Visit from Canada - Anne Bishop

It is undeniably enjoyable to meet people who, in one way or another, have helped to write or shape the history of the Icelandic sheepdog. In this context one could mention the visit of Pat Putman last year on the Day of the Icelandic Sheepdog, who was Mark Watson’s assistant in the 1950s (1956) at Wensum Kennel in Nicosia/California, or the unexpected visit of Hrafn Jónsson, who filed a complaint in 1984 against the Icelandic Minister of Finance, Albert Guðmundsson, for keeping his dog, Lucy, with official permission while “ordinary people” went to prison or had to pay fines. This complaint led to the lifting of the dog ban in Reykjavík after 60 years. See more here.

Yesterday, Anne Bishop from Canada paid me a very welcome visit. Anne had contacted me a few weeks ago. She told me that she had come to Iceland in 1972 and, among other things, wanted to get to know the national dog of Iceland. She contacted Sigríður Pétursdóttir at Ólafsvellir, went there to interview her, and then wrote an article for a Canadian dog magazine. During the visit to Ólafsvellir, Anne learned about Sigríður’s struggle to preserve the breed, with all the difficulties she faced. Sigríður gave her a copy of Mark Watson’s book, The Iceland Dog; this is not an original copy (of the 500 that were printed) but a photocopied and bound copy from 1972. Anne is not sure whether Sigríður herself did the photocopying and binding or whether Mark Watson did it. Sigríður wanted her to show this book to all interested people in Canada. The book includes photographs of Wensum Kennel dogs as well as Ólafsvellir dogs. This is therefore a very special edition, and it would be interesting to know whether more copies of this reissue exist anywhere.

In 1985 Anne went through the difficult experience of her house burning down, and she lost all her notes from the visit to Sigríður along with the article in “Dogs in Canada.” She tried to obtain a copy of the article from the magazine’s archives, but unfortunately that issue was not available there. The book suffered water damage but is still intact.

When Anne decided this spring to travel back to Iceland after all these years, she tried to get in touch with Sigríður’s descendants, but at first with little success. When she began searching for information about the Icelandic sheepdog, she came across my website and learned about my work for the national dog. She contacted me and told me about the visit to Ólafsvellir, the interview with Sigríður, the dog photo session with Margrét, Sigríður’s daughter, the lost notes and newspaper article, and the water-damaged Watson book. She had decided to donate the book to the Saga Center (Sögusetrinu) and wrote down her memories of the visit. Several photos she took in 1972 were not damaged in the house fire, and she sent those to me as well. She was determined to bring all of this to me so that it would be preserved. She told me she would be coming to Iceland in September, and we arranged to meet here at the Saga Center. I also put her in touch with Margrét, Sigríður’s daughter, and they will be reunited in the coming days.

As I was preparing for Anne’s visit, I started searching more carefully in my database, because something was nagging at me regarding this magazine article in the Canadian periodical. Among materials I received from Salín Gotturmsson about the dog Strútur from Ólafsvellir, who was the first Icelandic sheepdog to be exported to Canada (at least in modern times), I found a photocopy of Anne’s article from the magazine and correspondence about the fact that Strútur had been the first imported dog and not Trýna, as was stated in a 1974 newspaper article, where Trýna is said to be a “result” of Anne’s 1972 article. All of a sudden I connected the dots between everything Salín had sent me and Anne’s accounts. I was so happy to have this article, which Anne had written and believed lost, and I was very excited to be able to show it to her and give it to her. She had told me that she had been saddened that the article had been preserved neither by her nor in the magazine’s archive. She was not sure whether the memories she had written down for me were accurate. But as far as I can tell, her memories are very good when compared with the article.

Anne was then very happy to see that the article had been preserved, and I was able to hand it over to her. Those interested can read this engaging article about the visit to Ólafsvellir here and Anne’s memories here.

I thank Anne most sincerely for getting in touch, for all these interesting accounts, for coming to visit, and for donating the book. This book tells its own story and Anne’s story: a story from Anne’s visit to Sigríður in 1972, Sigríður’s gift to Anne to introduce the national dog of Iceland in Canada; a book that was damaged but preserved in the 1985 house fire and finally returned to Iceland in 2026 and was donated by Anne to me for preservation at the Saga Center. Thank you for everything, Anne!

The story of the Icelandic sheepdog is not only the story of the dog but also the story of the people who stand behind it and have advocated for its preservation and image. The dog has brought people’s paths together from different directions and has created connections and friendships. Together, the national dog and the people have shaped and written history. I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in it.