colors and patterns of our Icelandic Sheepdogs. I have many dogs of various colors including black & white and black, tan & white.)


To summarize:
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We know black & white is dominant.
If neither one of the parents is black & white, none of their pups will ever be black & white. To rephrase, black & white pups must have one parent that is black & white.
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We know black & tan is recessive. Both parents can be one of the many shades of tan and they can still have a black, tan and white puppy as long as they are each carrying one copy of the recessive black & tan gene.
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If all of the black & white Icelandics are removed from the gene pool, there will never be another black & white Icelandic. EVER.
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So, if all of the old literature is correct and the black & white Icelandics are "original" and "authentic" and "normal" and we have removed them all from the gene pool, what will happen if we find out we were wrong?


What IF black & white is an original color in Icelandics and we have eliminated all of those dogs?

I have heard people say things like, - well if we let black & whites breed, then pretty soon all of our dogs will be black & white. That may sound reasonable but, to go back to the beginning: - If neither one of the parents is black & white, none of their pups will ever be black & white. To rephrase, black & white pups must have one parent that is black & white. Thus it is easy to avoid producing a black & white pup.

Cimicifuga - History of Icelandics 3

CLICK ONCE OR TWICE ON THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM.)





I think this species of Cimicifuga is ramosa (but I suppose it could be racemosa). I have both in my yard. The earlier flowering species smells absolutely wonderful. This later flowering species looks nicer - possibly.


Hunden og Hunderacerne (The Dog and Dog Breeds), Copenhagen, 1887, Viggo Moeller

"The Iceland Dog resembles the Greenland Dog, but is smaller, more slenderly built and more long-legged. It is somewhat under medium size, being only 10 1/4 - 15 1/2 inches tall, and if anything should be described as small.
The head is comparatively large, with a broad, high-domed skull, rather pointed muzzle and tight lips. The ears are large, broad at the base, pointed (triangular) and upright. The eyes are small, round and dark in color. Head and neck are carried high.
The body is lightly built, with a comparatively short back, broad in front, deep chest. Belly drawn up. Legs slender, well set and well shaped.The foot is long with small, curved claws. The bushy tail is carried curled up over the back.
The coat is of medium length, longest on the haunches, the tail and the underside of the belly, and it lies close to the body. On the muzzle and legs it is short, and there is no plumed fringe on the front legs.
The colour is commonly brownish or greyish and dirty white or yellowish. A usual colour distribution is: back black, underside of the body and limbs white, with the latter colour also on the underside of the tail and its tip, and as a collar around the throat. Dr. Krabbe has obtained a couple of stuffed specimens of this type for the museum of the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural High School of Denmark."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

Wouldn't it be absolutely amazing if one or both of those stuffed dogs still existed in Denmark and they could be compared to modern animals?

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Vore Hunde (Our Dogs), Copenhagen, 1900, Eugen Colding

"The Breed. - - - Its fur is thickly padded with wool, which can be combed off in tufts when it sheds. Its coat is true fur, in other words; it has glossy long hairs, and it slightly resembles the bear. The colour is most frequently white, yellow-white, spotted brown, more rarely black. I have only once seen a true black type in Iceland. The forepart of the body is surprisingly developed in proportion to the hind part of the body, which is slight and slim. - - - - - The Icelandic Sheepdog has pronounced webbing between the toes (and it swims across violent glacier rivers in a fascinating manner).
The head is taperingly wedge-shaped, even more wedge-shaped than that of the Greenland Dog, where the lines of the head are marred by the too heavy jaws and masticatory muscles. The eyes are large, intelligent and exceedingly lively. It is a characteristic of this dog, as of all mountain dogs, that it sees and hears remarkably well, while its sense of smell is less well developed than that of dogs of the plains.
The ears - well, here we come to one of the most easily recognizable racial characteristics - should be capable of being completely pricked, not a single millimetre of the outer edge of the pointed ear may remain hanging when the animal listens, as it does practically all the time when out of doors; then the cone-shaped, finely haired ears are pricked up straight like those of a horse. The great majority of dogs in Iceland have the tip of the ear bent over when their 'ears are pricked up', thereby at once proclaiming themselves to be mongrels.
In the true type animals the wedge-shaped head gradually merges into the handsome, broad and shaggy mane that bristles out to the sides and down across the chest like a bear's mask. Already directly behind the ears it bristles like a sort of clerical ruff (Lutheran) when the animal bends its head. From the shoulders the stocky body tapers both in breadth and height, and, as stated before, the haunches are strikingly small. The tail should be very bushy and stand permanently curled up over the back like a watch-spring, and the hairs should form a sort of parting under the upturned tip of the tail.
In Iceland, the true Iceland Dog is distinguished from the mongrel by its ears, mane and tail.
A thick growth of hair covers the anus - another charm of this animal. On each front leg it has a small spur, on each hind leg a well developed double spur."

