Lynn,

I read about a week ago and too late to post where you were considering a sheltie for a pet, and then decided to get one. I raised shelties for 10 years.

When you get your dog, I would be very interested in it and its behavior patterns.

The breeding depends on if they are calm or hyper. Too much inbreeding for showing and such, you have to watch, but you do not want a bad breeder either. If it is possible, the best thing is to buy from a breeder that has the (I will say it nicely!) dad and mom and visit them and see how they act. They can be yelpers, and lots of show people have their vocal cords (YUCK) cut so you cannot hear all the yelping.

Getting one through a shelty survival place is great, but you will mostly likely wind up with an older dogs, which shortens their life span, and if you have children this might be a consideration. For myself, I would not care! I would just wuvs them!

The dog shelter is also a good place to look! Beware of looking here, if you are like me, you will fall in love with 20 different dogs and have to have them all! LOL

After all that, I am saying to you, we had the best shelties in the world and they made the best pets! My health got so bad we had to sell out and we kept MY dog (13") and MY husbands dog (15").

My little dog became intune so much with me, she knew I was going to have a seizure before I had it. She would jump up at me. She laid by me or on my chest until I woke up, and licked under my chin. Always under my chin!

My husbands dog would come and sit by me and let me put my weight on his shoulders and get up off the floor. He also walked me down steps this way one at a time and up steps!

They had NO training, they were just so intune to us.

My youngest son had a shelty, our first actually, that he could teach a trick to in 5 minutes. She was a little hyper (we didn't know what to look for back then), but OH so smart! He grew up with her and she was his best friend!

*Never scold a sheltie or hit them, tell them no with firmness. They love to please, so when they know they aren't it hurts them plenty! They can cower easily.

*If pottie breaking any dog for the house, use a carrier for them at night by your bed. Take them out when they whine, better carry them in or out with/without of carrier, and put them back in. Always using words like outside or pottie, something they can start to relate it to. While young, do this also during the day, leaving them out longer as they get a little older and their bladder get larger. Always, as soon as you take them out of their carrier, let them out and use the words outside or pottie, something they will relate it to. If you keep a carrier or cage in the living room and bedroom after they are older, they will gravitate toward it and make it a home. They like the den feel! When you leave to go somewhere, put them in the carrier.

*From start to finish, keep toys and/or blankets the dogs will become familur with in their carrier/cages. 'Cause if this don't work, they need a compainion. 2 dogs, a cat, something! LOLOL

NO, it does not psychologically hurt them! Like I said, they get to where the carrier/cage (comfortable of course) is their little den! I know this is especially true of sheltie.

And of course, if children run expect them to get nipped in the seat of the pants or heels. They are working dogs! My son always loved it! LOL But you might need to caution small children!

Also, get a good book that tells you about shelties, their two layers of hair and how it needs to be brushed, how often they need to be bathed and why, possible diseases connected to shelties or tendiecies they might have! The more you know, the happier you and your pet will be!

So, a great great sheltie experience here!

I hope I didn't insult your intellegence by telling you all this you probably already knew, but I just had to. LOL We have traveled with and snuck our dogs in more places than I care to say! LOL They are both gone now not that long, and I miss them dearly!

We have a 3 year old Sheltie which we got as an 8-week old puppy. I had never had a dog before (only child, raised in a military family that moved a lot...) She is the most wonderful, loving, well behaved dog - we bought her from a couple in Colorado who raises Shelties - I could not recommend this type of dog more highly; she is a joy, and has taught me why people fall in love with their pets! She prefers to sleep in her carrier at night; when we ask her if she'd ready for bed she runs straight to her carrier and goes inside. If we don't close the gate on it she yips until we do it! I will be happy to share our experiences with her!

Thank you ladies,

We are still in the market for a sheltie and will let you know when we have found our new family member.

And yes, it is important that we get a quieter not hyper personality. My son would like the dog to sleep in his bed with him once it is trained to do her business outside.

