Any SHELTIES out there?

[CelticMoon1]

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I'm so sorry about your Chatter!

I must admit I had the same fears when getting our 2nd sheltie, and we did have a 9 month gap between having to put our old Sheltie down (he had trachea-problems that at the time were non-operable) and getting a puppy. One reason being that we had an old Collie as well with epilepsy, severe hearing loss, collie eye anomaly and generally poor health - and we didn't want to ruin his last months with the hassle of a pyppy. However Isak just made his own room in all of our hearts, and so has every one of them. If and when we do compare it's never "better" or "worse" but just how they are different. All 3 of ours have so different personalities;
Isak is a bit hyper and has herding instincts, he's extremely agile, he loves people and is very playful. He's always teasing the others to play. Doesn't really bother about his food except if someone else is around that might eat it.
Emil loves his food, he doesn't like going out if it's cold or wet and doesn't want to get his paws dirty. He's pretty docile, but loves playing with puppies. He does not, however, like other male dogs, especially not if they're black! He'll sell his soul for a treat

Dennis loves playing, he's more active than Emil but not hyper like Isak. He LOVES other dogs regardless of size, breed or gender and wants to play with anyone he meets. He's the only one of ours that is comfortable playing with children, though he's rather shy when meeting new people.

 

[halo]

Im so sorry about your Chatter. Believe me, if you get a new one, you won't compare him to your old Chatter, he'll just weasel his way into your heart into a brand new spot. None of them take the place of the previous ones; they are just all so very special. I truly can't imagine my life without a couple of them running around the house and making me laugh every single day.

Mine all get along wonderfully well. When Mikey was 9 and Sweetie 4, they got along so great and were just the best buds. I started worrying what would happen to Sweetie when Mikey left; I didnt want her to be lonely, so I decided to get Punkin. Three shelties are such a joy. Mikey is a stoic old guy, but still gets out and runs with Sweetie and Punkin. When I brought Punkin home, Mikey just pretended he wasnt there, but Sweetie took to him right away and they have been best buds ever since. They sleep right next to each other in the house, piled all together looking like one big dog with 2 heads.

This is when I brought Sweetie home, 4 years ago. She just tormented poor Mikey.

Well, payback's a b**tch, because now Sweetie has her own little tormenter:

 

[verthandi]

The best thing I ever did for myself was get a second Sheltie when my other Sheltie was older. The older one (BooBoo) was giving up on life and spent most of his time just laying around. A 4 year old female found her way to me, I had the weekend to see if they would work out together. (yeah, right...like I would ever return her once she got here) BooBoo had a new lease on life and enjoyed his last year with his new lady. I am so thankful that I took a chance and brought Daisy home. As losing BooBoo this past November was horrible. Lymphoma and kidney failure at 14 years old.



BooBoo

Daisy

 

[Katy]

I'm not a small dog person, but seeing all these cuties might change my mind. I suppose they shed like crazy?

 

[verthandi]

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Mine are actually over sized for shelties. They both were/are around 40 pounds. That is not normal for them, but I like a bigger dog also and enjoy the Shelties personality. I have found that the bigger ones are more reasonable in price as they are not used in breeding programs. And yes, you need to like brushing....a lot! But I have always had either shelties or Australian shepherds so I am very used to all the hair. I just warn people if they are coming here....don't wear black clothing.

 

[annie3001]

we have a 13 year old sheltie named SAMMIE
my parents bred them,, hes a wonderful dad!
Me and my family now own him, for the last 5 years.
shelties are really good with house rabbits, chickens and kids!!!!
really really they are!!


p.s.
and your photo is so cute!!!

 

[halo]

I really dont notice the shedding, because I built my house with them in mind. Tile flooring, leather furniture, nothing sticks.

Mine average out to about 25 pounds. I think Punkin is only 20 pounds; he's so active and just turned a year old, so he still has some maturing to do.

 

[Katy]

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Mine are actually over sized for shelties. They both were/are around 40 pounds. That is not normal for them, but I like a bigger dog also and enjoy the Shelties personality. I have found that the bigger ones are more reasonable in price as they are not used in breeding programs. And yes, you need to like brushing....a lot! But I have always had either shelties or Australian shepherds so I am very used to all the hair. I just warn people if they are coming here....don't wear black clothing.

