Monday, May 31, 2010
Morning Musings
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Icelandic Sheepdog-The Pearl Keeper
What Can I say about Keeper.. The pictures do it for me..Even at this young of an age.. he is already showing all the postive traits that I had hoped to bring out in this breeding!
Icelandic Sheepdog-South Sea Pearl
This is one big lady and Holy Cow, what a coat! Ok, body shots but what a great head/front photo.. As someone who's friends will tell you, that I am a huge Head person, I am in love with this little ladies head, she is her momma but More!
Icelandic Sheepdog-Provoctive in Pearls
I had to laugh, sometimes a puppy will not photo out as well as they look or feel and PP is at the moment at least turning out that way, this is a rock solid pup in terms of being four square on the floor, clearly she had way to much fun playing with Gloa, as she her coat is quite goobered.
Icelandic Sheepdog-Minnie Pearl
Reseved Vs Pending -What Does it Mean?
Could you explain the difference between Reserved an Pending.
Answer:
Reserved means that either "a puppy" in the litter or a certain puppy has a approved Application/with Deposit on it.
Pending means that either "a puppy" in the litter or a certain puppy has a approved Application but the Deposit is coming, until a deposit is in place, the puppy is not yet offically reserved.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Dream Litter Weekly Photo Update
Icelandic Sheepdog Puppy Application
Thank you for your interest in our Icelandic puppies. We try to ensure that
people purchasing our pups have the best chance of success and each puppy finds
the right home for their personality. We ask all our prospective families to
complete a questionnaire to help give us the best chance of providing you with
the most appropriate life-long (12-15 years) companion.
After approval, pick goes in order of deposits received.
Your Name: _____________________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________________
City/Prov/PC: ____________________________________________________________
E-mail Address: __________________________________________________________
Phone: __________________________Fax________________________
Please take the time to answer all the questions as only complete applications
will be accepted for review.
1. How did you find out about Iceland Sheepdogs? ______________________________
Greenstone
Kennel?__________________________________
2. Do you have a time frame in which you wish to acquire a puppy?
________________
3. Have you ever raised a puppy before? Yes___ No___ What breed(s)?
_____________
_______________________________________________________________________
Where are those dogs now? _________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Have you met an Iceland Sheepdog? Yes___ No___ Where?_____________ Describe
what you liked about that dog.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. Are there children in the home? Yes___ No___ What are their
ages?_______________
________________________________________________________________________
Have they been around dogs before and do they know how to treat and respect
them?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Are there any other dogs? ___ pets?___ Livestock?___ What kind or
breed?_________
________________________________________________________________________
7. Iceland Sheepdogs are very devoted companion dogs. Are you prepared to have a
constant "shadow"?
_______________________________________________________________________
8. How much of the time would the pup/dog be able to spend with you or a family
member? ________________________________________________________________________
9. If left alone for excessive periods of time Iceland Sheepdogs may resort to
barking, digging, or other undesirable behavior. If you must be gone for long
periods at times, describe a plan or comfortable place where the dog will stay
so that it will not become a neighborhood nuisance.
____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
10. What kind of home do you have? House with yard___ Farm___ Townhouse with
yard ___ Apartment without yard ___ Do you rent, lease, or own?_____ If
renting, does the landlord permit pets, and would you consent to my contacting
the landlord?
_______________________________________________________________________
11. How much time will the dog spend indoors?____ Outdoors?____ Alone while you
are at work? ____ Describe how the dog will be contained in your yard.
_____________
_______________________________________________________________________
12. What concerns do you or any family member have about getting a puppy? In
your situation, what would constitute a problem with a puppy/dog?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
13. Do you plan to crate train your puppy/dog? _______ Have you ever done this
before? ________________________________________________________________________
14. How might you react to an occasional indoor "accident"?
______________________
_______________________________________________________________________
15. Are you committed to providing premium quality food, routine vaccinations
and worming treatments and providing health care as needed and treating the
pup/dog as a valued member of the family?
________________________________________________________________________
16. How do you plan to provide exercise for your puppy/dog?
______________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Initial here:
17. How would you deal with barking? ________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
18. How do you plan to train your puppy/dog? __________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19. Iceland Sheepdogs come in a range of temperaments, body types, and coat
types. What is your idea of the perfect ISD?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
20. Do you have a particular color in mind and just how important is that to
you?_______
________________________________________________________________________
21. Do you prefer male?___ female?___no preference?___ Why? ___________________
________________________________________________________________________
22. Although a well groomed ISD which is fed a quality diet usually does not
have "doggy" odor or excessive dander, are you aware that ISD may shed heavily
at certain times of the year (usually in the spring & fall). Is that a problem
with you?____________
________________________________________________________________________
23. Do you have an interest in dog activities? Working farm___ Conformation
Shows___ Obedience Trials___ Flyball___ Herding Trials___ Agility___ Frisbee___
Therapy___ Supreme Companion___ Other (describe)
_____________________________________
24. Would you be interested in an early neuter (before 8 weeks) or early spay
(12 weeks) for your pup?
