Saagelin kennel

Breeding dogs has been my dream since I was a little girl. I found the right breed by accident in 1996 when I saw a picture of an Icelandic sheepdog bitch in Koiramme-magazine (Finnish Kennel club's publication). That bitch was Röggis Snotra, Finnish Winner-96. In the picture I saw a beautiful well balanced dog and the character estimation I made on the ground of the picture turned out to be quite near the right one. Half a year after I had found the breed I found myself on the way to Sweden to get me a puppy of my own.

Ullälvas Svertla

My kennel name "Saagelin" is a kind of joke in Finnish. It represents my additude to life - laugh and you'll live longer. As we all know, Icelandic sheepdogs can reach quite a high age ;). This far there have been seven litters in Saagelin kennel. The first two litters are from my Swedish import FIN CH Ullälvas Svertla, known as Saga or Saageli at home.

Seriously, I focus on breeding healthy working dogs, which are suitable for herding as well as service dog training, obedience and agility training. Appearance is also important in breeding, but it is the one feature that can be forgiven, if the dog's other qualities are good.

All my breeding dogs are x-rayed from hips and eye checked and the bitches' herding instincts are tested on animals. There is not yet an official herding test for Icelandic sheepdogs, but hopefully there will be one in the near future. The male dogs I choose are, as often as possible, among those who are tested, working or training with good results. It is difficult to find a dog that has healthy hips, is from a suitable family and working well. Because the Icelandic sheepdog population is small worldwide, it brings complications to the breeding.

After Saga I have imported four other Icelandic dogs: three bitches from Iceland and a male from Norway. First came BH INT, FIN, S & N CH Una from Iceland in February 2001. She is from working parents and lives with me at home. Una is the mother of Saagelin U-litter and Saagelin N-litter.Töfra-Ljúfur Bangsi came from Norway in April 2001. Because Bangsi has D-hips, he is now owned by the family he lives with. Sindra-Katla came from Iceland also in April 2001. Katla lives in Lahti and she is owned by family Raikaa. Katla is the mother of Saagelin F- and M-litters. Last but not least came Sunnusteins Stjarna, who is owned by Heidi Hautala and lives in Pojanluoma. Stjarna will hopefully have one Saagelin litter in the future. The youngest one in the kennel is Una's daughter Saagelin Náttstjarna, "Dimma".