The author (Eugen Colding) goes on to talk about the temperament, intelligence, hardiness, behavior, etc. which is extremely interesting and fits perfectly with what we all know. He named his own dog Saumur after the dog in an Icelandic saga.

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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In the Danish Kennel Club Catalog from 1900 there are three Iceland "Spitz" dogs listed all bred by the owner, Sergeant Lindholm, Aalborg, Denmark.

137. Thor - 1899. Black with white markings out of Svartur bred with Pillar

138. Bjoern - 1899. Black with white markings out of Svartur bred with Pillar

139. Freja - 1899. Black with white markings out of Svartur bred with Pillar

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

Viola, Colchicums - History of Icelandics 2

(Click on photos once or twice to enlarge them.)
I have a few old fashioned violas that come up from seed every year; they are biennial. The do poorly in the heat of the summer but do very well in the cool moist
springs and autumns here in Michigan. These have been surviving in my backyard for almost forty years now. Any plant that can survive my dog pack is welcome and encouraged to stay. These are the first flowers for this fall. We have always called this variety "Johnny Jump-Ups" and it breeds true. They are related, obviously, to the large hybrid Pansies.

Iceland: Its Scenes and Sagas, London, 1863, Sabine Baring-Gould

"The Icelandic Dog has already been briefly described in the introduction: Its head is just like that of a fox; it is small, has sharp eyes, short legs, a profusion of hair, a ruff around the neck, a tail curled over the back, and is generally of a white, dappled or tawny colour."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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Ultima Thule; or, A Summer in Iceland, London and Edinburgh, 1875, Richard F. Burton

" - - - The common sort is a little "pariah" not unlike the Pomeranian; stunted, short-backed, and sharp-snouted, with ruffed neck and bushy tail or rather brush, curling and recurling. The colour is mostly brown-black, some are light-brown, deep-black, white and piebald."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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By Fell and Fjord, or Scenes and Studies in Iceland, Edinburgh and London, 1882, E.J. Oswald

"At Bessastadir I was presented with my Icelandic Dog Kari. He was pure white, with the exception of his black cheeks and nose and pricked black ears, which stood up like two sharp points of rock out of a snow-drift." - - - - - - - A sweeter nature than Kari never ran upon four legs: nothing would make him bite or fight; he was friends with the whole world - - - . I never knew a dog who understood language so well, or who tried so hard to talk. - - - There were many words that we tried to conceal by spelling them; but in two or three days Kari would learn the alias of anything that concerned him, and excite himself as before. - - - The well-bred ones are very gentle and intelligent, but shy unless encouraged, and terribly noisy, barking as they run, and shrieking at the smallest hurt. - - - There are long-haired and short-haired varieties but even the latter have fine thick coats. They are mostly black or white, or fawn, in colour: they are very fleet and hardy, and most companionable creatures."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

Colchicums - History of Icelandics 1

Le Chien D'Islande, (The Iceland Dog)
a print in my collection dated 1755 from -
Histoire Naturelle by Count de Buffon

Click once or twice to enlarge.