Explain______________________________________________________
25. If breeding is in your plans, what would be the goal and purpose of your
breeding program?
_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
26. If you plan to breed, do you agree to abide by the Canadian Icelandic
Sheepdog Club of Canada code of ethics, which includes clearing eyes and
submitting x-rays for OFA or PennHIP rating before breeding and to plan your
breeding only to further enhance the breed?
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Initial here:
26 A) Do you belong to a national Icelandic Sheepdog Club?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 B) Do you belong to any Dog Clubs -Agility, Herding, Conformation etc
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27. Occasionally I have a pup of outstanding quality for which I would like to
retain breeding rights. In the case of a female, it is usually for one litter.
The dog would remain in your possession unless you wish for me to handle the
whelping and care of the puppies. In the case of a male dog I would reserve a
set amount of stud services to be agreed upon at the time of purchase. The dog
would be held in a co-ownership until the obligation would be fulfilled at which
time I would sign off of the co-ownership. The dog may then be spayed or
neutered, if desired. Would you be interested in a situation such as this? Yes,
No, Comments? _________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28. Are you willing to let me make a recommendation based upon your answers to
these questions and my familiarity with the pups for the most suitable puppy for
your situation?
____If not, why?__________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Name: ____________________________ Spouse's name: ________________________
Signature: _________________________ Spouse's signature: _____________________
Date: _______________________________
Thank you for filling out this form to help us better understand what you are
looking for in a puppy. We look forward to meeting you and introducing you to
your future companion. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask
them!
"Mailing Address removed"
Please email me for my Mailing Address and Phone number, not posted on the web to limit the amount of spam arriving in my mail box.
icelandicpuppyapplication@icelandicsheepdogs1.com
If you are sure that you are ready to add a Greenstone Icelandic puppy to your
life, a $200 non-refundable deposit (please make cheque out to Valerie Sharp)
will secure your place on the reservation list for the specified litter. If we
are unable to accept your application I will refund your deposit. If there is
not a puppy to match your choice (male, female, show, …) I will transfer the
deposit to the next litter or refund your deposit. If you no longer wish to be
on the waiting list or get a puppy from another source, you forfeit your
deposit. If for some reason you need to postpone getting your puppy, I will
consider transferring your deposit to a later litter.
Crate Training/Housebreaking Icelandic Sheepdog Puppies
As many of you know having spoken to me in person, you are aware that I am a fan of correctly using a crate for help in housebreaking, if you can't watch the puppy and be there to read cue's having a safe place to put puppy is a awesome thing
Live example of just how EARLY a puppy can show signs of housebreaking, so as you can imagine, I am on extra floor washing duty and I use different cleaners for different things but my main rinse is normally hot water with bleach, and I don't like the pups on the floor when doing so
Adult dogs went into the kitchen (while doing the livingroom floors) and I woke up the oldest litter, let them have their wake up pee's outside and brought them in and crated them in their nap/feed/put away big crate in the living room (they can already climb over the side of whelping box)
Anyway, these little tikes are normally quite good about this but Prevocative in Pearls would not settle down, she was fussy, but I washed the floors and then turned on overhead fans and the big floor drying fan (takes about 15 min or so to dry the whole floor, and she was fussy the whole time.. I said at least three times.. " you know you don't get let out when making that kind of fuss" well the floor was dry and she was in the howl stage of let me out of this crate.. so I am standing there.. three sleeping, one fussing and waiting, for that one second of quiet/good behaviour that I can reward, when final she stops and looks at me with these wide eyes, and I take it, and open the door.. out she runs, two steps out of the crate and she goes #2..
First.. BAD, Bad me for not figuring out that this might have been the issue but WOW baby girl to have held on for close to twenty min and not mess your crate.. you rock little girl! Breeder Mom promises that she will listen to your cues better in the future.
So I stand by the fact that properly used crates are wonderful training tools for many things, and that its up to us to keep our little ones on schedules and to read their cues, and they will do their best to be clean for us, its breed into them to keep their Den and Area clean, its up to us to teach them that means the whole house :)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Snuggle Time Icelandic Sheepdogs
Puppy Owners to be info
Would you like to read a general overview of the process involved in getting one of our puppies?
http://www.icelandicsheepdogs1.com/IcelandicSheepdogStandardLitterInformation.html
Well for those that are local and thinking of booking a puppy visiting time, we are opening up the weekends of June 19/20th (Booked Solid as of June 4th) and June 26/27th (still available visiting spots), so if you are interested in booking a time on those days, please email me and we will figure out a good time for a visit.
So Baer testing is being done on June 16th, Cerf for the oldest litter is booked for June 30th, and for the younger litter July 6th. Temperment tests are booked, June 11th for the oldest litter and June 18th for the younger litter. Herding Tests will take place on the weekend of 19th on the oldest litter and on the 26th for the youngest litter. Tattoo's are booked for the puppies at the end of June, and Structural evals are booked for the third and the last week of June for the puppies, I am having them looked at by a panel of three for a well rounded overview.
