One of the things why I love this breed is that each Iceland dog is an individual, both in looks and in character. It has been especially interesting to see Fagur grow because I know both parents so well. I like dogs that are close to nature, i.e. primitive type of dogs, especially Nordic spitz breeds are close to my heart. So it wasn’t a difficult decision to choose this breed when I already had a Finnish Lapphund.

Freki is my second Icel.dog, the first one was Ullälvas Sorti aka Sälli who was very out of luck and had an accident when he was only ten weeks old. This accident caused severe health problems and Sorti had to be euthanized at the age of four. I had known all the time that this had to be done some day and that’s why I got Freki. When I met him at Helsinki Airport, it was love at first sight.
I got Skutla a couple of months after Sorti had been put to sleep. Some of you may wonder how I could have another dog so soon, but the reason was that Skutla and Sorti are littermates. When I heard Skutla needed a new home I thought it was meant to happen. I haven’t regretted that decision because Skutla is very charming. I’m very grateful to Skutla’s breeder because she was still ready to sell me another dog in spite of what happened to Sorti.
Last but not least is Fagur, the son of Freki and Skutla. I didn’t actually plan to have him but here he is. I often say that Icel.Dogs are like old cars, if you take one to your backyard, there’ll soon be a few more...

The dogs are first and foremost companion dogs with whom I like to go for long walks. They enjoy it too, especially when we go to the woods or the field and they are allowed to run off leash. There they try to catch voles, bark at birds and sniff tracks left by rabbits, deer or elks.
Occasionally I take Freki or Skutla to a dog show and with the same I can meet other Icel.dog owners. Fagur was neutered when he was one year old so he won’t be seen in a conformation ring.

Freki has always been very easygoing to live with, he is self confident, affectionate and extremely co-operative and I've said that you'll have a dog like him only once in a lifetime.
He has been successful in competitive obedience and achieved Finnish Obedience Champion title in September ’02 being the first Icel.Dog ever in Finland to do so. After achieving the title we left competitive obedience rings for a year because of my lack of time and interest and focused on training search and rescue. When Fagur began to compete in obedience, it was natural that I restarted ob-training with Freki. At that point I had to choose between obedience and search and rescue training because I didn't have enough time to do both properly. Chose ob-training mostly because you can do it single-handed too.

Skutla has proved to be a very adaptable dog. She feels comfortable with anybody and anywhere and is very patient with children though she has never lived with them. However, now at the older age she prefers to be at home and in peaceful surroundings. So it wasn't a suprise that she adjusted to our life very quickly after moving to live with us. Everything would have been perfect but there was one major problem: Skutla's on-leash behaviour on daily walks. She was franticly barking at cars and bikes passing by and other dogs, of course. With a lot of work and dedication I reshaped her behaviour to more agreeable form. I also took agility courses with Skutla for fun and to develop our co-operation. She liked it very much and she was often believed to be a young dog because she performed the obstacles with great enthusiasm and was - and is - such a happy and lively dog.

One of this breed's functions is to be a watch dog and Fagur takes this duty very seriously. Not a titmouse can move without Fagur noticing and reacting to it and this makes him not so easygoing dog in urban environment. Lots of training has raised his thresold and fortunately every day more and more stimulus is needed before he is triggered off. Fagur is very independent for a Icel.Dog and a bit dominant too, despite the fact that he was neutered young, and that's why clear leadership is very important. He is not pushy to people but he ignores you and does what he likes if he doesn't consider you as his leader. Towards Freki he is pushy though Freki is very kind and stable - a true top dog.
Fagur has followed his father in obedience rings and achieved Finnish Obedience Champion title in August ´07. So far Fagur and Freki are the only Icel. Dogs in Finland who have accomplished this title. Fagur has become a very good obedience dog but it has taken lots of time and effort and that is why I am very, very proud of the Fin ObCh title he now has. I started to train also him search and rescue but had to leave it for the same reason as with Freki.

In training I use positive, reward based methods because I have found it very effective and I think training should be fun for both trainer and trainee. Some people say that obedience tranining is boring but I (and my dogs) think diffenrently. It's all about imagination. It's also very challenging to train dogs with different personalities. With a dog like Freki, who is very co-operative by nature, you can focus on performing "the tricks" from the beginning, but with a dog like Fagur you must first concentrate on the relationship and everything else is secondary.
I reward my dogs with food and tug-of-war and I have noticed that this breed, being so lively and energetic by nature, can easily get so enthusiastic that it can make the dog stressed if you aren't aware of that. That is why, in my opinion, it’s also very important to teach the dog to calm down and do nothing but lie.

Updated 12th Aug 2007