Contents
History of origin
Sheltie dogs received their modern name only at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, although these small fluffy dogs lived next to humans for many centuries, doing their important work in difficult weather conditions. The Shetland Islands are located on the border of the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast of Scotland.
In the Middle Ages, the Shetland Islands belonged to Norway and, most likely, the Scandinavian dogs, as well as the extinct Yakki dog breed, named after the indigenous inhabitants of Greenland, were the progenitors of the Sheltie. The inhabitants of the Shetland Islands, who spoke Gaelic, called their four-legged helpers “Tuni Dog” – a small dog or “Fary Dog” – a magical dog. They really were little wizards, they coped with the role assigned to them so clearly and responsibly: for many centuries, shelties guarded the dwellings of their owners, drove away small predators from the buildings where they kept poultry, and most importantly looked after the owner’s sheep. They helped drive out and drive the herds, made sure that the animals did not fight off the group, searched for the lost sheep, that is, they carried out the full-fledged service of shepherd dogs. The settlers who constantly arrived on the islands brought dogs with them, so the island shelties were always crossed with other breeds, for example, Norwegian Spitz, Schipperke dogs.
But until the beginning of the XNUMXth century, the ancient shelties still differed in appearance from modern dogs, and they differed from each other both in appearance and in height, since no one was deliberately breeding these farm helpers. The development of the Sheltie breed, oddly enough, began with its decline. As long as the herds of sheep were not numerous, Shelties easily controlled their wards. But in the XNUMXth century, the farms of the Shetland Islands began to grow larger, the number of sheep in the herds increased dramatically, and small dogs were no longer able to graze such large flocks.
Farmers began to take larger shepherds as shepherds, and shelties remained to guard farms and poultry. Having lost part of their work duties, they ceased to be the main assistants of man and their number began to decrease sharply. Shelties might not live to see the heyday of their popularity if they did not have true friends left on the islands, who at the beginning of the 1914th century united in a club and began work on creating a single breed standard. At first, these dogs were called Shetland Collies, then Shetland Sheepdogs, but in XNUMX, when the Sheltie Club was created in England, their modern name, Sheltie, was assigned to the dogs.
After the First World War in Great Britain, Sheltie breeding fell into decline – almost no purebred dogs survived. And then, to improve the exterior and genetics, Shelties began to be crossed with Rough Collies of small sizes. So modern shelties have found their current appearance. In 1948, the last amendments were made to the English Sheltie Standard, this standard was accepted by the International Cynological Federation and it is still valid. Having practically lost their working purpose as shepherds, Shelties turned into companion dogs, but retained in their character fidelity to a person, a desire to help him, protect and protect his beloved owner.
Breed description
The Sheltie is a beautiful small dog with a dense coat, proportionate, graceful and agile. The head resembles a blunt wedge, long, tapering from the ears to the nose. The skull and muzzle of the Sheltie are of equal length. The skull is flat, moderately wide between the ears, the occipital protuberance does not protrude. the lines of the muzzle and forehead are parallel. The nose is black. Lips black, dry. Jaws even, lower jaw well developed, scissor bite, full set of 42 teeth desired. Flat cheekbones smoothly merge into a rounded muzzle. The eyes are almond-shaped, medium in size, set obliquely with black rims. The eye color is dark brown, in merled dogs the eyes may be blue or flecked with blue. The ears are small, moderately wide at the base, set fairly close together on the top of the head. The neck is rather long, muscular, well arched. The flat back is curved in the lumbar region. The croup is smoothly lowered. The chest is deep with well arched ribs reaching to the level of the elbows. The tail is set low, with a slightly curved tip (but never curled) reaching to the hock.
The forelegs are muscular, with strong but not heavy bones. Shoulders well laid back. The shoulder blade is approximately equal to the length of the shoulder. Pasterns are flexible and strong. The thighs are wide, muscular, connected to the pelvis at a right angle. The angle of the knees is distinctly expressed. Hocks with well-defined angles and strong bones set low. oval-shaped paws are gathered into a ball, the fingers are arched and fit well together. The coat has a short, soft and dense undercoat. The main coat hair is hard to the touch, long and straight, forms a rich mane and collar, as well as trousers along the entire length of the forelimbs, to the hocks of the hind limbs, and also grows richly on the tail.
Shelties come in several colors: sable – from pale gold to mahogany; tricolor – black body with reddish-brown tan; marble-blue – a silver-blue background with a black pattern, as well as a desirable red-brown tan; black and white; black-brown. In all colors, white markings can be located on the legs, on the tip of the tail, on the chest, on the forehead, on the frill and collar.
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Character
“Sheltie, although the smallest in the world, is a shepherd dog, which means it is focused specifically on a person, its purpose is to be close to a person, help him, love him, so dogs of this breed are ideal companions,” says Galina Grafshina, owner of the Sheltie kennel “Iz Grafskogo Pomesestya”. – Shelties are very loving, completely non-aggressive, kind and loyal dogs. They get along great with children, get along with all pets and are generally friendly to all living things that surround them. But they are wary of strangers, they will not throw themselves on the chest of strangers, while not showing aggression.
Shelties are very cheerful, agile, playful and at the same time intelligent and not intrusive – if the owner is not disposed to games and fun, they will step aside, will not interfere, and wait until their beloved owner has a minute to pay attention to them. Shelties are suitable for any family – both children and the elderly can keep them on walks, they will adapt to any routine of the house in which they live. The only thing that Shelties do not tolerate well is loneliness, they are very attached to people and yearn without their presence in the house. Despite the fact that many traits of her herding past remain in the character of the Sheltie, vigilance, independence and self-esteem coexist in her with openness, affection and intelligence. This is an ideal pet, whose size allows you to keep it even in small city apartments.