Puppy pick up dates for the oldest litter can start on July long weekend, and flyout dates the first week of July, Puppy Pickup dates for the youngest litter can start on July 10th and Flyout dates can start from the 12th on.
Please email me to let me know your perferred days and I will do my best to work with you on them.
Note-1 For those that are interested in meeting the breed and the puppies but do not have a reserved puppy out of the current litters, yes you can book an appointment to come out and meet the little guys BUT you still need to provide me with some basic information and have a chat with me about if this breed is a good choice for you and your family, there is no point in both of us taking the time to for a get together if when you get here, you tell me you want a dog that does not bark or that you live in a apartment downtown or want a low-energy dog.
Note 2- NO you can NOT visit another breeder who has puppies of a different breed, the same day as coming to see me, I am respectful of the fact that this is a rare breed and that most peaple have not meet the breed and would like to before they decide to get a puppy.
However, I close my house down for the first six weeks from company for the health of the puppies and only start puppy visits at six weeks and older but I still need to be very careful that the vistors do not bring things in, please help me in this, and only book a visit if you have
a)fully mature healthy adult dogs at home
b) Do not go to dog parks, or play with other litters of puppies or go to other dogs breeders homes on the same day as coming to my farm.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Icelandic Sheepdog Puppy -Getting lessons in mannors.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Do Icelandic Sheepdog Like Water?
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Icelandic Sheepdog Farm Dog to the Rescue!
Full story below....Reporting by Farm Momma
So last night at 8:30 ish (mom in bed..and asleep) Dad on computer, and Gloa gives a three bark alert woof, as she stands guard watch out the one big window, two second's later a screaming clucking feast starts outside.. We have a lovely red speckled half banty and half dark leg horn hen who can easily fly over our fences and who for the last week has been sure she wants to settle down and go broody in the bush pile by the brown shed.. Bad choice..
So out the door fly's Dad and Odinn with the mighty Staff (aka Walking stick) and the fox who is running with said chicken in mouth, drop's hen with Odinn hot on his heels, and darts straight threw a spot on the fence that I honestly didn't think anything but a cat could get though.. Chicken runs off into the high grass/bush area.. Fence stops Odinn who runs along it, postive if he would just be allowed to follow that he can make that Fox PAY LOL
So in come Dad and Odinn but its dusk and chicken in hiding.. out goes Freyja, taken to general area and told.. Find it.. now if put on a track she is even better but she does not need one.. Just tell her to find it, and she trusts me that something is there, and she starts weaving back and forth like a bird dog and she finds the chicken and does a freeze. nose right into the big clump of tall grass that the bird is playing dead in.. so she gets called off and Jason catches chicken, who is missing a few feathers and has at least one tooth hole from fox.. so into one of my growout rabbit hutches she goes to recoup, because there is a reason that we call the chickens the mini velociraptors, never put a bird that is bleeding back into the flock unless you want trouble.
So there you have it.. hen is up and eating an drinking this morning, took her a handfull of fresh greens and looks to make a full recovery, thanks to Gloa on guard, Odinn on defence, and Freyja on Point :)
Ah life on the farm..
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Yummy in our Tummy-Breakfast Time for little ones
Friday, May 21, 2010
Icelandic Sheepdog Puppies are growing!
The pearls are hoots at the moment, they are eating mushy solid food four times a day now, and that means poo's and pee's now greet me every time I walk into where they are LOL, thank goodness for no rugs and puppy pads and lots of extra outside time after eating.. they are getting if figured out a little bit.. eat, then basket then outside for bathroom.. good puppy, good puppy when they go in the grass.. I know that if anyone filmed us, we would seem like silly goose's, first saying .. Go bathroom and then praising and petting and snuggle each one as they go but trust me, it the long run it will be a very good thing :)
So we tried a new plan last night which was hopefully going to let us get a full nights sleep, the pearls wake up and play every couple hours and they wake up the Dream litter who then want to nurse and play as well, so we kept the pearls upstairs last night moving them into the bathroom (its a huge bathroom, used to be a bedroom) and put mom, food, water, pads, stuffies and crate/beds both in the crate and outside of it and baby gated it off.. well the puppies did fine..but Freyja did not.. she has had a aweful time of it as she wants to be with her puppies but she is one of the always bed dogs, and she gave up more then a snuggle on the bed for motherhood, but being removed from the bedroom at night.. well that was a different matter altogether thank you very much.. so in the end, I slept on the couch last night so Jason could get a few hours of solid shut eye..
Otherwise, lets see what is new with the pups for you.. hmmm well everyone has gotten the steel comb run though them at least once this week, nails trimmed in some cases twice, Got to play with Gloa more and even grandma oppa has been seen to allow the odd ear tugging and playing, the pearls are just starting to interact with their toys and are almost walking instead of waddling.
The only other thing that the pups found interesting was their new "made food" they get soften puppy chow but also get peaple food and one meal of farm fresh egg, so their made food was a big pot of farm ground lamb, pot barley and a big bag of farm sqaush all cooked and mixed together with home canned lamb soup broth, it took a little while to figure out how to pick up the barley but the pups loved it, and so healthy for them..