Hello Folks
Well Breed History has been made again by Greenstone Thunder in AHBA!! Go Icelandics!
Greenstone Thunder HCT, JHD, went to a AHBA Trial this past weekend and he now has his first leg of HTD 1.. Way to go Deb and Thunder!!
Only one more leg to go and he will have his HTD 1.. very cool..
I wish I could say that there is photos but Doug was not able to make the trail and so no photos from the event.. they will see if they can get photos and video from the next one..
Happy Holidays.. Doug is getting his own Greenstone Herding Icelandic, Greenstone Cleo is joining the family! and I am looking forward to posting her own wins in the future! but most of all I am just happy that both Thunder and Cleo are happy and well-loved members of their Family.
I am also Honored as a breeder, because this is the third family that has come back in two or three years for a second Icelandic Sheepdog from my home to theirs! That means so MUCH to me, I can't tell you how proud and happy I am that my puppy owners like my dogs and me enough to come back for a second when the time is right.
I know that Jill at Pineridge had the honor this year of someone coming back for two wonderful ISD puppies, after their first Pineridge Icelandic Sadly passed away in her old age.. and of course they wanted another Icelandic.. While I do hope for my babies sakes, that its a long time coming! that I will have that honor someday in the future as well..
"Herding Trial Dog classes, with levels HTD I, II and III, take place on a standard course. All levels include an outrun, lift, fetch, wear and/or drive, and pen (the pen may be on the fence for the started level, but is free-standing for the higher levels). At the started level, the outrun is short and the handler may accompany the dog and sheep throughout the course. At the intermediate level, the outrun is longer and the handler may accompany the dog only partway through the course. At the advanced level, the outrun is longer, the handler remains at the handler's post until time to pen, and after the pen there is an additional exercise (removing a ribbon from a marked sheep). HTD trials are designed to be held in large fields, but may be held in arenas with special permission. "
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Types of Breeders -Information for a Show/Pet Owners to be.
I first say this wonderful page of write ups was done by Peggy D Melton, and I have used her writings as a starting place, its been modified to fit our breed and what is happening today within our different breeders.
This is purely a subjective approach to helping the newcomer understand the differences in facilities that may be encountered while searching for their next family pet, or their first show prospect There are always exceptions to every rule. Every rule except never say never or always. Let the buyer be informed. Doesn't that sound better than, "Let the buyer beware."
BACK YARD BREEDER: The BYB is disliked for many reasons. The number one reason is that they are responsible for the development of many health problems seen in common pet animals of all breeds. It gives the dedicated breeder as well as the breed in general a bad reputation. This type of person has a registered dog and thinks it would be fun, or profitable to have a litter of puppies. Perhaps they want the children to enjoy the miracle of birth first hand. Without thought to genetic problems, eye problems, hip, thyroid, skin, inherited epilepsy. The list goes on and on. They find someone else with an opposite sex of the same breed, in Icelandic, they often buy two puppies and only ever breed to those two together, litter after litter, year after year!. Obviously the only qualification necessary and they have a litter. From this hastily produced litter they then sell (if they are lucky) the puppies without imparting any knowledge on the care the little guy will need. Often because they themselves do not know. They do not explain the breed's good or bad points and when these buyers have questions and problems, they receive no help at all from the people who took their money and closed the door. Without guidance with their new charge, problems often develop and often result in owner-turn in at the local Humane Society. Abandoned or just neglected in a small dog run in the back yard, allowed to run the neighborhood, or tied to a tree. If you couldn't tell, I have little patience with this type of person.
BackYard Hobby Breeders: Now "Hobby Breeders" are wonderful, but there are a few Backyard Hobby Breeders, these are the folks that have figured out that "you" will not buy from a Backyard breeder, and they have stepped up JUST enough to give the appearance of being a hobby Breeder, they do health tests (but if you watch close, their dogs are ALWAYS PERFECT or if they do have something.. it will never bother them!), they might show once or twice a year (JUST to Say they did it), they might take a dog class or two but their dogs have no titles in any of the dog sports.
Two Big Tip Off's for this type of breeder is breeding "rare" that does not meet the standard, they have a Rare coat color, or a Rare Eye Color, or a Rare Family line or a Rare Extra Small or Extra Large examples of the breed.. the best one I ever read on the website, was a rare super large, long legged untypical color..(this dog would no more win in the show ring nor did it look like an Icelandic).. to addesss each of the rares above with an answer, here goes..
