Editing Icelandic Sheepdog (section)

== History ==
[[File:Buffon 1755 tome V, pl XXXI, Le Chien d'Islande.jpg|thumb|Engraving of the ''Chien d'Islande'' from the ''[[Histoire Naturelle]]'' of [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon]], Tome V; (1755); engraved by Gaillard after [[Jacques de Sève]]]]
The Icelandic Sheepdog is one of very few breeds of dog for which claims of ancient origin are demonstrably supported by both archaeological and written evidence.{{r|bryan|p=80}} It derives from dogs brought to Iceland by [[Viking]] colonists from 874 onward;{{r|bryan|p=80|isic2}} these are thought to have been from the same ancestral stock which gave rise to the modern [[Buhund]] of Norway and [[Vallhund]] of Sweden.{{r|jan|p=178|taylor|p2=191}}

As a result of commerce with Iceland in the [[Middle Ages]], the dog became fairly well known in other European countries including England and France;{{r|bryan|p=80}} an early description dates to 1492.{{r|jan|p=178}} It is mentioned by [[John Caius]] in his writings on dogs in 1570,{{r|jan|p=178}} and by [[William Shakespeare]] in ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'', thought to date from about 1599.{{r|bryan|p=80|gmu}} In his ''Account of ''Island'', alias ''Ice-land''; in the Year 1662'', published posthumously, Sir [[Thomas Browne]] wrote: "... they bring another sort over, Headed like a Fox, which they say are bred betwixt Dogs and Foxes; these are desired by the Shepherds of this Country".{{r|bryan|p=80|cavill|p2=106|tom|p3=230}}

The {{lang|fr|italic=no|Chien d'Islande}} or Iceland Dog was both discussed and illustrated in the fifth volume of the ''[[Histoire Naturelle]]'' of [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon]], published in 1755.{{r|bryan|p=80|buffon|p2=Pl.XXXI}} In 1788 it was classified by [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin]] as a [[species]], ''Canis islandicus''.{{r|sub|gmelin|p2=66}}

[[Bubonic plague|Plague]] and [[canine distemper]] destroyed over 75% of the breed in the late nineteenth century, leading to a ban on the importation of dogs to Iceland. The purebred Icelandic Sheepdog was again bordering extinction in the late twentieth century.

A national [[kennel club]], the {{lang|is|italic=no|Hundarræktarfélag Íslands}} or Icelandic Kennel Club, was formed in  1969; at its first [[dog show]], at [[Hveragerði]] in 1973, twenty-three of the sixty dogs shown were of this breed.{{r|hrfi}} In 1979 a [[breed society]] was established, the {{lang|is|italic=no|Deild Íslenska Fjárhundsins}} or Icelandic Sheepdog Breed Club.{{r|hrfi}} In 1994 the [[Alþingi]] (national parliament) determined that the Icelandic Sheepdog was part of the [[cultural heritage]] of the country, and should be protected as a national breed.{{r|isic}} In 1996 an international breed association, the Icelandic Sheepdog International Cooperation, was formed; it has ten European member kennel clubs (including that of Iceland), plus the [[American Kennel Club]].{{r|isic}}

The breed was definitively accepted by the [[Fédération Cynologique Internationale]] in 1972,{{r|fci}} and was recognised by the American Kennel Club in 2010.{{r|akc}}

In 2015, registrations in the Nordic countries were: 137 in Iceland; 100 in Denmark; 44 in Finland; 35 in Norway; and 76 in Sweden.{{r|nku}} In 2022 the total number registered world-wide was approximately {{val|5000}}.{{r|isic2}}