Shelties: Small Dogs with Big Brains

By Becky Casale, author, Shelties: The Complete Pet Owner's Guide

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Shelties are small dogs with thick double coats. They're sensitive, intelligent, loyal dogs who love to herd—and be heard.

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What Types of Shelties Are There?

There are some subtle differences between American and English Shelties:

English Shelties are petite with the ideal male being 14.5 inches and the ideal female being 14 inches at the shoulder.
American Shelties are 13-16 inches at the shoulder, regardless of sex. The wedge-shaped head is slightly larger than the English type.

Shelties can also be distinguished by their coat colors, with Sable (tan) being dominant. Here's my most popular article on the Shelties colors with photos, illustrations, and explanations of coat inheritance patterns.

The Sheltie Coat Colors

Here's a showcase of the standard Sheltie colors: Pure Sable, Mahogany Sable, Tri Color, Blue Merle, Bi Black, and Bi Blue.

7 Facts About Mini Shelties

Miniature Shelties, aka Toy Shelties, are an unofficial variation of the Sheltie breed standard that measuring under 13 inches tall.

Are Shelties Good Family Dogs?

These little dogs make wonderful family pets, provided they are well-socialized with children when they're puppies. Because they're smart and sensitive, they're highly trainable and often very gentle with little ones.

Moderately active with a love of playing chase, Shetland Sheepdogs are keen to join in with all family activities. Whether it's herding rolling rocks, playing hide-and-seek, or zooming around with no purpose whatsoever, they're are endlessly entertaining. And kids love them.

It's essential to socialize a puppy with all kinds of people at a young age including children and babies. Lots of early exposure is key. A well-adjusted adult dog gets along with everyone because they have positive associations guiding them from puppyhood.

Don't worry if your Sheltie puppy nips a lot when he's young. Puppies explore the world with their mouths, and sometimes their teeth get in the way. It's all part of the great learning experiment.

When your puppy nips, withdraw your hand and let out a little yelp to show him it hurts. Once he learns bite inhibition, he'll know it's never ok for his teeth to make firm contact with your skin.

Are Shelties Good Family Dogs?

Shelties make great family dogs if socialized with kids when young. They're energetic with a playful spirit and a charming personality.

Shelties vs Babies

It's natural to be apprehensive when you bring your newborn baby home and having dogs around shakes things up that extra bit.

What's The Sheltie Temperament Like?

Shelties are quirky and expressive. They have many different ways of displaying their emotions through body language, facial expressions, and vocal chords. Known for their high pitched barking, they can be trained to stop barking so much if you employ firmness and consistency. They can also be trained to speak, howl, and sing.

Being a small dog breed, Shetland Sheepdogs are naturally gentle creatures. Their intelligent and playful nature enables them to frolic safely with young children and many other types of dogs.

As an alarm dog, Shelties are very sensitive to their environment too. They'll alert you to any unusual activity going on outside. And that includes cars, cats, and their mortal frenemy, the mailman.

Shelties get along with other pets, as long as their housemates (cats in particular) can stand their ground when herded. There will be a transition period as each pet comes to understand their role in the dynamic, but give them time. Early, positive exposure to other animals helps a lot.

The herding instinct will drive your Sheltie to herd your cat, for example. But once he's cornered the poor feline, he won't know what to do with her. To establish the ground rules, your cat needs to be confident enough to stay calm, ignore him, or walk away all sassy. If your Sheltie doesn't get a reaction, his instinct won't be triggered.

10 Things to Know About Shelties

They may be small dogs, but Shelties have a lot going on in the brains department, making them highly sensitive and easy to train.

Cool Dog Games for Shelties

Many dogs love to play fetch but Shelties are far more idiosyncratic! Try these games for Shelties that reward their herding instinct.

Should I Get a Sheltie Puppy?

All puppies are adorable. But the Sheltie puppy, with his big floppy ears, beautiful almond eyes, and silky soft fur, can be deliberately cute on demand.

See? Deliberately cute.

Still, puppies are hard work. They demand constant supervision so they don't chew through wires, get stuck in weird places, or escape through a tiny hole in the fence. On top of this responsibility, there's housetraining, obedience training, puppy vaccinations, and socialization.

If a puppy sounds like too much responsibility, you should absolutely rescue an adult Sheltie instead. Sadly, people give up adult dogs for all kinds of reasons, including neglect, abuse, or straight up abandonment. You can make a difference.

Find a Sheltie rescue near you and see if your new best friend is already waiting for you. Rescue Shelties are vet checked, vaccinated, de-sexed, and de-wormed to give them the healthiest start in their new life. Alternatively, search our Sheltie breeder listings for puppies. Avoid puppy mills and puppy farms at all costs.

Sheltie Puppy Development

See tiny Sheltie puppies growing into mature adult dogs. From newborn dumplings, to gangly coyotes, to billowing fur beasts.

20 Things a Puppy Needs

You're getting a new puppy! Praise Wibblesniff! Here's all the essential stuff you need for your new best friend.