Rare colors- this means that the color is not approved by the breed standard or that its faulted in the standard and the show rings -Often the colors that are faulted by the Icelandic Standard are done so because there are related Health risks to those colors or patterns but the breeder certainly won't tell you about that part of the deal! If they even know!
Rare Eye colors- Again these would be colors not allowed or faulted in the Icelandic Breed Standard and once again, these colors were made a fault because they either took away part of what "makes" the breed type or because their can have known health side effects, but its doubtful that these Hobby Back yard Breeders know or would share with you, what those possable bad side effeect are..
They often seem to breed the "smallest or the Largest" , now I would love to tell you why they choose to do this, but the truth is the best I can figure is that they start out with inferiour breeding stock and they have the hangover from the Backyard breeder mind set of " if its got a purebred pedigree- then you need to breed it!"
The second big Tip off- Total and Complete LACK OF BREED TYPE- When you go to a good Hobby Kennel or a Good Show Kennel, in the Icelandic Sheepdog Breed you can and most likely will see both coat types (Med and Long), and many different coat colors- Cream to deep reddish brown, Chocolate, and Black Tri, in terms of Coat Pattern, you can see very little white all the way up to Peids, and all are allowed by the standard, and are part of what makes our wonderful breed.
But they should at least look like the same breed!, they should have the same general look to their heads, their body outlines, their leg lengths etc.. now each kennel or breeder might have a slightly different look then each other but what we are taking about is "Within their own kennel" the dogs should look mostly alike..
But not in a the Backyard Hobby Kennel, they will still be breeding their "Pet Qaulity" which comes in all shapes/sizes/looks dogs.. you will look at them and each dog can appear to often be a different crossbred ISD.. Even when they start keeping back dogs, you will often find that their keep back dogs will all look different, this is because the breeder has no idea what to look for and often does not care that they are producing generation after generation of pet qaulity puppies..
If you just want a pet, and you don't care if it looks like a Icelandic To the breed standard, then this is perfectly fine kennel to get a pet dog from, but I would make sure that you are only paying a much lower price for a pet quality ISD out of Pet Qaulity ISD Parents, the only thing this kennel has going for it, is that it does its health tests.
If you are looking for a Typical looking Icelandic Sheepdog pet puppy or a Show/Breeding Icelandic Sheepdog, it would do best to stay away from the Hobby-BackYard Breeders.. I regret to say that we have a number of these folks within our breed.. and I highly recommend that you keep an eye out for them and steer clear.. They are getting better in someways at hiding what they are..so you as the buyer need to become informed and make a smart choice for your home and family
HOBBY BREEDERS: The Hobby Breeder is perhaps the kind of breeder that is encountered most often on Icelandic web sites. A family that houses between three and seven dogs of either sex and has one or two litters every so often. This is a well-planned event and treated with much reverence. Their dogs are mostly kept in the house and are part of their family. They do not pursue the CKC breed ring on a weekly basis, but do go on occasion and take great pride in their wins and accomplishments in all venues of CKC/UKC competition. There is so much more than just the conformation ring. Obedience, herding, coursing, agility, therapy dogs, the list is endless. You will often find an outstanding show-prospect puppy from this type of home as they do strive to produce the best based on their knowledge. When looking for your pet, you can ask a few questions and request copies of the pedigrees and any genetic test results of the dogs being bred. It is easy to spot the difference from a Back-Yard Breeder (BYB) and a Hobby Breeder based on the answers to a few well-worded questions.
SHOW KENNEL: Another type of breeder you will see is a show kennel. A show kennel usually houses somewhere between 10 and 30 dogs at one time. This is the breeder who seriously hits the breed ring almost every weekend, hires handlers to go when they can't, and seriously advertises and campaigns their dogs to completion of numerous CKC awards. The difference here is usually the amount of knowledge and the amount of time devoted to their dogs. A show kennel breeder can quote the standard forwards and backward upon request, run down family lines at will. They can recall wins from the past and be able to equate those wins to the present as a comparison. They can discuss the current genetic problems that exist in their breed today and yesterday. They take great pride and care in the quality of the health of their breeding stock as well as in the looks. The Show Kennel Breeder as the Hobby Breeder, is deserving of your respect and your acknowledgement of their vast knowledge and willingness to help newcomers get started. This is also an excellent place to begin your search for your new puppy. Out of every litter produced for show quality, only a few of each litter will be deemed extraordinary enough to be placed in a show home, or kept as a show prospect. The others from that litter will be offered (hopefully on a spay-neuter agreement) to families that meet the qualifications of the breeder. You will get a lovely puppy that will be healthy and you can be proud to share with your friends and family. You will also get their phone number with a willing listener should difficulties arise..
