Breeding Strategy and Health Status of the Icelandic Sheep Dog

Abstract

The Icelandic Sheepdog has been around since the time the first Nordic Settlers came to Iceland. The breed grew steadily until the 19th century when about 50% of the population was killed as an eradication measure against a recent tapeworm outbreak. Later in the 19th century an outbreak in the disease distemper almost eradicated the entire population of Icelandic Sheepdogs with a consequent population bottleneck. The current population of Icelandic Sheepdogs can be traced back to 36 founders. Out of these 80% of the genome of the current population has been traced back to only three founder animals.