De Canibus Britanicus by John Caius, 1570,page 37-38

"- - - I mean Iceland Dogs, curled and rough all over; which by reason of the length of their hair make show, neither of face nor of body."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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Encyclopaedia Britannica, Dublin, 1791


"The Iceland Dog is the only one that has not his ears entirely erect; for their extremities are a little inclined; and in Iceland, of all the northern regions has been longest inhabited by half civilized men."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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Journal of a Tour in Iceland in the Summer of 1809, London, William Jackson Hooker


"It is rather below the middle size, well proportioned in its parts, having a short and a sharp nose, much resembling that of a fox and small erect pointed ears, of which the tips only, especially in the young animal, hang down. The hair is coarse, straight, and thick, very variable in colour, but most frequently of a greyish brown; the tail long and bushy, and always carried curled over the back."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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Travels in the Island of Iceland, 1811, Edinburgh/London, Sir George Steuart MacKenzie, Baronet

"Like them (the dogs of Greenland) they are usually covered with long hair, forming about their necks a kind of ruff. Their noses are sharp, their ears pointed, and their tails bushy, and curled over their backs. Their predominant colour is white; yet they vary considerably; and some are entirely brown or black. Very few of them can be induced to go into the water; and though some are of service in guarding the cottages and flocks, and preventing the horses from eating the grass intended for hay, yet the greater number appear very useless. Scarcely any family, however, is without one or two of them."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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Biographical Sketches and Authentic Anecdotes of Dogs, Edinburgh, 1829, Captain Thomas Brown

"This variety of dog (the Iceland Dog) bears a strong resemblance to that of Greenland, differing, however, in the hair and woolly fur not being quite so long. His head is nearly of the same shape, with pricked ears, slightly turned downwards at the tips. His general colour is white, with large patches of black over different parts of the body. In some few instances they are found altogether black."

(From The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, Mark Watson )

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The first photo, Le Chien D'Islande, is of a print dated 1755 from Histoire Naturelle by Count de Buffon. It clearly shows a brown and white dog. The print is part of my collection as is a signed copy of Mark Watson's book, The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956.

n.b. - black, not tri or black/tan/white. BLACK. (Like the black in other Nordic Spitz breeds. I make no claims, just copy from the historical records.)

Would you like to see more about the history?

Korpur and Bear

Korpur and Bear really are very good friends - 99% of the time. (Click to enlarge.)

Pila and Bear

Bear looks exactly like a Disney character in the first photo and perennially shy Pila is hiding behind a perennial Hibiscus. (Click to enlarge.)

Thordunu Kria

We all enjoy being outside at this time of year! Kria loves to scan the horizon for predatory hawks and evil-doer chipmunks from her secret hide-away. The air smells great in the fall. (Click to enlarge photos.)

Early Autumn

I love the fall and spring. Temperatures are finally cooling down, it's overcast and pleasant and great to work outside again. Today the Sedums, Colchicums, garlic chives and anemones (in that order top to bottom) were flowering! Absolutely lovely.

Click once or twice on photos to enlarge them.

Fall classes have started at SDTC. This 'term' I have a Puppy class, a Fundamentals of Obedience class and a Rally class. I really enjoy helping people train their canine companions. I am also lucky to be an AKC CGC evaluator and really enjoy helping folks earn their CGC award. Kata is enrolled in her Advanced Agility class and loves it. We are both in (slightly) better shape. It's time to at least think about entering more trials. Jerry, one of the instructors at SDTC, nags me about showing. I love training; showing? Not so much.

Svörtin

Svörtin is a very nice three year old female who lives in Europe.

She has had one litter with Ferjukots Sorrow. (See photo to the left.) Because both parents are black, tan and white, all the puppies are too.

she has A hips as do both of her parents and three of her four grandparents. Her current owner is looking to place her in a new home and she would be a welcome addition to our North American gene pool. (The photos in the previous blog entry are also of Svörtin.)

Clicking once or twice on the photos or pedigree will enlarge them.

If you might be interested in owning or co-owning Svörtin, send me an email.

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