Importing an Icelandic Sheepdog
ISAA strongly encourages you to ensure that any Icelandic Sheepdogs you import from other countries have three generation FCI or Canadian Kennel Club pedigrees. Each FCI country has one recognized breed club within its national kennel club. A recognized FCI breed club agrees to follow FCI breeding rules to insure the health and purity of the breed. Pedigrees from these clubs guarantee that the puppy you purchase is a purebred Icelandic Sheepdog. This cannot be guaranteed when purchasing dogs from other, non-FCI or non CKC international breed clubs with the exception of Canada. AKC recognizes FCI and Canadian Kennel Club pedigrees for imported Icelandic Sheepdogs. Puppies purchased in the United States should be registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC). Any other type of pedigree is cannot insure the purity of the dog and likely will not allow for AKC registration. When researching dogs, we strongly encourage you to insure that the import pedigree has the official FCI logo on the pedigree.
Icelandic Sheepdog International Cooperation (ISIC)
Please visit the websites of the fully participating Icelandic Sheepdog International Cooperation (ISIC) clubs. For your convenience, we have placed the links below. The ISAA was accepted for full participation in the ISIC on October 26, 2008 after being an associate member since 2001. To learn more the Icelandic Sheepdog International Cooperation visit https://www.icelanddog.org
Dogs with Non FCI or Canadian Kennel Club pedigrees
Important Note: The club referred to as Vereinigung der Züchter, Besitzer und Freunde des Islandhundes in Deutschland (VDZBF), sometimes called “Fruende” is also known as “VID”. VID is the notation used in the ISAA Pedigree Generator when dogs from this club are in those pedigrees. Pedigrees from the Freunde Club are not accepted by the clubs within FCI, because they refuse to follow the breeding rules of the FCI kennel clubs.
There are also North American registries which are not acceptable. Some are legitimate registries, just not official stud books for the Icelandic sheepdog; dogs with only registrations from those are lost to the overall gene pool of the breed. Other registration companies in the US will register anything presented to them, and as such are not accepted by any registry that is a legitimate registry. One such US company has a name that is easily confused with the Canadian Kennel Club if it is abbreviated.
Import Regulations for Dogs Entering the United States
Import regulations have been in flux for the past several years. The exact regulations for dogs being imported to the United States should be checked at the time of consideration. They vary by country of origin, and may vary by age of the dog. Dogs must meet regulations put in place by both the Centers for Disease Control for health issues potentially affecting human health, including rabies, and the US Department of Agriculture for animal health issues. Not having the correct paperwork may result in a dog being turned away with the importer responsible for the costs of returning the dog to the country of origin. In the case of dogs imported from certain rabies free countries, returning the dog there may not be possible.
Thanks to a strongly cooperative worldwide Icelandic Sheepdog community, Icelandic Sheepdog lines from around the world are represented in the United States population, and United States line are represented worldwide. If you choose to import and are considering breeding in the future, please take the pedigree into account.
Just because a dog is an import does not mean that it does not have many close relatives in the United States already, and conversely, some rare lines are better represented here than in other countries. Some pedigrees contain dogs from multiple countries and criss-cross the Atlantic Ocean. Icelandic sheepdog breeders around the world cooperate to help manage the overall breed population, aiming for retaining genetic diversity in the breed. This is done working together as individuals, and with clubs as part of the International Icelandic Sheepdog Cooperation.