PUPPY MILL: This type of establishment is the worse. At a puppy mill one can expect to find atrocious housing condition and poor nutrition of the breeding stock. Often these dogs are kept in small cages or pens and bred constantly to produce very unhealthy and unhappy puppies. These puppies are then sold wholesale to auction houses, web sites spouting several different breeds available, and pet stores where they are resold as valuable purebred CKC puppies at great costs to unsuspecting buyers. When the productive years are over, or health problem come to light, the non-productive stock is disposed of. Often inhumanely, always unfairly. This is the type of situation we hear about on the news, in many articles written in Time Magazine and other quality publications, and is the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel for ethics and kindness to our loyal companions.
PUREBRED RESCUE ORGANIZATIONS: An excellent source for a family addition. Many devoted people donate their time and money to rehome unwanted dogs with their only reward being the smile on the faces of the new families and the wagging tails as their charges finally get to go home. These dogs are usually older and have often had traumatic experiences that they may carry with them forever. A rescued dog can be a great find, but one must be careful and listen to the advice of the rescue people in regarding what to expect from this particular dog. Most all rescue people have the experience to rehab the most difficult personality problems and are willing to explain what can be expected of the new dog.
This is purely a subjective approach to helping the newcomer understand the differences in facilities that may be encountered while searching for their next family pet, or their first show prospect There are always exceptions to every rule. Every rule except never say never or always. Let the buyer be informed. Doesn't that sound better than, "Let the buyer beware."
BACK YARD BREEDER: The BYB is disliked for many reasons. The number one reason is that they are responsible for the development of many health problems seen in common pet animals of all breeds. It gives the dedicated breeder as well as the breed in general a bad reputation. This type of person has a registered dog and thinks it would be fun, or profitable to have a litter of puppies. Perhaps they want the children to enjoy the miracle of birth first hand. Without thought to genetic problems, eye problems, hip, thyroid, skin, inherited epilepsy. The list goes on and on. They find someone else with an opposite sex of the same breed, in Icelandic, they often buy two puppies and only ever breed to those two together, litter after litter, year after year!. Obviously the only qualification necessary and they have a litter. From this hastily produced litter they then sell (if they are lucky) the puppies without imparting any knowledge on the care the little guy will need. Often because they themselves do not know. They do not explain the breed's good or bad points and when these buyers have questions and problems, they receive no help at all from the people who took their money and closed the door. Without guidance with their new charge, problems often develop and often result in owner-turn in at the local Humane Society. Abandoned or just neglected in a small dog run in the back yard, allowed to run the neighborhood, or tied to a tree. If you couldn't tell, I have little patience with this type of person.
BackYard Hobby Breeders: Now "Hobby Breeders" are wonderful, but there are a few Backyard Hobby Breeders, these are the folks that have figured out that "you" will not buy from a Backyard breeder, and they have stepped up JUST enough to give the appearance of being a hobby Breeder, they do health tests (but if you watch close, their dogs are ALWAYS PERFECT or if they do have something.. it will never bother them!), they might show once or twice a year (JUST to Say they did it), they might take a dog class or two but their dogs have no titles in any of the dog sports.
Two Big Tip Off's for this type of breeder is breeding "rare" that does not meet the standard, they have a Rare coat color, or a Rare Eye Color, or a Rare Family line or a Rare Extra Small or Extra Large examples of the breed.. the best one I ever read on the website, was a rare super large, long legged untypical color..(this dog would no more win in the show ring nor did it look like an Icelandic).. to addesss each of the rares above with an answer, here goes..
Rare colors- this means that the color is not approved by the breed standard or that its faulted in the standard and the show rings -Often the colors that are faulted by the Icelandic Standard are done so because there are related Health risks to those colors or patterns but the breeder certainly won't tell you about that part of the deal! If they even know!
