Smalahundur Posted November 30, 2009 Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 I´m new to this forum ( have spend some time lurking though, there´s a wealth info here, the search function has already prevented a lot of silly questions..), and I´d like to introduce myself. I live in Iceland, though my wife and I are not Icelanders (our two kids are though). Since a couple of years we´re living on a farm owning a small flock of sheep (66 ewes, 6 rams and growing). The whole animal hobby started way earlier with horses by the way, we´ve got nine of those. We also have two (non BC) dogs and a cat. Icelandic sheep farming is very different from that in my home country (the Netherlands). Here after lambing time the ewes and their lambs are simply send on the highlands where they roam free all summer and are rounded up in september (slaughter time) after that they are usually grazing on pasture until weather gets so bad they are put in the stable for the winter. This rounding up is mostly done on horseback but quads are getting more and more popular where the land scape allows use of motorized vehicles (luckely most of it doesn´t so the horses won´t retire soon). These are the so called “göngur” the longer ones take a couple of days, nights spend in shabby mountain cabins. I couple of weeks ago the main “BC man” of Iceland gave a sheepdog clinic near our place and though I don´t own a BC I decided to attend (also cheaper without a dog...) Well this really perked my interest and it´s inevitable now; I need a good Border Collie. So now I´m basically studying the theory of working with stockdogs, reading books and websites. Several posters here recommend the book of Virgil Holland, so that´s on its way. I read the icelandic translation of “the farmer´s dog” by John Holmes , but wasn´t too impressed (original unrevised edition don´t know about the newer versions). So now the next step is to get a border collie, but that´s something that certainly “in case of pup” has no hurry. Ambition is first of all to train a good useful farmdog, but who knows, there has been some trialling done here in Icelandic so maybe in the long run...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Crocker Posted November 30, 2009 Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 Welcome to the boards. Was the clinician by any chance named Gunnar( canot recall his last name). If it was not him then he is another Islandic man who trains and judges border collies. I would imagine he also gives lessons . I can give you a link if you like to go to a website owned by folks here in California where he once judged a few years ago and I am sure they can give you his email address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted November 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 Thanks, and yes that´s him, he´s called Gunnar Einarsson. I didn´t know he also went to California. I understand he worked a couple of years on big sheep farms in New Zealand, I think he also said Australia. He also travelled to Great Brittain, and imported most of the dogs he´s breeding with from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted November 30, 2009 Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 Welcome. I look forward to hearing about your sheep herding and border collie experiences in Iceland. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 I look forward to having you here too! I have Icelandic sheep which I have outcrossed with my flock. I love them! We had Icelandic horses donated to the project years ago. The only ones I had ever ridden. They were very fun, and in winter very furry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 Thanks for the friendly welcome. We just entered the next fase; We got a little border collie! She´s called Táta (classic icelandic name for a female dog, pronounced as "Tauta"). She comes from a local farm, from working parents. She´s a smart little girl, and pretty relaxed, sleeps most of the time . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 Welcome! I hope you that you and your young girl, Tata, have a long and happy working partnership together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 Wonderful! Could you possibly post a few pictures of Tata? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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