The history of the Icelandic Shepherd Dogs is rather vague. It is believed that their ancestors were the ancient Scandinavian Spitz-like dogs, which came to Iceland around the 9th-10th centuries. At first, the animals helped their owners on the hunt, but then, in the absence of a large amount of game, they were retrained as shepherds, skillfully searching for the missing, strayed from the herd, as well as scattered sheep by the smell.