Rare Eye colors- Again these would be colors not allowed or faulted in the Icelandic Breed Standard and once again, these colors were made a fault because they either took away part of what "makes" the breed type or because their can have known health side effects, but its doubtful that these Hobby Back yard Breeders know or would share with you, what those possable bad side effeect are..
They often seem to breed the "smallest or the Largest" , now I would love to tell you why they choose to do this, but the truth is the best I can figure is that they start out with inferiour breeding stock and they have the hangover from the Backyard breeder mind set of " if its got a purebred pedigree- then you need to breed it!"
The second big Tip off- Total and Complete LACK OF BREED TYPE- When you go to a good Hobby Kennel or a Good Show Kennel, in the Icelandic Sheepdog Breed you can and most likely will see both coat types (Med and Long), and many different coat colors- Cream to deep reddish brown, Chocolate, and Black Tri, in terms of Coat Pattern, you can see very little white all the way up to Peids, and all are allowed by the standard, and are part of what makes our wonderful breed.
But they should at least look like the same breed!, they should have the same general look to their heads, their body outlines, their leg lengths etc.. now each kennel or breeder might have a slightly different look then each other but what we are taking about is "Within their own kennel" the dogs should look mostly alike..
But not in a the Backyard Hobby Kennel, they will still be breeding their "Pet Qaulity" which comes in all shapes/sizes/looks dogs.. you will look at them and each dog can appear to often be a different crossbred ISD.. Even when they start keeping back dogs, you will often find that their keep back dogs will all look different, this is because the breeder has no idea what to look for and often does not care that they are producing generation after generation of pet qaulity puppies..
If you just want a pet, and you don't care if it looks like a Icelandic To the breed standard, then this is perfectly fine kennel to get a pet dog from, but I would make sure that you are only paying a much lower price for a pet quality ISD out of Pet Qaulity ISD Parents, the only thing this kennel has going for it, is that it does its health tests.
If you are looking for a Typical looking Icelandic Sheepdog pet puppy or a Show/Breeding Icelandic Sheepdog, it would do best to stay away from the Hobby-BackYard Breeders.. I regret to say that we have a number of these folks within our breed.. and I highly recommend that you keep an eye out for them and steer clear.. They are getting better in someways at hiding what they are..so you as the buyer need to become informed and make a smart choice for your home and family
HOBBY BREEDERS: The Hobby Breeder is perhaps the kind of breeder that is encountered most often on Icelandic web sites. A family that houses between three and seven dogs of either sex and has one or two litters every so often. This is a well-planned event and treated with much reverence. Their dogs are mostly kept in the house and are part of their family. They do not pursue the CKC breed ring on a weekly basis, but do go on occasion and take great pride in their wins and accomplishments in all venues of CKC/UKC competition. There is so much more than just the conformation ring. Obedience, herding, coursing, agility, therapy dogs, the list is endless. You will often find an outstanding show-prospect puppy from this type of home as they do strive to produce the best based on their knowledge. When looking for your pet, you can ask a few questions and request copies of the pedigrees and any genetic test results of the dogs being bred. It is easy to spot the difference from a Back-Yard Breeder (BYB) and a Hobby Breeder based on the answers to a few well-worded questions.
SHOW KENNEL: Another type of breeder you will see is a show kennel. A show kennel usually houses somewhere between 10 and 30 dogs at one time. This is the breeder who seriously hits the breed ring almost every weekend, hires handlers to go when they can't, and seriously advertises and campaigns their dogs to completion of numerous CKC awards. The difference here is usually the amount of knowledge and the amount of time devoted to their dogs. A show kennel breeder can quote the standard forwards and backward upon request, run down family lines at will. They can recall wins from the past and be able to equate those wins to the present as a comparison. They can discuss the current genetic problems that exist in their breed today and yesterday. They take great pride and care in the quality of the health of their breeding stock as well as in the looks. The Show Kennel Breeder as the Hobby Breeder, is deserving of your respect and your acknowledgement of their vast knowledge and willingness to help newcomers get started. This is also an excellent place to begin your search for your new puppy. Out of every litter produced for show quality, only a few of each litter will be deemed extraordinary enough to be placed in a show home, or kept as a show prospect. The others from that litter will be offered (hopefully on a spay-neuter agreement) to families that meet the qualifications of the breeder. You will get a lovely puppy that will be healthy and you can be proud to share with your friends and family. You will also get their phone number with a willing listener should difficulties arise..
