Friday, March 22, 2019

I have been looking for a puppy to add to my Icelandic Sheepdog family for more than a year. Many people have been very kind and have helped me along the way; I deeply appreciate their assistance. (Clicking on photos will enlarge them.)

Kria

The Icelandics I have now and have had in the past are not perfect, nor am I. My mentor when I was just starting my Viking Voyage about twenty years ago, suggested that I list the traits in order from most important to less important that I wanted to have in the dogs that I was going to produce. She also suggested that I list the traits that would be unacceptable.

Kit

That was and is a difficult task but I tried. As I've been looking, I've asked people about their dogs; I wanted to know about the genetic issues, the temperaments, the intelligence, the tractability, the outward appearances, the conformation pluses and minuses, etc. Most reputable breeders are happy to discuss their dogs, realizing that, again, there are no perfect dogs.

Totty

I have always been very thankful for the help I've had along the way. Sadly, as a friend told me recently, I am not very good at expressing my thanks. She called me an 'isolate" which really hurt, probably because it was true. Although I do like people, I honestly don't know how to express that, how to relate to them. Other people make it look so easy. My brain doesn't seem wired that way.

Pila

There's a temptation to blame the way I was raised but many (most) people of my generation were raised the same way; many have overcome their lack of "socialization". Although I have not completely given up on myself, I'm pretty sure that in my mid-seventies, I'm almost completely baked.

Korpur and Bear

Recently a kind person who I respect pointed me in the direction of a litter of pups. I could find out very little information about the pups - those qualities that I wanted to have in my dogs and the puppies I wanted to breed. There were many unanswered and maybe even unanswerable questions. So I dismissed the litter and I was unkind. I deeply regret that.

American Goldfinch (winter colors)

Dawn Today

When the wind and waves are active, the sediment is stirred up and the water takes on a tannish shade. This is more true now because the ice is virtually all gone and the sediments haven;t settled to the bottom of the lake yet. Far out in the distance the water is very deep and the bottom remains undisturbed so it's very deep blue..

I Ching

 Violet