Shetland Sheepdogs

[Goldfields]

This is for lindapalm and anyone else interested in the Shelties. I'll start the thread with a story about my girl, Silk.(Goldfields Silks N Roses). One of her nicknames is "Skid Kid" . I don't know how it ever started, maybe one polished floor too many, but like a little kid, she decided she liked skidding on smooth surfaces. She is VERY good at it. She takes a little run, then it's head up and back, chest thrown out, and those dainty little feet placed precisely together, and she'll try to get in a few skids if there is room. The more you laugh, the more she'll do it. Well, one night when we camped at a showground, a fellow cattle dog exhibitor came into my tent for an evening of chat, and "Skid Kid" must have thought "Oh boy, I've got an audience!" because she was on my bunk bed and started doing short skids on the very edge. Once she got Vicki laughing she just went on and on. You had to be there to appreciate what a show-off it is. She likes to skid on the ramp down from our back porch too. A crazy habit, but endearing. Only two or three times did her daughter watch and copy, the daughter has her own funny habit.

[mummummum]

Well, she is VERY beautiful little mischief-maker.

[Goldfields]

Now, Silk's daughter, Sugar, started trying to get my attention in a funny way. I call her "Miss shake it" because she will gently take hold of any loose clothing I have on and give it a very rapid shake so I pay attention to her. She also makes me laugh if she picks up something she doesn't want another dog to have. She holds it carefully then walks around for simply ages, tiptoeing like she's on egg shells, looking for a spot to bury her prize, keeping an eye on the others to see if anyone is watching. Everything about it is so careful, it has to be put down on the ground gently too. It often has to be shifted to another spot carefully too . Funny dog!

[lindapalm]

Goldfields, shes a beautiful dog, and once again their habits have to make you laugh. My favorite story about ours,over eleven years ago, before I had a chance to have her spayed, I was at work and my husband let her outside to pee. Next thing he knew, a little pomeranian male was all over her. My husband had just had hip replacement surgery and had a walker and could barely get around. He shouts out the door to scare the other dog, didn't do any good. He was at a loss what to do next, so in desperation he threw his walker out the door to distract the two dogs. Now he can't go anywhere, and our dog was running down the road with Brownie(pomeranian) in persuit. My husband calls his 83 year old mother, she zooms over and is chasing the two dogs down the street. Next day we had Mollie spayed. For ten years every time we would say Brownies name our dog would run to the door wanting to go out. Mollie would nip at your heals when you left the house, went nuts over phones, I couldn't wash mirrors or windows, (she hated the noise,) would attack the dryer when it buzzed to go off, would nip the cats when they scratched the furniture, etc. etc. I could go on forever about the odd things she did. She died in February from Cushings Disease, and I miss her terribly, but have a lot of weird but great memories.

[mummummum]

When Declan () came home to me, the very first dog he met with his newly acquired manners was a Shetland. I, of course was VERY nervous as the wee thing barely crested his chest and we had only practiced our new manners with dogs I knew. He wasn't vicious or anything, just had a jumping/lunging/ big woof kind of way of saying hello.

The Shetland stood ever so serenely and elegantly waiting for Declan to check her out and there's Dexie as calm as can be, giving nose touches and appreciative sniffs. NOBODY was more surprized than me! I think the dawg must have just oooooozed peace-love-and-harmony pheromones.

[Dog Dancer]

Oh the girls are lovely. I love shelties. A friend of mine in Ontario breeds and shows them. I'll try to attach a couple pics. The blue merle is one from her litter earlier this year that she will be keeping. She doesn't breed often. I've always kinda hoped to get one of her pups, but it's never worked out. You still have both of these beauties do you? They have such character.

[lindapalm]

Dogdancer, those puppies are too cute.

[Dee-O-Gee]

Silk and Roses--what a pretty girl. I love Sugar's story and how she's a tippy toe'r protecting her property!

My old next door neighbors (rest their soles) had three beautiful shelties who woud talk up a storm at my then Golden Retriever girl Bailey. Oh the memories.

[Goldfields]

Originally Posted by lindapalm

Mollie would nip at your heals when you left the house, went nuts over phones, I couldn't wash mirrors or windows, (she hated the noise,) would attack the dryer when it buzzed to go off, would nip the cats when they scratched the furniture, etc. etc. I could go on forever about the odd things she did. She died in February from Cushings Disease, and I miss her terribly, but have a lot of weird but great memories.

