After several years of battling illness, Guðrún has passed away.
In addition to being my best friend, it is no exaggeration to say that no single person has done more for the Icelandic Sheepdog than Guðrún.
When I first met Guðrún, she was the chairwoman of the Icelandic Kennel Club, Hundaræktarfélag Íslands (HRFÍ), where she fought for a more positive attitude towards dog ownership in general and especially in the cities. She also improved dog ownership and training, and addtionally laid the foundation for the work of the Kennel Club. On several occasions, Guðrún courted the Althingi with the ambition of gaining support for the preservation of the Icelandic Sheepdog as Iceland’s only dog breed and thus part of Iceland’s cultural heritage.
With her gentle nature, warmth and care, Guðrún was also fair, loyal and goal-oriented. Qualities that came in handy when, in the 1990s, there was a tangible risk of division in the work around the Icelandic Sheepdog. As so often, it was about people who could not agree. The split resulted in the formation of a new club outside HRFÍ with the right to register dogs. The division of people/dog breed risked limiting genetic variation and breeding opportunities. Perhaps this was a contributing factor to the Althingi setting up a committee that included both HRFÍ and the breakaway club with the task of reviewing the preservation of the Icelandic Sheepdog. The committee’s first report contained several incorrect assumptions. Especially regarding the number of individuals and genetic conditions outside Iceland. HRFÍ therefore considered that the report had to rest on a firmer basis and refused to sign the document at that point.
In order to get further initiated, Guðrún, with the help of Hans-Åke Sperne of the Swedish breed club, obtained adequate breed information from official breed clubs in the seven countries where the breed was found to a greater extent. In addition, Guðrún invited the Swedish Kennel Club’s genetic expert, geneticist Per Erik Sundgren, to Iceland to provide information about breeding in small populations. This together finelly enabled Guðrún to sign the document on behalf of HRFÍ.
The knowledge that emerged from the inventory and the breed’s starting point in and outside Iceland, as well as Guðrún’s warm heart for the dog breed, became the start of the international cooperation Icelandic Sheepdog International Cooperation, ISIC. Guðrún was the pioneer in making this happen and in 1996 representatives from seven countries gathered for the first international seminar in Sweden. A follow-up meeting in 1997 in Iceland and the following year in the Netherlands. Annual seminars have since been held with an increasing number of participating countries.
For Guðrún, the word “co-operation” had a special meaning within ISIC – people would not believe that ISIC was a club consisting of a chairman and board. ISIC was about cooperation between different nations/clubs. Guðrún managed to connect the entire Icelandic Sheepdog world, Europe and the USA. This work cannot be praised enough.
Guðrún Ragnars Guðjohnsen is one of Iceland’s most prominent experts, breeders and judges in the Icelandic Sheepdog. Through her kennel Íslands Garða and her international involvement, she has played a key role in preserving and spreading knowledge about the breed both in and outside Iceland. All of this together has given an excellent picture of the breed’s general international quality. Guðrún was a source of knowledge and inspiration for both judges in further training and for new judges and breeders. In her kennel Íslands Garða, she bred among others Garða Tinni, who became Iceland’s first champion of all breeds included.
Guðrún’s deeds in brief.
Guðrún was for 14 years chairman of the Icelandic Kennel Club Hundaræktarfélag Íslands (HRFÍ), with a responsibility for all dog breeds in Iceland.
For 20 years chairman of the Icelandic breed/breeding club Deild Ísländska Fjárhundsins.
2002 Honorary award from all ISIC countries for stimulating international cooperation with tireless energy.
2004 HRFÍ’s Gold Medal for particularly significant contribution to the Icelandic Kennel Club.
2011 Swedish Kennel Club’s badge of merit for the preservation of the Icelandic Sheepdog and for Guðrún’s commitment to international co-operation in ISIC.
2013 Honorary member of the Iceland Sheepdog Club in Denmark.
In Guðrún’s honor, HRFÍ has established the «Guðrún Prize» which is awarded to successful breeders within HRFÍ, all breeds included.
There is no doubt that Guðrún is in heaven. It is equally certain that with a warm heart for the dog and the breed and with her authority, she is organizing for dogs and dog owners there.
All with the same gentle hand that characterized Guðrún during all her active years on earth.
Peace over your memory.
Hans-Åke
A word of remembrance about Guðrún Ragnars Guðjohnsen
In a newspaper interview in 1982, there is an interview with the chairman of the Icelandic Kennel Club (HRFÍ) about dog ownership. The journalist asks:
Some people let their dogs sleep in their beds, what do you think about that?
The chairman answered in one short sentence:
«Of course, people have to decide this for themselves.»
The interview was conducted while a dog ban was still in effect in most urban areas of the country. Surveys showed that about 80% of Reykjavík residents were opposed to dog ownership. This short, snappy answer from chairman Guðrún R. Guðjohnsen describes her personality well. No doubt many at the time would have fallen into the trap of excusing such behavior, but Guðrún did not have to excuse anything or elaborate on whether this was good or bad, as many might have done to avoid scandalizing better-off citizens who viewed dog ownership as a mess and pure barbarity.
We members called our chairman Guðrún Guð in everyday speech. The shortening of the surname was so natural. Guðrún reigned over the association with great dignity. She was objective and had an easy time getting people to work with her on various issues related to dog ownership. This also applies to her foreign colleagues in the Nordic Kennel Clubs, NKU, where everyone was willing to provide the young Icelandic club with the support that was requested.
During Guðrún’s chairmanship, an incredible amount of things happened in the Kennel Club. It can be said that there was a war between dog lovers and dog haters in urban areas that intensified around and after 1980, when Guðrún joined the association. Guðrún quickly realized that general education was needed for all citizens in order for dog ownership in urban areas to be recognized.
But one of the greatest achievements in the association’s history was when Guðrún R. Guðjohnsen and her colleagues on the board of hrfí began a long and tough fight with the city of Reykjavík and a 60-year ban on dog ownership was overturned even though the majority of city residents were against dog ownership in an election in 1988.
Guðrún stated that so many people had misunderstood the question at hand and therefore the results gave a completely wrong result. The crux of the matter was that the city of Reykjavík had spent millions on an election that was not significant. Here Guðrún showed that she possessed great cunning and audacity.
The association grew rapidly during this time. Among other projects, the association opened an office and a dog school. HRFÍ brought in instructors from the Nordic countries to train dog trainers in both puppy school and obedience school, as well as bringing in foreign experts to hold educational sessions on raising and caring for dogs.
The Icelandic Sheepdog was Guðrún Guð’s heart and soul. She was a breeder and judge, as well as sitting on the board of the Icelandic Sheepdog Association for many years. It can be said that she was the protector of the Icelandic Sheepdog not only here in Iceland, but with the establishment of the International Association for the Protection of the Icelandic Sheepdog ISIC, her burning interest and knowledge of the dog has been allowed to flourish around the world.
I know that I speak for many when I say thank you very much for everything that honorary member of HRFÍ, Guðrún Guð, achieved for our association. Thank you for all the time, energy, honesty and selflessness that we got to know in the work of Guðrún R. Guðjohnsen.
Guðrún was born on 31 Jan 1934. She passed away on 13 May 2026
I send my deepest condolences to her family and friends.
Guðrún’s work related to the Icelandic Sheepdog will be better understood in connection with Icelandic Sheepdog Day on 18 July.
Garðabær 18 May 2026
Þórhildur Bjartmarz
former chairman and honorary member of HRFí