Illustrated Breed Standard Chapter

Best of Breed winner and Best of Opposite from the First National Speciality
Wausean, Ohio, October 2-4, 2009
Judge Guðrún R. Guðjohnsen.

Welcome to the Icelandic Sheepdog Association of America’s (ISAA) Illustrated Standard of the Icelandic
Sheepdog (ISD). This is a tool specifically designed for ISAA members and AKC judges who wish to learn more
about the AKC Standard of Excellence for the ISD. It has been reviewed and endorsed by the Icelandic
Sheepdog Breed Club, Deild Íslenska Fjárhundsins (DÍF). We hope you find it a useful tool.

To get started, please utilize the buttons to your left, beginning with a complete copy of the AKC Breed Standard.
Following that, you will find a button that will take you to a section regarding the history of the breed, and then the
standard is broken into sections, beginning with General Appearance, etc.

Each button contains the specific pertinent section taken from the AKC Standard, followed by the FCI Standard with
Comments from Hans-Åke Sperne, photographic examples of ISDs, judges evaluations and drawings (when
available). The AKC standard for the ISD is based upon the international standard (FCI) which was developed by
the Icelandic Sheepdog Breed Club, Deild Íslenska Fjárhundsins (DÍF). It mirrors the FCI standard almost word for
word, so the comments are extremely relevant to our standard.

DÍF has said that three of the experts on the ISD are Guðrún R. Guðjohnsen, Hans-Åke Sperne and Sigríður
Pétursdóttir. They are pictured above left to right. All Evaluations found under photographs are from an expert
judge or submitted for inclusion by DÍF. If there is more than one evaluation for any given dog, we have used
the evaluation of another expert. All evaluations from FCI/ISIC ISD clubs have been translated from the original
language. All photographs utilized are of dogs that placed first, second or third, or the equivalent for an FCI
country, under an expert judge as defined by DÍF or were specifically selected by an expert judge or
submitted by DÍF. Our intent is to show you good examples of the breed from around the world, as
determined by a breed expert or the home country.

We recommend that as a companion to the Illustrated Standard, you also purchase the Icelandic Sheepdog Video.
The video is based on the official breed standard for the Icelandic Sheepdog. The breed standard sets down
clearly what the dog should look like, its temperament and working ability. For more information,
please click here: http://www.hrfi.is/default.asp?Page=346

We would like to thank the Board of Directors of the ISAA for this opportunity, Mari-Beth O’Neill of the AKC, the
Icelandic Kennel Club, AKC Judges Pat Putman and Pat Hastings, the Board of Directors of DÍF, for their
assistance with our standard and the membership of the ISAA for voting it in overwhelmingly in 2009. We also owe a
tremendous debt of gratitude to Helga Andrésdóttir for her original translation of the standard, without which none of
this would have been possible, including our work to create a standard that is specifically modeled after the FCI
standard written by the country of origin, Iceland.

We would also like to thank the members who shared evaluations and photographs of their dogs from the National.
Additionally, we are grateful to our partners from the Icelandic Sheepdog International Cooperation (ISIC) for
their generosity of time and resources; specifically, Guðrún R. Guðjohnsen (ISIC/C), Hans-Åke Sperne (ISIC/C),
Sigríður Pétursdóttir (DÍF), Ami Rooth (SIFK), Jørgen Metzdorff (DKK), Þorsteinn Thorsteinson (DÍF),
Else Westermann (DKK), Susanne Schütte (DCNH), Dorthe Friis Reitzel (DKK), Pia Stämpfli (IHCS),
Ulla Sonne (DKK), Monika Karlsdóttir (DÍF), and the many others whose assistance
made this project possible.

The ISAA is the first official Icelandic Sheepdog breed club outside the FCI that has been recognized by the ISIC
breed clubs as a partner. This partnership has proven invaluable to the process of creating this illustrated standard.
If you would like to read more about our international partnership,
please click here: http://www.icelanddogs.com/ISIC.html.

Of course, we wish Sir Mark Watson could be present as his dream of full AKC recognition is realized as of June
30, 2010. He and Sigríður Pétursdóttir worked so hard in the beginning to save the breed from extinction and we
wish to honor them by not changing the breed, which is Sigríður’s primary concern and request.

We hope you enjoy this information and find it a useful tool as you learn about the ISD. Please direct any questions to
isaabod@gmail.com and we will be happy to help in any way possible.

Best regards,

Judges Education Committee
June, 2010

Introduction to the Illustrated Standard

The ISAA Mission Statement

The Icelandic Sheepdog Association of America (ISAA) is organized for the express purpose of
promoting and preserving the welfare of the Icelandic Sheepdog in America. Towards this end, the ISAA
is dedicated to serving the best interest of the Icelandic Sheepdog through increasing public awareness,
establishing a resource network, and promoting proper husbandry and breeding practices of the Icelandic
Sheepdog in America.

Endorsed by the Icelandic Sheepdog Breed Club, Deild Íslenska Fjárhundsins (DÍF).

~ Dedicated to the memory of Iceland's first champion ISCH Íslands Garða Tinni ~

ISAA Makes News in Icelandic Kennel Club Magazine: Samur

Recently we received news from the USA that the Icelandic Sheepdog had become a fully
recognized AKC breed. This the result of many years of work of the ISAA in the USA.
The Board of the ISAA was in a close cooperation with the Board of DIF in coordinating
our standard with theirs, but AKC standards are different from FCI standards in structure.
This cooperation has been both positive and necessary because the standard that the ISAA
had previously presented was not acceptable at all in DIF's assessment.

Translated by Thordur Runolfsson
August 2010