For a start, I am so very sorry to hear that Mollie is gone. She is probably playing with my Tammy at the Bridge, I had to put her to sleep in the middle of January. That's Silk's mum. Doesn't it hurt to lose such loving dogs, especially when they have personality plus.
I can relate to all of the above. Mollie seems quite normal to me. Mine can't stand me to sweep or mop the floor, go nuts if I pick up any sort of spray can, in fact if I just pretend to hold one and say "Ssssss!!" they go nuts. Let's see, Dundee in particular knows the routine here and if he hears me get the Alfoil out to cover a roast he starts, I mean why wait for her to spray it with cooking oil, may as well get hysterical now. Hubby has health problems that meant for a long time we had District nurses coming daily or every second day , but because they like to get revved up over that, just the sight of me getting things ready, for ME to do things for him, has them looking for a nurse to walk in and so they start barking at nothing. I reckon Mollie would have fitted in well, don't you? If Dundee gets too fired up by what I'm doing, Matthew will always fly in to try and stop him, a bit like Mollie with your cat, hey? I think they reckon they have the Rule book.
I could see that scenario unfolding when your hubby threw the walker at the dogs. Too funny, sorry. Ian badly needs a hip replacement by the way.

mummummum, do you think the sheltie could have been giving noticeable calming signals? Toby's are ever so clear. He's not good with people so will turn his head away, ditto one time when he saw young pups of mine in a trolley outside for the first time. He would NOT turn his head to look at them. I picked him up, put him on the top of the trolley and talked to him for a while, next time down he at least flicked a glance at them, so more time out on the trolley, and finally he could see they weren't a threat and could look at them. The one Declan met could have been a very confident and sweet natured one of course. They are usually wonderful with other dogs, seem to love cats too, and mine are great with baby lambs. Their pups remain their babies till they are quite old. Excellent mums. You can still get that total animosity between two bitches though but it is rare.
Dog Dancer, that blue merle is just beautiful. My sister has one, but for showing I stuck with just sables. I hope you do end up with one, but beware, the saying here is that no-one ever owns just one sheltie. They're a bit addictive. Yes, I still have Silk and Sugar. Sugar was the only survivor in a litter of 4 and I very nearly lost her two or three times due to low blood sugar in the first few days. I had to bring her back quick with Glucodin and water. Anyway, a friend in England told me to look after that sugar baby, so I made that her show name. To this day she has a sweet tooth, loves lollies.

klm, I always laugh when I see Sugar tip toeing. I wonder if she thinks she's invisible, or by being quiet they won't notice her? Love that one to bits, she's such a joy to own. That's what sheltie do alright, talk up a storm. They could bark under water. Hehehe! Sometimes you really need to love them just to put up with some of it.

[mummummum]

Absolutely Goldfields. This little gal was what we would call in humans "self-possessed". Complete poise, confidence, calm ~ not to get too crunchy granola here but she had a very zen presence. I was the one catching flies in my mouth.

[Goldfields]

She sounds lovely. My sister holds a Fun Day for the Sheltie Club each year and all the dogs get to run loose together, do mock obedience trials, play games etc., in her 2 acres of garden. The only snapping she ever sees is if a pup gets in the face of an adult male and that just teaches it to behave itself. I must say in this respect they are a big improvement on the cattle dogs, much more sociable and friendly. Here is a link to her home and sheltie pack.
http://home.alphalink.com.au/~bosmans/

[TulipRoxy]

Originally Posted by Goldfields

Now, Silk's daughter, Sugar, started trying to get my attention in a funny way. I call her "Miss shake it" because she will gently take hold of any loose clothing I have on and give it a very rapid shake so I pay attention to her.

Tulip also picks things up and shake them when she gets excited! It seems to make her happy!

[Goldfields]

They're sweeties, that's for sure, although Sugar is my only one that does that.

[lindapalm]

Goldfields, I'm glad to hear your shelties have many weird habits too. For years people would tell me our dog was strange because I picked the runt of the litter and something was wrong with her. I'm glad to hear yours like talking? alot too, I can't count the number of times I've asked Mollie to shut up, and finally just gave up and let her enjoy herself. They have to be on the top of the charts for intellegence.

