Þegar ég var 17 ára vildi ég eignast hund. Faðir minn sagði það ekki koma til greina þar sem ég byggi ennþá heima. Ég flutti því til unnusta míns sem í dag er eiginmaður minn og ég eignaðist minn fyrsta hund. Það var blendingur af smáhundakyni. Ég var svo lánsöm að eiga móður sem var heimavinnandi og hún samþykkti að passa fyrir mig hundinn á daginn á meðan ég var að vinna. Pabbi sagði nú ekki mikið við þessu enda ég flutt að heiman og svo held ég að hann hafi nú haft lúmskt gaman af hundinum.

In 1972 when I was 17 years old I really wanted to get a dog but my father said that as I was still living at home it was enough for me to have a cat and that I could get a dog when I left home. So I did. I moved in with my boyfriend, who is my husband to day. I got my first dog, a small mixed breed. He was called Fúsi. I was very lucky that my mother was not against dogs and that she was at home during the day so she agreed to look after my dog for me while I was at work. I took Fúsi (my dog) to my parents home every morning and had to fetch him every evening. My father had nothing to say about that since I was no longer living there. I often saw my father pet my dog when he thought no one was watching so he was not totally against him.

Sjö árum síðar eða árið 1979 eignaðist ég síðan hreinræktaða golden retriever tík, Sunnudals Birtu. Undan Birtu fékk ég tvö got. Þegar von var á fyrra gotinu keypti ég ræktunarnafnið Reykjadals. Einni tík hélt ég undan Sunnudals Birtu en það var Reykjadals Dalla. Ég hafði unun af að fara á hundasýningar og hlýðninámskeið. Félagsskapurinn var einstakur í kringum hundana og ég kynntist mörgu góðu fólki sem ennþá eru góðir vinir mínir. Dalla dó árið 1987 og Birta dó síðan 1990.

In 1979 I got my first pure-breed, a Golden Retriever bitch called Sunnudals Birta. I enjoyed going to dog shows and meeting other dog owners. Two years later I bred Birta and kept a bitch from that litter, Reykjadals Dalla. Dalla died in 1987 and Birta followed her in 1990. That was a great shock for me and my family, you never expect that your pets will die.

Ég á tvö börn sem eru fædd 1976 og 1978. Þegar ég hafði verið hundlaus í um.þ.b eitt ár fannst börnunum mínum tímabært að fá aftur hund því án þeirra væri heimilislífið tómlegt. Þar sem ég er með asma ræddi ég við Helgu Finnsdóttur dýralækni um það hvaða tegund væri lyktarminnst. “Íslenskur fjárhundur” sagði hún.

I have to children, a boy and a girl who were born in 1976 and 1978. A year after my golden died my children told me that a home without a dog is not a home and it was about time to get new dog. So, the family sat down and talked about which breed we should get. I have Asthma so I thought it would be fifficult to find the right breed for me. I discussed this with my vet and told here that I wanted a dog that didn´t smell so much, so she said: why not get an Icelandic Sheepdog? Yes, why not!

Ég frétti síðan af goti hjá Guðrúnu Guðjohnsen vorið 1991 og fór að skoða hvolpana. Það var ást við fyrstu sýn. Guðrún reyndi hins vegar að tala mig af því að fá mér Íslenskan fjárhund þar sem þeir eru frekar ólíkir golden retriever. Ég lét mig ekki og fékk hjá henni alveg indislega tík, Garða Köru. Þar með var ég endanlega farin í hundana.

I found out that Guðrún Guðjohnsen, at that time the President of the Icelandic Kennel Club and the Icelandic Sheepdog Breed Club had newborn puppies. I went to see them and it was a love at first sight. Guðrún pointed out that an Icelandic Sheepdog is very different from a Golden Retriever and tried at first to talk me out of it. I can be very stubborn sometimes and she finally agreed that I could get a puppy from her. That was when I got my first Icelandic Sheepdog Garða-Kara, from then on I was totally “gone to the dogs”.