I have 6 housecats so black clothes are a no-no already!!

My house dog is 1/2 husky so she sheds some, her brother who lives outside has a long coat and sheds a lot more during his "blow".

 

[pardygwyn]

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I thought so! I was going to ask.

I'm kind of partial to oversized Shelties and undersized Collies - somewhere in the 40 and 60 lb. range is just enough dog without being too much. On the other hand, I was walking my tricolor collie once and ran into this woman walking a tri sheltie that practically looked teacup. I'd be amazed if that little thing was more than 15 lbs. and I'm being generous even with that estimate. So Gypsy had a Mini-Me! It was the cutest thing ever. Where's a camera when you need it???

 

[Windrider]

Oh, you guys are making me cry! I miss my shelties so much! My very first dog (that wasn't the family dog) was a sheltie and I had three more after she passed. I switched to collies when my brother and sister started having kids (my shelties weren't too fond of kids). I love the collies and they are much more laid back and tolerant in public, but I so miss the little mischief-makers that I could pick up and cuddle.

A trip down memory lane. Melody, my first dog that was "mine" and not the family's. I got her when I was going through that awful teenage stuff and I swear she led me out of it holding on to the end of her leash. She was my first experience in dog training, too, and spoiled me rotten because she was so easy to train. She got her CD and never had a score lower than 198. In spite of hating the touch of strangers and never doing her stand-for-examination in practice, she always stuck it at a trial. My best friend's mother thought Melody was psychic, she was so good at reading body language. She had a huge "go get" vocabulary and would fetch all kinds of things you needed while you were working. I got her as a "teenage" pup from the sheltie rescue. She was fairly tall for a sheltie but was built very light.

I hope she wasn't my once in-a-life-time dog, since I had her so young and I hope for another one to come along in my middle age, but she does have all the hallmarks.

Melody practicing down-stays with my best friend's sammie, Malya.

When Melody passed, I got Pippin. I went through what folks here are talking about, I couldn't replace Melody but I was so lonely for another dog. It didn't help that Pippin was a horrible terror of a pup (also an older pup from the rescue). However, she was wonderful in a different way than Mel. She was steady and social and she looked people in the eye trying to figure them out. At dog training class, she would watch the instructor and his dog demonstrate and seemed to be trying to figure out what was being taught. She was a large and sturdily built sheltie who weighed about 35 pounds.

When Pippin was almost two, through contacts at the rescue I heard about a pup that a breeder had. The breeder didn't want her and couldn't sell her because she had something wrong with her foot. I ended up with the pup and named her Mackie. She would often hold her front paw up, but we never could figure out what was wrong with it. She out grew whatever it was and ended up just fine. She was more a couch potato though and never did much in obedience trialing.

Mackie ("Wee Bonnie Machree") with Pippin her first night home (notice she is holding her paw up).

Mackie as an adult. She was a smallish sheltie, but not teacup like so many nowadays. She had the most wonderful soft coat (improper for show shelties) - it felt like rabbit fur. She was also the top dog in the house, in spite of weighing at least 15 pounds less than Pippin and arriving later.

Mackie and Pippin on the trail around Convict Lake (near Mammoth Lakes, CA). This is one of my favorite photos even if the girls are filthy!

Then Mackie had a litter of three pups. We kept the runt, a boy we named Winston. Boy, was he ever a pill! I can't find any scanned pics of him as an adult, but I have never before or since seen a sheltie with his color. He was a carrot top. And I mean REALLY orange, so that people would ask if I'd dyed my dog sigh: no he is just a very red sable).

Eight week old Winston with mom Mackie and Auntie Pippin.

I now have a 55 pound non-bantam sheltie (otherwise known as a collie). And I always have another collie or two here fostering for the rescue. I would like to have both breeds, but will wait until my nephews and nieces are past the stage of terrorizing small dogs.

Thanks so much for letting me share. I miss them so much!