[Goldfields]

Oh look, I was actually glad to hear that Mollie was like that too. You see my sister's shelties are all obedience trained and I am sure she would not let them have the freedom to express themselves the way mine do. Other sheltie breeders here keep their dogs out in yards, so they don't start developing these odd habits either. I wanted all the spark I could get for showing them so they are allowed to bark and do whatever. Our closest neighbors are a mile away so we are the only people being deafened. I HATE de-barking by the way, and it's illegal here now except as the very last resort, but while I think these are the noisiest dog on the planet, I do love to listen to them having their say too. Visitors will ask, if I ask say Gemma to be quiet, how I knew it was her? Us doggy people can always pick which dog it is by their voice though, can't we? Oh, if you have a sheltie pack like mine you quickly learn that they don't generalise. A blanket "Be quiet!" doesn't work, each dog individually, by name, has to be given the order. Same goes if one is getting into mischief, you tell it off, then one by one the rest will try whatever it was so they get told(and the attention) too. Yes, they are the tops for intelligence. My sister helped her hubby get ready for his very first venture into the trial ring, with his sheltie which had never been trialled before, and they got Best in Trial. (or High in Trial, whatever they call it.)
Just remembered another of Silk's little endearing habits. She adores my husband(well, both of us) but because of a bad back and hip he can't get down to her, especially as she is small. So, the minute I pick her up she leans hard towards wherever he is standing, she couldn't make it plainer that I am to carry her over to him so she can kiss his face.
Must tell you another funny story that reminded me off. I sold a pup called Angus to a nice young couple and one day they had a couple of friends visit them for dinner. Now, the guy did not like dogs though his partner did. She was in the kitchen but witnessed this. Angus sat for a while observing this guy, who was on the sofa with his legs straight out in front of him, then he launched his attack. He ran up the guys legs onto his chest and gave him a decent tongue kiss. Apparently the wife was laughing hysterically while he was very unimpressed. Angus was just not going to be denied, dear little fellow.

[susieqt]

I have a sheltie, too! She is lovely, and I love her, but boy, oh, boy, does she bark when people come over! I tell everyone that she is just doing what they are supposed to do, protect their family, but no one believes me!

[Goldfields]

Well, I'm a believer, susieqt. They are protective. We have just had the district nurse here and it was noticeable that the closer she got to us, to make herself heard, the louder they got. Embarrassing at times I reckon, when they mistake visitors for axe murderers. Tell you what else is embarrassing. When we are taking them anywhere in the car and we pull up at traffic lights. They bark at any pedestrians or growl loudly if the driver of the closest car moves at all.
The district nurse (a new one we haven't had before)just told me a terrible tale about a friend of hers who has red cattle dogs. She visited him and the dogs were fine while he was there but the minute he went out of the room and left her alone with them they attacked, one mauling her badly on the face, the other one getting her by the back of the neck. She seemed to think that acceptable as they were guarding, whereas I'd have thought seriously about euthanasia. She was just sitting down, not trying to pat them, no excuse for them to attack. At least she knows why I insist on a phone call to tell me what time the nurses will be coming here, it's so I can get all my dogs safely contained, but the cattle dogs especially.

[Tundra_Queen]

I had a sheltie many years ago, bought him from a breeder and judge. He was my favorite dog and so smart! I still miss Teddy.

Debbie

[BrownEyedGirl]

My aunt and uncle have a sheltie - he is so funny w/his quirks. He hates the microwave with a passion!!!

[chico2]

My son was given a Sheltie whom nobody wanted,her owner had died and she was devastated,for more than a month,she would sit by the front-door and wait for her owner to come and get herreally,really a sad thing.
Eventually she adjusted to her new life,but it was something very melancholy about her always,she was already 14yrs old,but lived another 3 yrs with my son.
I love Shelties,their tender but quirky,sweet little selves.
Here's Trixie and my son.

[mummummum]

Wow 17!!! And what a gorgee-ous grrrl to boot.


Goldfields ~ love your Sis's website. Are all of you animal ?

