The persons behind the kennel are me (Maria) and my fiancé Tomas. Both I and Tomas has studied at Luleå University of Technology. I work at Luleå High School as a teacher in agriculture with dogs as main subject and Tomas is working at Agency9 which he started with his friend Kashi 2003. My personal interest is dogs, well animals and nature in general, and photography. Tomas passion is fly fishing. I am an educated SBK general obedience instructor for Luleå Brukshundklubb. I have also started a website for owners of Icelandic sheepdogs in the north of Sweden and Norway, Islandshund i norr.

We bought our first Icelandic sheepdog, Astvinur Dimmbrá, in the spring of 2003 while we still lived in the apartment at campus. We had already Quinnie, a Japanese Spitz that I got in 1995 while I still lived at my mum's place. When Dimmbrá just had turned into one year old in the spring of 2004 we bought our sweet dream house in the country. It was a small red "Norrbottensgård" (a special old type of house for north of Sweden) which was perfect for two persons. After we had moved to the house it didn't take long time before the family was increased with more animals. First came the mixture cat Zelda and half a year later she got a friend, Alva which is a Norwegian forest cat.

Since we had a sheepdog and lived in the country, sheep would fit us perfectly. Therefor in the autumn of 2005 we bought Gotland Sheep. Since we had no barn for them our little flock stayed with the farmer during the winter and then in the spring of 2006 they moved home to us. At the most we have had 21 sheep but for the moment we only have the six most beautiful ewes left. Our small herd are free from Maedi Visna with M3 status.

The Gotland Sheep is also called Pelt-Sheep (Pälsfår) closely related to the Gute Sheep. They originating on the Swedish island Gotland by the Vikings. Since 1920 it have systematically and carefully been bred for its fine pelt, wool and also for its good tasting and lean meat, therefore it have become an excellent multipurpose sheep known for those qualities. The lambs are born black with sometimes white markings on the head, they grow up to have grey, sometime darker pelts with silky, lustrous fleece. They have black wool-less head without horns, black legs which are long, slender and up-right, their tail is short and black-tipped. Ewes can be 50-70 kg and rams heavier, up to 90 kg
They are alert, curious and very sociable animals, easy cared for, a very harmonious animal with good mother instincts. They are not shy but enjoy being around people.

From the beginning we had not planned to participate in dog shows but since Dimmbrás breeder wanted us to show Dimmbrá so she could evaluate her breeding, we promised to try. On Dimmbrás third dog show when she was in youth class she got "CAC quality" and then our competition spirit waked up. In the fallowing dog shows Dimmbrá got three CAC in a row and when she had just turned into two years old she became both Swedish and Norwegian Beauty Champion. Dimmbrás dog show career continued and three years old she became International Beauty Champion. After Dimmbrá had been X-rayed and got her eyes checked with excellent results we started to think about breeding.

We submitted the application for a kennel name and got our "Kennel Árperla" approved by the FCI in April 2005. Dimmbrás first litter was born then in December the same year and from that litter we kept Árperla Asta which then came to be a copy of her mother in appearance. The name Árperla is Icelandic and means river pearl in English. I wanted the name Árperla because I think that every dog is a unique pearl. They can vary greatly in appearance and of course in personality. I also have a very beautiful old golden ring that my grandmother gave me with a real genuine wild pearl in it. The pearl is from "pärlälven" (pearl river) in Jokkmokk. My grandmother has meant a lot to me, I and Tomas visits Pärlälven once in a while and Dimmbrá is my little pearl.

Unfortunately, our beloved dogs eventually get old and in January 2007 Quinnie became our little white angel dog due to sickness. After rain there is sunshine and a month later Dimmbrás second litter, B-litter, was born. While we lived in our cute little "Norrbottensgård" for two persons there was always the idea where we would like to have a real farm, a large courtyard with more space. In the summer of 2007, we sold the house and bought our beautiful dream place. The farm consists of a large "Norrbottensgård", bakehouse, big barn and 1,2 hectare field/land with the river beside it. Since the house has been just a summer place earlier there is a lot of renovation that we are busy oneself with. It looked like this when we bought the farm: Photos

Except the sheep, cats, Dimmbrá and Asta, we have another family member. Newest addition to the family is Rekikelin Valsa, a three colored Icelandic sheepdog puppy which we bought from Finland in January 2009.