Care and maintenance
Not large dogs of the Sheltie breed feel great in city apartments, but most of all they like to live in private houses, where they have their own territory, which they explore with pleasure, protect, where they spend most of their time.
“The long and thick coat of the Sheltie has an excellent property of not absorbing dirt,” says Galina Grafshina. — And, if it seems to future owners that having got a sheltie, they will only be concerned with the beauty of their fur coat, this is an erroneous opinion, caring for a sheltie does not take much effort. Dogs should be brushed at least once a week to remove dying hairs. Sheltie wool does not get tangled, does not fall off, the only place where it is thinner than on the main fur coat is behind the ears, these areas need to be given increased attention, combed more often so that the hair behind the ears does not stray into tangles. No groomers are needed in the care of the Sheltie coat.
After walking, it is enough to wipe the paws and belly of the Sheltie with a damp cloth. If a dog lives in a city, then soot, the soot of a big city gradually accumulates on its fur coat, the coat can acquire a gray tint, and then the Sheltie can be bathed using special zoo shampoos. And, before finally drying with a hair dryer, the dog’s wet coat must be combed well.
– Shelties, of course, are very fond of walks and are ready to spend at least the whole day outside, – says Galina Grafshina, the owner of the Sheltie kennel “Iz Grafskoy Pomesestya”. – It is advisable to spend two or three hours daily with the dog in the air, let the sheltie off the leash in parks and squares so that the dog runs and frolic, and during the week one or two times to go out of town with the dog, by the way, shelties perfectly tolerate car trips . But, if you spend most of your time at work and you do not have the opportunity to walk the dog for a long time during the working week, then the Shelties will also accept such a daily routine, adjusting to the rhythm of the life of the owners.
Each owner chooses the nutrition system for his dog, deciding whether the sheltie food will consist of natural products or it will be industrial food.
“I raise my dogs on super-premium industrial feed and I am very pleased with how they grow and develop,” says Galina Grafshina. – In my opinion, when feeding with natural products, it is difficult to maintain the necessary balance of nutrients, the balance of calories, to take into account all the vitamins and minerals the dog needs. And industrial feeds already take into account the size, age, and needs of certain breeds. In addition, there are therapeutic lines in industrial feeds that are better to use than medicines. But each owner decides the issue of feeding his dog on his own, the breeder can only give recommendations.
Education and training
The Sheltie is one of the most intelligent dogs, we train superbly and perform various exercises with pleasure. But in order to fully reveal the qualities in the dog’s nature, proper education is necessary from puppyhood. Once in a new family, Sheltie babies begin their adaptation to life with a person, and from the first days it is necessary to start talking with a pet, let him understand what is possible and what is not, using positive reinforcement – praising for the right actions: went to the toilet in the right met or endured until he was taken out into the street, responded to the nickname, carried out the first command.
“I think that a Sheltie can be perfectly taught everything you need at home, working with a puppy, explaining to him what they want from him, learning new commands,” says Galina Grafshina. “These are incredibly smart dogs that have not lost their working instincts, have not forgotten that they have served as an assistant to man for hundreds of years. If you give your puppy enough time, not just walk with him on a leash, but work out commands at every walk, solve some sports tasks, load not only the muscles, but also the high intelligence of the Sheltie, then it is easy to raise a well-mannered and obedient dog. Now there are many training courses, for example “City Dog”, with a Sheltie it is easy to pass this training. Some owners sign up with Shelties for the OKD course – a general training course and, despite their small size, Shelties also successfully cope with it. Shelties excel in dog sports, such as agility, where animals demonstrate their wit, agility and endurance. If you look at the winners over the years, Shelties become champions in their size category more often than other breeds. They are great at dancing with dogs. Whatever the Shelties do, the main thing for them is that the owner is nearby, that joint training brings him joy.
Shelties have almost lost their shepherd purpose, however, even those who have chosen a dog as a pet are tested with them for the presence of a shepherd instinct – TPI, the tests include certain skills that help manage a herd of pets: circling, barking, knocking down sheep in a bunch. For Shelties, this is training to improve their obedience skills.
Health and disease
– Sheltie is a breed as close as possible to the aboriginal type, so the dogs are distinguished by good health, good immunity and long life expectancy, – says the owner of the nursery Galina Grafshina. – With proper feeding, sufficient physical activity, Shelties feel great until old age, of course, none of the dogs is immune from injuries or other sad surprises. But still there are diseases that dogs of this breed are prone to.
Now, before buying a Sheltie puppy, owners are interested in the results of two tests: the CEA test, a dog vision test that excludes a predisposition to age-related myopia, and the MDR test, which reveals hypersensitivity to certain drugs.
– In my opinion, the MDR test should be taken in order to understand if the dog is hypersensitive to drugs, to know which ones, and in later life, if there is a problem in treatment, to find alternative drugs or other ways to cope with the problem. But the test for the quality of vision seems to me not so mandatory – problems with vision in Shelties are extremely rare. The Sheltie breed is healthy, it has been developing under natural conditions for centuries, it has not degraded, it has not been spoiled by excessive selection work, so these beautiful fluffy dogs maintain good health and energy until old age,” says Galina Grafshina.
Popular questions and answers
We talked about the content of the Sheltie with a zoo engineer, veterinarian Anastasia Kalinina.