Á eftir Íslands Garða Köru komu svo Reykjadals Snögg, Sindra Snæúlfur, Reykjadals Móri, Reykjadals Saga, Reykjadals Korpur, Töfra Hólmfríður Hrifla, Reykjadals Varða, Sunnusteins Sif, Stjörnuljósa Hjálmur, Kersins Keisarayna og Reykjadals Kraka.

My first Icelandic sheepdog was Garða-Kara than came Reykjadals Snögg, Sindra Snæúlfur, Reykjadals Móri, Reykjadals Saga, Reykjadals Korpur, Töfra Hólmfríður Hrifla, Reykjadals Varða, Sunnusteins Sif, Stjörnuljósa Hjálmur, Kersins Keisaraynja and Reykjadals Kraka.

Árið 1992 lærði ég hundaþjálfun og starfaði við hundaskóla HRFÍ fram til vorsins 1998.

In 1992 I learned dog training and worked as a trainer for the Icelandic Kennel Club, HRFÍ until spring 1998.

Vorið 1998 voru börnin flogin úr hreiðrinu svo við hjónin ákváðum að breyta til og gerast bændur. Við keyptum okkur býli vestur á Snæfellsnesi og bjuggum þar með mjólkurkýr, geldneyti, kindur, hænur og ketti auk hundanna sem að sjálfsögðu eru heimilisdýr og eru bara þar sem við erum í það og það skiptið. Auðvelt var að kenna hundunum að umgangast skepnurnar og að kenna þeim að sækja kýrnar, reka kindurnar og jafnvel að umgangast hænurnar.

In spring of 1998 when my children had grown up and left the nest, my husband and I bought a dairy farm at Snæfellsnes on the west coast of Iceland. We had cows, sheep, chickens, cats and dogs. Our dogs are house pets and they are just were we are. Always with us.

Gaman var að fylgjast með hundunum þegar þeir þrifu augun á kúnum og kindunum sem kunnu vel að meta þennan þvott. Það kom oft fyrir að hundarnir hjálpuðu til við að kara nýfædda kálfa og ef það kom fyrir að kind afneitaði nýfæddu lambi tóku hundarnir að sér að kara það og veita því félagsskap. Dásamlegt var að fylgjast með því hvað dýrin á bænum treystu hundunum vel.

I was amazed how easy it was to teach the dogs to be around the animals at the farm. The dogs were very helpful around he farm and liked to clean the sheep´s ears and eyes, around the cow´s eyes and sometimes the cows would even let them help clean the new born calve. I remember once that one of my ewe´s didn´t want one of here new born lambs. I tried very hard to make here take the lamb but no, she didn´t want it. Then one of my bitches came and licked it all over and took good care of it. My dogs became the play mates for the little lamb who used to follow them like a shadow. I think the animals really did appreciate the dogs help. The chickens were used to having the dogs around and didn´t mind them stealing their food. The cats liked the dogs when they were inside the house but outside the dogs seemd to think they had to chase them and the cats were not so happy about that and often they had to run up onto the roof where they felt safe.  

Árið 2005 hættum við hjónin í búskap og keyptum okkur smá landskika í Ölfusi þar sem við byggðum okkur hús, en árið 2016 fluttum við svo til Þorlákshafnar.

In 2005 my husband and I gave up farming. We bought a land in Ölfus on the south coast of Iceland where we built a little house, but in 2016 we moved to Þorlákshöfn. I do miss my sheep but I just had to open up a new chapter in my life.

Á haustdögum 2006 hóf ég svo störf sem leiðbeinandi á hvolpanámskeiðum hjá hundaskólanum hundalíf. www.hundalif.is.

In 2006 I was invited a job as a dog trainer in puppy classes at a new training school, hundalíf.is. www.hundalif.is.

I love taking pictures and have published  few books at blurb.com  if you are interesting to buy one. 

https://www.blurb.com/b/7996000-icelandic-sheepdogs-at-home-heimaland-slenska-fj-r

https://www.blurb.com/b/9611055-krummi-krunkar-ti?fbclid=IwAR0UrvfE3TyTnKj7T126tVFYPss_mTpFwFcOAYAaM38YOmbZmfcOldnRAb4

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Vilken fantastisk "saga" du har haft! Med djur omkring sig så kan man göra nästan vad som helst! Tack för att du delar med dig!!