101 Cute Sheltie Puppies

101 photos of Sheltie puppies by our readers. Cute, playful, curious, sleepy, bashful—oh wait, now I'm just naming dwarves.

Why You Should Never Buy a Puppy From a Pet Store

Say No to Pet Store Puppies

Pet store puppies often come from puppy mills who skip genetic testing and vet checks to make more profit.

How Do I Train My Sheltie?

The number one rule of dog training is to build a relationship based on mutual trust and respect. So before you begin obedience training, focus on forming a loving bond with your Shetland Sheepdog. This helps you understand his needs and instincts, while allowing him to develop trust in you.

Once a Sheltie puppy understands he belongs to the family, he's more likely to respond to your commands. The trust you build early on comes from showing affection, defining mutual boundaries, and treating any breaches with kindness but firmness. Like a child, a puppy needs to know what's expected of him before he can learn to regulate his own behavior.

Our special AGM voted on the purchase of more Peanut Butter Futures

Our Latest AGM voted on the purchase of more Peanut Butter Futures.

What's the best way to train a Sheltie? I recommend clicker training. It's a gentle, conditional dog training method that uses only positive reinforcement to teach your Sheltie obedience.

It's beautifully simple really. When paired with a command, the clicking sound ingrains the habit for your dog to listen and respond appropriately. It's based on a natural way for both dogs (and humans!) to learn, allowing you to train new behaviors in your smart Sheltie in just a few repetitions.

Clicker Train Your Sheltie

Clicker training is a gentle approach to dog training that uses classical conditioning, making it ideal for Shelties learning obedience.

Stop Your Sheltie Barking

Fill your Sheltie's life with productive outlets for her energy: agility, tricks, obedience, chew toys, games, and exercise.

How to Train Your Sheltie

Shelties make dog training easy because they're intelligent and eager dogs. But problems can arise if you miscommunicate with them.

How to Housetrain a Puppy

Housetraining a puppy is best started indoors by scenting puppy training pads with their urine. Transition them outside around four months old.

Are Shelties a Healthy Dog Breed?

To produce healthy purebred dogs, breeders rely on careful breeding practices. They must take care to select mating pairs that are free of genetic disease and have good temperaments.

This is because extensive mating of related dogs in the past left many breeds with common genetic diseases, including:

Patellar Luxation (kneecap dislocation)
Hip Dysplasia (malformed hip joint)
Dermatomyositis (skin inflammation)
Collie eye (eye deformities)
Von Willebrand Disease (blood disorder)

If you have a Sheltie from a puppy mill, pet store, or backyard breeder, read up on these genetic issues in Shelties. By knowing what symptoms to look for, you can start treatment early and slow the disease progression.

As a small to medium sized dog breed, Shetland Sheepdogs typically live for 12-13 years, which roughly equates to living around 84-98 human years. If you're up to speed on diet, grooming, exercise, vaccinations, and dental hygiene, he's much more likely to enjoy a long and healthy life.

Genetic Diseases in Shelties

The Sheltie gene pool is more prone to genetic diseases of the eyes, skin, knees, hips, and blood.

The Best Dog Food for Shelties

An in-depth review of the best dog food for Shelties, examining toxic ingredients, healthy kibbles, raw diets, and oral health.

Sheltie Healthcare

Discover the essentials of Sheltie healthcare: grooming, diet, exercise, dental, genetics, de-sexing, and vaccinations.

Clean Your Sheltie's Teeth

Dogs get tooth decay just like us. Here's how to protect your Sheltie's teeth with brushing, dental chews, and water additives.

How Do I Groom My Sheltie?

Part of the attraction of Shetland Sheepdogs is the luxurious double coat. This comes with the responsibility of weekly or fortnightly brushing sessions.

At around 5-6 months old, your puppy will begin to develop the classic Sheltie coat. That's when you need to seriously step-up your grooming routine. Read my illustrated guide on How to Groom a Shetland Sheepdog to keep his skin and fur healthy, and prevent your home from turning into a fur-fest. The article also details the best dog brushes, how to use them, how to bathe a Sheltie, and and how to clip his claws.

Groom your Sheltie and strip out that undercoat

The fur. THE FUR!

How to Groom a Sheltie

The double coat of a Sheltie needs frequent grooming. Here's my guide to systematically de-shedding the undercoat and untangling mats.

101 Shelties in The Bath

I asked Sheltie Planet readers to share their funniest photos of dripping wet Shelties in the tub. This is what I got back.

To learn more about the wonderful world of Shetland Sheepdogs, download my 160-page PDF ebook, Shelties: The Complete Pet Owner's Guide, now in its fifth edition.

The guide features hands-on advice on raising a Sheltie illustrated with 100+ photos from Sheltie owners around the world. It's much loved by those who followed the adventures of Howard and Piper Woofington Moon, the inspiration behind Sheltie Planet.

Click here to learn more.

Download Shelties: The Complete Pet Owner's Guide

Shelties: Small Dogs with Big Brains

Sniff Around...

What Types of Shelties Are There?

The Sheltie Coat Colors

7 Facts About Mini Shelties