[Goldfields]

Originally Posted by Tundra_Queen

I had a sheltie many years ago, bought him from a breeder and judge. He was my favorite dog and so smart! I still miss Teddy.

Debbie

All the best people have shelties. By the way, nearly every second exhibitor/breeder of shelties in Australia are judges, which makes it very hard to win against them.

BrownEyedGirl, what is it with the microwave? Is it the ping when it's finished or just the noise of it? Love to hear of any of its other funny habits. Harking back to my Sugar, just wondered if any of the shelties you know are like her and have to drink from the far side of the water bowl, never the middle?

Chico2, my Ben was like your son's dog, a very sad boy when he came here. It is heartbreaking to watch them pine and I don't want to credit a dog with our intelligence, but when he again met the person he'd fretted for later on, he wouldn't acknowledge that he knew him. You have to wonder why he gave him the cold shoulder, because more time passed and we met again at the Sheltie National, and finally the dog not only recognised him, but was all over him.Strange. He didn't want to stay with him though. Bo was the same, returned as a 5 year old and fretted for his owner's two sons I'd say. He'd pay attention to certain cars going by as if it might be the family. Trixie's lovely by the way, looks a really nice type of sheltie.

mummummum, my mother loved dogs, and dogs were crazy about her, just one of those people they all treated like their best friend. I had two sisters. Beryl ,the eldest of my 6 siblings, is sadly deceased, but had imported (from England), bred and shown Dalmatians, as well as having an Aussie Terrier at one stage and a Golden Retriever after all her Dallies were gone. You saw my other sister's website. Then we have a brother who is a Bull Terrier fanatic, past Secretary and President of the Bull Terrier Club in this State, a Terrier Judge, now an owner of a Staffie though. His wife prefers Chihuahuas. . My younger brother started off with a cross bred working dog, then graduated to a pair of English Setters, but when his place kept being burgled, finally got into Rotties. I have another brother who worked for IBM, travelling the world a bit, but he always had dogs at home. One he called a Pointerdor, a Pointer/Labrador cross, and he now has a couple of little "designer dogs", Maltese/ShihTzu cross and Maltese/Westie cross, which he adores. My eldest brother is the only one I'd say maybe isn't very doggy, though he did own a Maltese. It carried on into the next generation too, with one niece having shown Afghan Hounds, and another currently owning Chow Chows, while a nephew bought a Golden Retriever for his children. I am going to have a visit tomorrow from the staffie owning Judge brother and his wife, the daughter(with the Chow Chows) and her hubby, and her sister, and yet another hubby, if that makes sense. Should be a great weekend.

[mummummum]

Good heavens above! What a multi-cultural family! I am the only one of the four of us who likes and has animals ~ not sure where it came from but, I've always been like this. Absolutely refused ballet, demanded riding lessons and have had my own dog (s) since I was 16 (ahem, just a few years back )

When the sibs come (I'm sorry for your loss of Beryl) do they bring dawgs with them or is that a no-go with your cattle dogs?

[lindapalm]

Goldfields, its a good thing your neighbors are a mile away, you can let your guys bark till their hoarse, which they would if you let them. Does yours do anything strange when people leave your house? Mollie used to bark and spin in circles so fast she'd fall over. But only when someone left the house, and that was after she'd tried to nip their heels. Do you do all their grooming yourself? Its got to take up quite a bit of time.

[lindapalm]

Chico2, your son did a very good job of raising his dog to get 17yrs out of him, and he was beautiful.

[Goldfields]

mummummum, I would have liked to demand riding lessons but there wasn't a lot of money when I was a kid. I was absolutely and totally in love with horses, and silly enough to get on anything with 4 legs under it, must have given my poor mum a lot of grey hairs. Haven't been without a pony or horse or two(or more) ever since I was a kid though.
My sister always brings along her Shelties and Shepherd. We just exercise them in separate areas, away from the cattle dogs. I have 3 dog exercising areas here. She'll be up about rose pruning time, to teach me all about it and take some cuttings home. They bring up enough plants for me to start a plant nursery usually. I get to meet this little darling this time. Cindy. The rest can live without their dogs for long enough to visit.
lindapalm, I have some champion spinners here. Do they call it the sheltie spin there? That's how we refer to it here. Matt does it when I'm bringing him his food, Dundee does it for a lot of reasons, Tammy did it for the first 7 or 8 years of her life till she crippled herself by developing very arthritic hocks. I actually keep the shelties away from visitors seeing I know a few would love to send people packing. Dog bites get reported here if anyone seeks medical attention for one, and biters usually end up put down. Yes, I groom all the dogs myself, also do teeth and claws. Ian has ONE animal to groom, the persian cat. My dogs do take a while, 2 hours each for a lot of them.The poor devils are about to drop the lot , just as we are coming into cold, frosty weather. Time to stoke up the fire I think. They do all have dog coats, either dryzabone or quilted ones, for when they are outside.

