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Perla frá Ólafsvöllum
The Pearl from
Ólafsvöllum
My father was a Naval Officer. In 1972, we left
the United
States and moved to Keflavík, Iceland. My brother and I loved the long, sun-lit nights and the Northern Lights. The sky danced for us, waving her long purple tails through the night.
Iceland is a magical, mystical place and it was there
that I learned of Nature’s power. I learned that the same power that created
hail the size of golf balls, also left fields of pure, hushed white. The raw
beauty of Iceland, her crystal clean, unpolluted air, birthed
in me a love for the outdoors and for Nature, a love-affair that continues today. It
is no surprise that from this place comes a most amazing dog, the Icelandic.
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| Wood carving given to Sigridur Petersdottir by Sir Mark Watson - Used with permission |
Even an eight
year old can recognize beauty and I thought the Icelandic dogs were stunning. I
begged my parents to consider getting one for me. The answer was always, “no”. We couldn’t afford a pedigreed dog. Knowing
the level of persistence I have as a 40 year old, I can only imagine the relentless onslaught of pleading they must have endured. At eight years of age, I couldn’t understand that we couldn’t afford a
dog. I simply knew I had to have one. My
parents tried to throw me off the track (get a moment’s peace) by telling me to “ask God for the dog”. They told me that, “if God wanted [me] to have an Icelandic dog, he would give
me one.” I fell for the ploy and began praying day and night.
The faith of
a child is a powerful thing. Within days of the onset of my vigil, a neighbor
came to me and said she knew of a dog that needed a good home. The dog’s
owner was ill and could no longer keep her and was willing to give her away. You
can imagine my reaction. My mother laughs about this story today. Never in their wildest dreams did my parents imagine that something like this would happen. Knowing there was no alternative but to allow me to get the dog, we picked up Perla frá Ólafsvöllum from Sigríđur Pétursdóttir, “The Pearl from ”, Ólafsvöllum (ISNA-1972-0001) and she became a member of our family.
If you own or have known an Icelandic dog, I do not need to tell you how loving, sweet and loyal Perla was. It is the nature of the breed. She was my first true love. Perla was a red, long-haired bitch, sleek and sophisticated. Of course, in my eyes, she was perfect.
In 1972, she had a litter of puppies. Her blood still runs in many of the Icelandic
Sheepdogs in the world today. Perla was my best friend until her death in 1982.
I have owned and loved many dogs since, but never forgot my dear companion.
Through
the years, I have unsuccessfully searched for Icelandic dogs. In January of 2005,
I began looking. I contacted two breeders in Iceland,
then found one in the U.S. When I saw the pictures of her dogs, I was seeing
Perla again.
A few days later, I
emailed the author of the book, The Icelandic Sheepdog. When I sent the
email, I never imagined what would happen next. He responded immediately and
asked me if I was “related to the person who owned Perla frá Ólafsvöllum,
one of the first Icelandics in North America”. I
was stunned. Yes, she was my dog and yes, that is my father. But, who was this man? How did he know these things?
During the flurry of
emails that ensued, I learned that Perla came from the famous kennel of Sigríđur
Pétursdóttir, the woman who is responsible for saving the breed.
He asked many questions
for which I had no answers. However, my mother was able to produce a yellowed
file that contained Perla’s original pedigree, what I believe is Ms. Pétursdóttir’s
business card, pictures, articles and other treasures that had been locked away for some thirty years. My mother reminded me that Perla did have a litter of dogs while we were in Iceland. I contacted Helga Andresdóttir,
who works at the Icelandic Kennel Club. She advised that Perla is still registered in
the club’s records. They even had the names of two of the puppies, Vala and Skotti. Perla was
bred with Spori frá Ólafsvöllum.
One of her puppies, Skotti, went on to sire a litter.
One of Skotti’s
GG grandchildren was Taco frá Thytur Stadir who was bred by Ans
Beer-Schell. Remember the breeder I found in the U.S.? Taco is the ancestor of her dogs. Amazing! In California, right under my nose,
puppies were born who are direct descendants of Perla.
I visited that breeder shortly after Kćpa gave birth and was honored
to meet Perla’s GGGGGGG granddaughter. As we got out of the car, Kćpa ran out to bark at some dogs as they passed by. I could not believe how beautiful she was. She let us see
her puppies and posed for pictures. I was reminded how much I love Icelandic
dogs and knew that I would have one again…soon.
I found Pineridge
Icelandics soon thereafter and discovered another of Perla’s descendent, Pineridge Kolperla, a tiny puppy. I flew to Chase, Canada in June and had the privilege
of seeing Jill Fike’s amazing farm and her dogs. You can see pictures of the trip
on the page entitled "Kol's pics". Kol and I flew home and have had many wonderful adventures since that time. She is Perla’s GGGGGGG granddaughter.
Kol Perla means
“Dark Pearl” in Icelandic. I thought the name fitting.
In August of 2007, we met Sigríđur Pétursdóttir. During
our time together, she reviewed Perla's pedigree and used it to tell the story of the early days when she and Mark Watson
worked to save the dying breed.
At the bottom of Perla's pedigree, you can see Kormak of Wensum, Clausentium Hrefna of Wensum, Gunnar
of Northam Raod, Dalla of Wensum, Claustentium Halloween and Freyja of Byway. All of these dogs were Mark Watson's.
You can also see Brana of Wensum, Perla's grandfather. This dog was bred by Watson at Pétursdóttir's request and was
then given to her as a gift from Watson.
To read more regarding this important history, go to the page entitled Sigríđur Pétursdóttir.
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