ISIC Breeding Guidelines
ICELANDIC SHEEPDOG INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (ISIC)
FIVE 'GOLDEN RULES' OF ISIC
OVERVIEW
ISIC is an international association of ten countries where the Icelandic Sheepdog (ISD) is known and loved. The organization was started in Bjuv, Sweden in 1996. The Icelandic Kennel Club (HRFI) spearheaded the effort as they saw that the ISD needed an increase in genetic variation. To achieve that goal, HRFI believed that an international perspective was necessary. Over the years, the national breed clubs within ISIC have decided, step by step, about common strategies to achieve this goal. In the ensuing years, this international group, dedicated to this common purpose, developed a secure ISD database and sought knowledge and education by studying emerging research and consulting with and attending seminars by international experts through the years. ISIC believes that the cultural inheritance of the ISD is much more important and long lasting than a single lifetime of a human being.
PARTICIPATION IN ISIC
There are a few different ways that ISD breed clubs in ISIC countries participate in this cooperative endeavor. Countries can be full participants, associate participants or the recognized breed representatives. Each type of participant must be recognized as either the national ISD breed club for that country or as the breed representatives (in the case of a country not having a nationally recognized breed club) by the national kennel club in that particular country.
Member nations are Austria, Denmark, Finland, France,, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. Canada is recognized as an associate.
FIVE "GOLDEN RULES" OF ISIC
ISIC participants agree to work to fulfill the five "golden rules".
Use registrations/pedigrees from a national kennel club with membership in the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) or a national kennel club approved as a cooperative partner with FCI.
1. Use registrations/pedigrees from a national kennel club with membership in the FCI or a national kennel club approved as a cooperative partner with FCI.
2. Only accept pedigrees from an FCI approved registration.
3. Respect and follow the FCI standard as originally issued and maintained by the Icelandic Kennel Club (HRFI).
4. Respect the breeding recommendations approved by ISIC; and
5. Respect the cooperation in the ISIC.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is the national kennel club here in the United States that is recognized by FCI so we meet the first goal.
In regard to the third goal, the ISAA is working with the AKC, HRFI and the Icelandic ISD club (DIF) to match our standard to the FCI standard as much as possible. Since ISIC is made up of representatives of ten countries and includes international experts on the ISD and its participants, there are hundreds of years of experience brought to that table--as judges, breeders and owners of ISDs. Therefore, respecting the cooperation of the ISIC is a simple matter. They have a lot to offer us as a relatively new breed club.
In regard to goal four, to respect the breeding recommendations approved by ISIC, our club, especially the ISAA Breeding Review and Compliance Committee (BRCC) and club breeders must engage in a discussion reviewing our guidelines, comparing them to the ISIC recommendations and determine what changes we are willing to consider. ISIC is in the process of forming a committee whose purpose is to evaluate the international breeding situation. ISIC believes that evaluating similarities and differences over time will help us all to see tendencies in the breed, especially using the ISIC database that countries are beginning to maintain. This will give all of us an international perspective.
INTERNATIONAL BREEDING COMMITTEE VISION
The aim of the breeding committee in ISIC is to support breeding of healthy dogs with good working ability and the typical behavior of a farm and herding Spitz. It is based on the specific type and mental characteristics of the breed described in the FCI breed standard of the ISD.
Healthy dogs mean dogs perceived as healthy and strong, in good condition and with thick, weatherproof coats. It also means dogs that fulfill club recommendations in health matters.
A dog of good type means a dog with good external characteristics. The concept "type" involves the total sum of the physical details which clearly separates the ISD from any other breeds. The general appearance and the details are described in the FCI breed standard for the ISD.
The ISIC breeding committee supports breeding with lively, gentle, courageous, intelligent and happy dogs. They believe the ISD should be a very good herding dog and an excellent guarding dog without being aggressive.
INTERNATIONAL BREEDING COMMITTEE UNDERTAKING
The first task of the ISIC breeding committees was to collect, restructure and prepare information regarding breeding. Preparation included looking at working ability (herding and guarding), mentality (temperament), health and exterior HD status (hips), ED status (elbows), opthalmoscopic examinations (eyes), mentality descriptions (MH or temperament), number of puppies, number of litters, males and females used in breeding, level of inbreeding, population analysis etc.
The ISIC breeding committee recommends combining dogs from unusual family groups with dogs from more common groups. This is to ensure preservation/spreading of unusual genes to a sufficient number of dogs. The committee recommends breeding more selectively in the larger family groups and less selectively in the smaller ones while still choosing the best, healthy dogs.
Breeding advice and recommendations are worked out by the breeding committees' total knowledge about the ISD in the international community. Each national breeding committee was assigned the task of disseminating information to the breeders in their own country. (Note: The USA was not a part of ISIC at this time and did not participate in this endeavor.)
Lastly, the breeding committee began to gather data from different countries into an international database within the cooperation, deeming it a basic and necessary task. They believe that the gathered data constitutes an invaluable source of information for all breeders of the breed.
INTERNATIONAL BREEDING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ISD
In 2007, The ISIC breeding committee agreed upon a number of recommendations. The objective of the agreement is the conservation of the world population of the ISD. The recommendations were made upon recommendations by geneticist Per-Erik Sundgren (Sweden) and biologist Pieter Oliebock (Holland) at the international breeding meeting in Uppsala, Sweden in 2000 and Per-Erik Sundgren's lecture, "Analysis of Breeding with Icelandic Sheepdogs" in Solrod, Denmark in 2006. The recommendations are meant for every breeder of ISDs, within or outside of a breed club.
Genetic Resources:
Keep a wide breeding base and increase genetic variation of the breed. To keep this level of effective population size, approximately 20 males and 60 – 100 females (3 – 5 females per male) should be in the active breeding pool. The ISIC goal is to reach an effective population size of about 150 – 200 dogs in the breeding pool. This population is large enough to stop heavy losses of genetic variation within the breed.
ISIC strongly recommends the exchange of breeding animals between countries in such a way that the average inbreeding, calculated over five generations, will not increase more than the 2% - 2.5% level of inbreeding. This corresponds to a .4% - .5% increase per generation.
ISIC recommends that the number of offspring from a single male be no more than 35 and the number of progeny for a single female be no more than 25. The number of grandchildren should be no more than twice the number of offspring during the life of the dog. If a female has two liters within a period of twelve months, she should be given a rest of at least twelve months before the next litter.
For high quality breeding it is important to include as complete information as possible about the dogs selected for the breeding. Dogs are not mature until two to three years of age and cannot be judged with certainty before that time. This is also important in regard to genetic disturbances that may show up as a dog ages. Therefore, the breeding age for males and females should be a minimum of 24 months.
Health:
ISIC recommends HD (hip) tests before breeding. The aim is to breed only HD-A and HD-B status dogs. Dogs with HD-C can be used if they have other qualities and contribute to the broadening of the breeding base.
ISIC recommends that all dogs used in breeding have eye examinations and the results of that examination show that any remarks include "probably not hereditary" for the dog to be used in breeding.
For breeding, ISIC recommends that only dogs that can mate in the natural way be used for breeding. If artificial insemination is being used, a responsible veterinarian should certify that the male and female can mate naturally.
Mentality (Temperament):
It is recommended that dogs used in breeding should have taken part in the mental description if possible. To avoid further problems with mental status it is thus recommended that we keep an eye on the dogs' mentality so we can use the description in the selection of breeding animals.
Working Ability:
A herding disposition description is needed to get knowledge about the ISDs working ability.