Affectionately nicknamed the Icie, these guys are anything but cold! These guys are extremely affectionate and loving in nature, warm to even the strangest of stranger. They do however love the sound of their own voices, whether they be barking at birds, alerting their families or seeing or hearing generally anything! For this reason, they need to live somewhere remote away from complaining neighbors where they can bark to their hearts content. They are also very intelligent which means that training is a fairly easy task and they can learn and pick up on things very quickly. They do not respond well to harsh treatment and need lots of positive reinforcement when being trained. They are a very energetic breed and love to take part in lots of games, performing particularly well in competitions and dog sport!

The Icelandic Sheepdog is the only known breed that originated in Iceland. Theory is that the Vikings brought this breed's ancestors to Iceland in the 9th century. His original job was to protect the flocks of sheep, especially the lambs from large birds of prey. It is suggested that the Icelandic Sheepdog came into Iceland from Norway as graves have been discovered in Norway and Sweden containing dogs that resemble the Icelandic Sheepdog. He is related to the Karelian Bear Dog and that gives evidence that the Icelandic Sheepdog came to Norway from somewhere in the east. 

In the late 19th century, the Icelandic Sheepdog almost became extinct from a plague of canine distemper with over 75% of the Icelandic Sheepdogs dying from this disease. This led to a ban on the importation of dogs into Iceland, imports were limited and then banned in 1901. In the late 20th century, the Icelandic Sheepdog was once again close to extinction with around 50 being left In the 1950s. In 1969 the Icelandic Dog Breeder Association was formed to help preserve the breed and there are now more than 800 Icies in the United States alone.