It´s been a long time

It’s been a long time since I last wrote a new blog post, and that can only mean one thing: it’s been a busy spell.

Our summer opening hours took effect on May 1, and the Icelandic Sheepdog Heritage Center has been open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will continue to be open every day through the end of September.

On May 24, the Center turned one year old. We didn’t hold any special event that day, but we’re absolutely delighted with the response. Around 2,600 people have already visited the Center this year, and we still have individuals and groups scheduled to visit in the autumn.

Many Icelanders stopped by, and quite a few brought dogs with them (many of them Icelandic sheepdogs). It’s also great to share that a good number of foreign visitors who own Icelandic sheepdogs in their home countries came to learn about the breed’s history. We also welcomed international dog enthusiasts who wanted to get to know Iceland’s national dog while travelling around the country. It’s clear that the Icelandic Sheepdog Heritage Center truly has a purpose. It’s interesting to see how people hear about us: many find information online by searching for information about Icelandic dogs, others have followed us on social media for a long time, and travel agencies have also pointed people our way. One couple mentioned that they had listen to the interview on English RÚV. All of this is positive, but there’s certainly room to do even better in marketing - something I can look into more closely over the winter.

On July 18, the Day of the Icelandic Sheepdog was celebrated for the eleventh time, and of course it was a big festive day for us here in Skagafjörður. July 18 is the birthday of Mark Watson, who was the savior of the Icelandic sheepdog and also contributed to preserving the old farm at Glaumbær. That’s why the day is often called Mark Watson Day here in the fjord. We now have a tradition of marking this day in collaboration with the Byggðasafn Skagfirðinga (Skagafjörður Heritage Museum). We started by meeting here at Lýtingsstaðir; visitors could enjoy coffee, view the exhibition and the turf houses, and we premiered photos from the shoot about the colour varieties of the Icelandic sheepdog. Then we continued on together to Glaumbær, where more dogs joined the group and were visible to visitors. You can find lots of great and fun photos on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fjarhundur/. 

It’s always something we really look forward to celebrating together on this day. There was also an event at Árbæjarsafn to mark the occasion, and a special online program to give international fans of the breed a chance to take part and help make the day informative and fun. See RÚV article.

Now autumn is on the way, and I’ve put together a list of interesting topics I want to share with you—and I promise it won’t be nearly as long until I post again.

I’m including a photo from the Day of the Icelandic Sheepdog taken at Glaumbær, when members of Pilsaþytur and the National Costume Association of Iceland visited to take pictures for a calendar. They borrowed my dogs, Sómi and Fönn, for the photo shoot, and now I’m hoping one of those photos makes it into their calendar.