All info is helpful. Even though we have had mostly shelties inthe pst they did have a little mix in them.

Lynn

Dreamer, that's so cute about the Sheltie yipping til you latch the gate. The first dog that I had for its whole life was a Sheltie. We got her as a puppy from a breeder in 1991. My husband and I were so in love with her. The only trouble we had with her was the constant barking at anything and everything. When I had cancer, I decided to get a cleaning service. Merry Maids came to the house to give me an estimate. My Sheltie kept barking because the woman was a stranger in the house. The woman said, "Does this dog bark like this all the time?" and I said "Yes, she is doing her job." I didn't hire the MM. Another woman came to the house, bent down to pet my Sheltie, and that was the woman I hired. Talk about in tune! When I had the biopsy, we came home to find that our well-trained Sheltie had had several poopy accidents around the house, severe diarrhea. I was immoblie from the surgery, but my husband took her to the vet. The vet said, "She appears to be fine. Have you had any stress in your home this week." My husband told the vet about the biopsy. Yes, her diarrhea was stress related. Sadly, her aches and pains increased as she aged, and we had to put her to sleep. The vet was great. She made sure we were the last clients of the day, and she let me cry onto Whitney's fur for as long as it took. Shelties are friends for life. You have to be diligent about grooming, and except to eat the fur, as it flys everywhere, including onto your plate! L

What a nice thing to share. Our Sheltie barks a lot, too, but she is getting better about doing it in the house. Luckily we moved out of a neighborhood in Denver to a lake house in SC where she can run and there are no neighbors directly next to us, no busy road close by, and only the lake behind us! She loves to bark at squirrels and chase them, at birds, butterflies, falling leaves, ripples on the lake - anything that moves! And she can jump so high that one day she just might catch something up there!

I suffer from migraines and occasionally I let them get me down - and she lays right next to the bed or couch until I can move again. She is the same way with my husband - very protective.

There are so many cute stories to tell - they truly are wonderful pets. And yes, we're on our 2nd vaccuum cleaner since we got her - the shedding is awful. We brush her at least once a day and vaccuum daily, too! But she's worth it!

I sure hope you're feeling well now and have no more health problems - you've had way more than your share.

Dreamer

Hi Dreamer, the fur will clog your vacuum. Yes, Shelties are worth it. I can just imagine your Sheltie running and barking in SC. As for migraines, I get them too. Once during chemo I could not get out of bed and my husband was gone at work for 12 hours. When he came home, he came right upstairs. I asked him how he knew to come upstairs right away. He said that Whitney led him there by barking on each step, up, up, up. Yes, they are very protective. Once during a fight, I was sitting in my chair, and my husband was standing over me. Whitney jumped on my lap and stood lengthwise from knee to knee. My husband realized that she was protecting me from bodily harm! Not that he has ever hurt me. We sure toned down our fight. I will always miss Whitney. We have two very energetic West Highland White Terriers now.

I love this! Sheltie stories! AWE! I want another one now mine are gone to the Shetland Island Heaven!

Can any of you detail what wwe should look for to choose a dog that has a smooth personality and not a hyper personality? Junebug mentioned seeing the parents which is great except we may get a dog from a sheltie rescue and the parents may not be available.

Thanks,
Lynn

Lynn,
You need to someway, if possibe, seclude them from the other dogs, and spend time with them. See how they act.
*If they cower-they may have been abused or a little timid-which can be helped sometimes and they usually make devoted pets.
*If they act normal-great.
*If they act hyper-in with the other animals or away from the other animals, I would pass.
*Since they are from a rescue, ask questions about the dogs you are interesed in and their personalities, they have no reason to lie, only to place the dogs with the right people.

I hope this helps, and maybe someone else will come up with something different that will help also.

June

OH Lynn,
Ask about how much they bark also. A shelter should not lie to you. That is not their motive.