This book is an introduction to the Icelandic Sheepdog, a breed that has been herding sheep in Iceland for almost twelve hundred years. The first dogs were introduced around 874 A.D. by the Vikings, who had already been living with the dogs for several thousand years. We accepted contributions for the chapters in this book from the guardians of Icelandic Sheepdogs living all over the world but especially in North America where they have been since the early 1970s, if not earlier. We tried to find as many different living situations as possible to give you an idea if this is the right breed for you. The words in these chapters are the words of ISD owners. Cheerful, intelligent, clean, friendly, non-aggressive, strong and strong-willed, affectionate, endearing, companionable, brave, loyal, are all descriptions of the Icelandic Sheepdogs found repeatedly throughout this book. Jaime Hansen