I´ve also had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Colin Powell in May of 2002.
Absolutely two of the most memorable moments in my life.Just a little bit about myself. My life may not be THE most interesting life but I think it´s pretty special myself!
I was born in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. I´m
an Icelandic citizen now and have been for many years. I love Iceland and it´s
really home for me since I came here as a teenager with my family. My family
moved back to live in Canada except for my brother David who lives here in
Reykjavík.
I worked as an executive secretary at the American Embassy in Reykjavík for 3
years with
alot of really wonderful people, both Icelanders and Americans. I loved my job
there and unfortunately I had to quit to move out East to Reyðarfjördur (now I
live back in the south of Iceland), I think I will always miss my job at the
Embassy it was probably the most interesting and rewarding job I´ve ever had. I am very
fortunate to have met some of the world´s greatest people through that
job and one person I have always admired greatly and wanted to meet is former
president Bill Clinton and well unbelievably enough, I HAVE, in the fall of
2004. So here is a photo of Bill and Monika (Karlsdottir that is!) :-)
I´ve also had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Colin Powell in May of 2002.
Absolutely two of the most memorable moments in my life.
I am a dog trainer educated in Norway by the
Norwegian Kennel Club and also an authorised ringsteward (ringsekretær). I have
had the pleasure of ringstewarding at shows for the Icelandic Kennel club during
the years and was given the wonderful opportunity to judge Junior handlers
in October 2003. It was an unforgetable experience and I am greatful for the
trust shown to me by the late Emilía Sigursteinsdóttir and the rest of the board
of HRFÍ.
I lived in Norway for 4 years, moved back to Iceland in August of 2001. I will
say that Norway was definately a wonderful life experience and many is the time
I am so homesick for Norway that I could jump on the next plane without a second
thought. So I guess being a world traveler does have it´s
disadvantages as well.
I got my first Icelandic Sheepdog in 1988 and have been breeding since 1991. I
am a typical hobby breeder. I have very few litters and they are raised in a
family home environment. I am very particular that my dogs go to good homes and
am more focussed on the quality of puppies rather than quantity. I have only had
15 litters from the start of my breeding career. Two of those litters were
German Shorthaired Pointer litters and I was very lucky to find wonderful owners
for these hunting dog litters, some of them were exported to Norway to good
homes. My Icelandic puppies are scattered all over
the world so unfortunately I don´t get to keep an eye on them all but I am sure
they all have wonderful families and we keep in touch.
Sadly, when you have been breeding for so many
years unevitably some puppies die either of old age or other accident/illnesses
and my breeding program is no exception. I´ve seen quite a few of my "babies"
and "grandbabies" taken through the years, and unfair as it is, it´s a part of
breeding. Sometimes when they leave at an extremely young age (stillborn or a
week old) I wonder if I can continue to do this. It´s something I never get used
to, the sorrow that comes from watching a tiny little puppy fight for his life
and lose, but when I get over the sadness and sorrow of not being able to save
these little lives I realise how much the others give and it makes it all worth
while.
Temperament is in my opinion one of the most important qualities in any breed
and I strive to use and raise dogs that will be a joy to own.
Here is a photo of me with my better half Rúnar taken around 2005 I believe.
