Icelandic Sheepdog Puppies - 10/27/2021

 The Icelandic Sheepdog Puppies from Ullalvas Smari and Vinlands Kit are now two weeks old and have just recently opened their eyes.

Watson, Abba, Kappu

Abba, Kappu

Watson, Abba

Kappu*

Abba**

Watson***

Is this a Blue Moon?

I attended a fiber festival at nearby Camp Cavell last weekend, excellent spot, very nice people, and gorgeous old trees.

We were warned last week that we would have a killing frost so I took some quick snaps of some flowers. The frost didn't happen but the shots are still nice so . . . 

Dahlia

Dahlia

Dahlia

Dahlia

Michael Mass Daisy (fall aster)

Michael Mass Daisy (fall aster)

Chrysanthemum

Ship - of course.

The puppies haven't been officially named yet; we're still working on them. I'm thinking of *Kappu for the first born in remembrance of his Great Grandfather; *Abba for the Swedish pop group because her father, Ullalvas Smari, was Swedish; and *Watson (or perhaps Markus Watson) named for the Brit who brought international attention to the breed thereby saving them from extinction. 

I had two doctors' appointments last week, an ophthalmologist on Monday and a dermatologist on Wednesday. I picked up a really nasty virus from one, probably the Wednesday appointment because by Friday afternoon I was very sick with a deep chest cold. I've been trying to nurse myself and keep up with the dogs and the pups. My abdomen is sore from all the coughing, deep chest coughing. Of course a doctor's office is a great place to pick up new infections. That's where sick people congregate. 

 Another beautiful morning yesterday on the shores on Michigan's Lake Huron. I love it here, especially in the morning as the day begins.

I went "down" to Port Huron to my dermatologist Brian Sofen, M.D. to have more cancers removed. A large-ish basal cell carcinoma right in the middle of my forehead requiring about a dozen stitches and another on my right forearm also requiring about a dozen stitches which will be sent out for analysis. More coming soon. Covid has had many such stories about people putting off treatments for various issues/problems and just now trying to play catch-up. Meanwhile my left arm is continuing to heal from the removal of the melanoma there. The lymph nodes were clear and the margins of the tissue removed were also clear.

Kappu, ABBA, and Watson continue to grow and prosper. They were born last Wednesday so are now officially one week old today. Taking photos of my pups has always been a challenge. Having a partner to hold or position the puppies would be wonderful. Nevertheless, here are a few snaps taken this morning. Puppies move constantly! Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

ABBA 

After the Swedish pop group of course. 

Lillemor who bred Smari, ABBA's father, was Swedish.

Watson (After Mark Watson)

Kappu (After his Great Grandfather)

Kappu

Watson, ABBA, Kappu

Watson, Kappu, ABBA

Watson, Kappu, ABBA

Watson, Kappu

When I first moved here I planted a small Sassafras "tree". (Much smaller than a sapling.) David has raved about the fall colors of the Sassafras in his Rhode Island yard so I had to have one too. Every year it tried to grow but failed. Too much shade perhaps, eaten by deer or rabbits, for sure, too much competition for water and "breathing room", probably. So this year finally I gave up, literally. Then just now I noticed this green thing: - 

One of the first woodland trees I learned to identify as a boy was a Sassafras tree. Its leaves come in several shapes: - sometimes entire (with no indentations), sometimes with one indentation or two lobes making the leaf like like our state's lower peninsula, the "mitten", and sometimes with two indentations or three lobes. Looking closely at the above photos I think you can see all three permutations. I just now surrounded it with some fencing which I hope will protect it. As a kid I was told that the roots of Sassafras trees could be turned into root beer. I don't know if that's true and I don't really care. Regardless, it's a nice story for a kid learning to appreciate the outdoors, eh?

Icelandic Sheepdog Puppies - October 2021

 Ullalvas Smari and Vinlands Ulfbehrta Kit produced three puppies, two males, one female, last week. Tentative names are: - Vinlands Smari Kappu, Vinlands Smari Abba, Vinlands Smari Watson. The pups got off to a slow start because of a birthing issue but are now making up for lost time. Kit is a great mother.

Here are some photos taken today. (It's hard for my camera to focus on "white fur".) Clicking on the photos will enlarge them. For more information, see the earlier post from September 30, 2021

Abba, Kappu, Watson

Kappu

Abba

Watson

The following are not very good shots and have more than one puppy but I thought you might like to see them regardless. When Kit takes a potty break I like to try and get some photos before she returns. However, when she leaves they soon start "looking" for her. They miss her and want her back. The longer she's gone, the more they move around looking (smelling actually) for her.

Abba, Watson

Abba, Watson

Kappu, Abba

Watson, Abba, Kappu

Icelandic Sheepdog Puppies Fall 2021

 Ullalvas Smari and Vinlands Ulfbehrta Kit are the parents of three lively new puppies, two boys and a girl. Although it's still a little early for me to tell for sure, I think the boys are both chocolate-brown and the girl will be a tan shade. (For the record: - I am honestly NOT trying to breed chocolate-brown dogs. This just happened. I was hoping to get some black & tan tricolors.) The pups' inbreeding score is 0% - very good and also quite unusual. Inbreeding scores reflect how many ancestors in a pedigree are repeated on both the sire's and dam's sides. This score (0%) means that as far back as five generations there are no repeated ancestors on both parents' sides. I'm attaching their pedigree below. These pups should all be great conformation show dogs. It really should go without saying - but I'm saying it regardless. Of course, OF COURSE, they should all be good performance dogs in obedience, rally, agility and all the newer dog sports as well. Icelandic Sheepdogs are amazingly smart and tractable dogs. Clicking on photos will enlarge them. My email follows at the end of this post.

At this age the pups resemble hamsters - in my opinion. Still, they are really cute. And lovable. So is mother Kit.

Grandmother Vinlands Totty was one of the first American Kennel Club (AKC) Grand Champion Icelandic Sheepdogs. I love that she is a large female. In my opinion, we need to slightly increase the average size of Icelandics. Although Kit is 16" tall at the shoulders, the first born boy was, like his grandmother Totty, a large puppy so I'm expecting (hoping) he will have inherited Totty's larger size (still within the standard of course) from grandma. All of the pups will have Smari, their sire, as part of their names.

Some shots of Lake Huron recently: - 

I was concerned early on that because I was using artificial insemination with frozen semen that litter size might be affected. Dr. William Schultz in Okemos, Michigan near Michigan State University did the surgical implantation at his clinic for us. Joe Schultz has been very helpful and I appreciate the extra mile he has gone to for us. Kit had three puppies in her previous live cover litter with several ties. She also had three pups in this litter. Of course I know that's anecdotal but it means something to me.

N.B. - I have heard that the AKC might one day, perhaps soon, like the CKC, decide to allow accents on dogs' names. This is Smari's accented name: - Ullälvas Smári. On his pedigree (below) for now I have used his unaccented name: - Ullalvas Smari. 

If you're interested in one of these excellent pups,  please feel free to drop me a note. Their pedigree (below - clicking on it will enlarge it) shows some great dogs from Iceland, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and the United States. There are photos of some of them in a recent previous post. I hope to be able to find great homes for them. Preference will be given to homes where they might be shown in conformation and/or performance events and where they might be bred. These should truly be exceptional pups. 

jaimehansen1@frontier.com