[chico2]

Awww,what a little sweetie,she's beautiful
I know your "winter" is on the way,do you ever get any snow??

[Goldfields]

chico2, in our 35 years at this place it has snowed once, 4 miles away and only lightly. However, at Mt William, 30 miles away down in the Grampians mountain range, they usually get a bit of snow each winter. We only get some decent frosts. I envy you the snow and love to look at snow photo's. Oh, only once have we had a deer here too, a solitary buck. I nearly fell over when I saw him standing on the corner, at the forest's edge. There are plenty of deer in that mountain range I mentioned.

Just thought of another of Silk's habits, bound to make people laugh if they hear her. If someone rings up when she knows her food is nearly ready, she starts this loud and pitiful moaning. My callers can actually hear her over the phone. She's such a character. LOL.

[lindapalm]

Goldfields, too bad you don't get any snow, our sheltie loved it. She would lay on her back and make snow angels, by the time she came in the house she had snow everywhere, even on her eyelashes. Your last pictures were beautiful, your dogs look like their in very good shape. Have you ever had any problems with a sheltie continously walking on her back legs not just on the pad but on the whole leg from the last joint (elbow) down? We were told it can be common with shelties, but I always wondered if that was bull.

[Goldfields]

I'd imagine shelties, originating in Scotland , would have no trouble with snow. I know mine go nuts if it is really cold.
Re the way your(?) sheltie is walking .... in a normal dog there is a vertical line from the dog's foot up to the hock joint. Do you mean that she can't stand like that and has gone down flat onto the back of the hind leg, with the hock touching the ground? If so, this is what happened to Tammy. She developed swollen arthritic hocks first, then the ligaments around them gave and she couldn't stand. I didn't think she would see her 9th birthday at the start , then I started wondering if I should buy her one of those canine carts for dogs that have paralysis in the hindquarters, but my vet said no, he could get her on her feet with support casts. He would wrap her legs well in thick cotton wool, bandage that on with elastoplast adhesive bandage, then on one side of her leg the support was a piece of old cast material maybe an inch wide, to go from the foot to her stifle almost, on the other side he used a steel surgical pin - those two things also wrapped in cotton wool and more packed under at any point where it might press hard - then he had a fantastic way of doing the final elastoplast so that she stayed upright , stiff-legged you may say. However, she could lie down and get up, walk okay, even do a choppy canter if she wanted to chase something, and she remained alpha dog here for a further 3 1/2 years with his help. No other vet could do the casts correctly and it has to be re-done EVERY single time you see any signs at all of discomfort, for fear you might get a nasty infection going under a cast due to a rub. It cost a lot to keep her comfortable, even with my vet, a very generous guy doing it. He would not put down a happy dog though and I agreed with that, Tam was a tough old girl who just lived to eat and be the boss. LOL. Eventually it was an ulceration that made us call it quits but she got all that extra time and lots of loving, whereas I heard of one up north where the vet used a solid cast and it almost immediately needed to be put down. Tammy, by the way, was always quite happy to visit my vet, I'm sure she knew how much he was helping her. Because we couldn't allow her bandages to get wet, I was always buying her boots too, to wear over them when she went outside. I know it's not ideal and I would have loved to see her as she was when young again, but it's all I could do for her. I wouldn't reccommend it to others, not unless they are totally dedicated, have a vet who is an expert at this sort of support cast ,also willing to drop everything and re-do them if needed, and unlimited money to spend on the dog.
I don't think it is common with shelties, but it is not unheard of. Someone had one that she just allowed to walk around without support and it developed callouses but I didn't want that for Tammy, I felt she needed her mobility to enjoy life.