PUPPY MILL: This type of establishment is the worse. At a puppy mill one can expect to find atrocious housing condition and poor nutrition of the breeding stock. Often these dogs are kept in small cages or pens and bred constantly to produce very unhealthy and unhappy puppies. These puppies are then sold wholesale to auction houses, web sites spouting several different breeds available, and pet stores where they are resold as valuable purebred CKC puppies at great costs to unsuspecting buyers. When the productive years are over, or health problem come to light, the non-productive stock is disposed of. Often inhumanely, always unfairly. This is the type of situation we hear about on the news, in many articles written in Time Magazine and other quality publications, and is the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel for ethics and kindness to our loyal companions.
PUREBRED RESCUE ORGANIZATIONS: An excellent source for a family addition. Many devoted people donate their time and money to rehome unwanted dogs with their only reward being the smile on the faces of the new families and the wagging tails as their charges finally get to go home. These dogs are usually older and have often had traumatic experiences that they may carry with them forever. A rescued dog can be a great find, but one must be careful and listen to the advice of the rescue people in regarding what to expect from this particular dog. Most all rescue people have the experience to rehab the most difficult personality problems and are willing to explain what can be expected of the new dog.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Icelandic Sheepdog Puppy Photos -Foxy Brown..
Thank you goes out to Foxy Browns mom and Dad for the new photos that arrived in the mail box yesterday! She looks wonderful, clearly a puppy and loving her world.. I am putting up three of my favorites for everyone to see how she is developing.
Exciting news! - Runa has started her heat so the countdown as started, will update on when she is breed, and then update on her ultrasound and then before you know it... newborn puppies!!!
She was a tiny bit early, she is on a six month cycle, and was due to start her heat on Christmas week and has started it the first week of Dec..
I am greatly looking forward to this coming litter, I think they are going to be Darling puppies..
Barks
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Icelandic Sheepdog and Snow!! A winning combo
This is Greenstone AJay out for a stretch of Leg.. Love this photo!!
Greenstone Cool Hand Luke "Olof" at 4 months of age, looking very fine!!We always take a few dogs with us for chore time, and these were the lucky two that went yesterday afternoon.. I just wanted to share their photos.. Hope you will enjoy..
Friday, December 07, 2007
New Greensone Icelandic Sheepdog Puppies Photos
WOW, some of these Icelandic Sheepdog Puppy Photos playing in the snow is amazing!!
Tons of new updated photos of the puppies.. Enjoy.. make my christmas folks, how about all my pet owners send me new photos of their dogs regardless of their age!!
Duke is still looking for his Forever home, here he is out playing on the deck in the snow, going for his 3rd health check and shots, he is a lovely med coated red/white/black male pet puppy.
Duke has his CERF normal, and is coming along very well in obedance and housebreaking.. he is going to be on the small side for a male, about the size of female ISD is my guess, maybe a little bigger, he is already 14 pds at 4 months of age, so a good size boy. Very sweet and Charming..for those that have meet him, he is very much like Zander in temperment
Here is a new photos of Greenstone Fire an Ice.. Enjoy..
Congrats to the new UKC Championships and wins by our ISAA Icelandic Sheepdog Friends in Washingston State.. Two new BIS by an Icelandic, Way to Go!
A huge congrats goes out to Sandi and Canadian Bred, (by Pineridge Kennels) Perla for going to the AKC Agility nationals, they did the Icelandic Sheepdog World proud!! Sunday was a very good day for them.
A amazing Congrats goes out to Katheryn and Viva (Granddaugther to another Canadian Bred dog, ARBA Ch Pineridge Elsaka CGC, UKC CD) for placing # 7th overall in the AKC Agility Nationals in the 16 inch catalog!
This was the first year that the Icelandic Sheepdog was able to compete in AKC Agility and we were so proud to have two teams be able to go this year, and they did amazing!!!
New Litter planned between Ch Belglen Runa of Greenstone by Pineridge Vaskur, Both parents have CERF Normal and Normal Hips, for more details, email isdpuppies@hotmail.com
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