# Shelties, anyone? :)



## rusalka (Aug 25, 2014)

Meet Fletcher, my 2.5 year old Shetland Sheepdog~





































(bonus puppy pic)

We're currently training in obedience and agility! He enjoys watching ducks, being the pickiest eater on the surface of the planet (and perhaps the entire galaxy), and getting his paws all muddy while exploring riverbanks. Unfortunately, motor vehicles are his arch nemesis and apparently things that need to be chased, despite all the ways I've tried to train him out of reacting to them during the years, so if any of y'all are owners of herding breeds & have managed to overcome this problem, I'm all ears! Until then, no off-leash time near roads and highways (good thing there's lots of parks and trails where I live, huh?)

Funny story, rats actually helped me get him. I'd wanted a dog all my life and my mother was aware of that but, as many parents are, she was vary of getting one because some kids only want the responsibility of a pet until the novelty wears off, and dogs are a big responsibility at that. I'd pretty much given up asking for one, figuring that I'd just have to wait until I moved out. In the meantime, I started researching rats, given they're like dogs in a little body. I went all out- powerpoint presentations, saving up my money, the whole shebang. Given that she's one of those people who think all rodents are nasty and dirty, once she realized I was serious about the rats, she basically went "okay, okay, you can get a dog instead!" She ended up loving him, aha! Now that I've moved out, I'm finally getting those pet rats too. I guess you could say that it all worked out in the end


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## Pandorascaisse (Mar 12, 2014)

I absolutely love shelties. I know a lot of people don't like them because of that yippy bark... but I think it's precious. I've never met a sheltie that had a personality I didn't like (training and hyper levels is a different story...). 

The problem is that many people don't give them the exercise that they require, and they turn into nippy little neurotic messes. Herding dogs are generally shelled out as good dogs to own because of their superior intelligence and loyalty, but many people forget to add the "oh, and an hour of running vigorously every day as well as teaching so many manners it hurts" onto the end of that. So many people think that shelties and collies in particular are going to be laid back precious things like Lassie.

It's really sad that they aren't more popular with the people who should be owning them (people with large properties, etc), but they are popular with a crowd that shouldn't be... only to be abandoned because owners chose the wrong breed. I've seen a lot of sheltie/rough(and smooth) collie dedicated shelters just because people don't do research first. >_<


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## anawelch (Sep 25, 2013)

I live in Aggieland and a sheltie is Texas A&M's mascot so their a pretty big deal here. Reveille is super cute and treated like a queen.


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## anawelch (Sep 25, 2013)

"First lady of A&M" 
This is the final resting place for all previous Reveille's. The previous one passed away in 2013 but had been retired for a couple years already.


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## PawsandClaws (Jul 22, 2014)

My Ukrainian mother was the exact same way but with a cat! I wanted to get a hamster once I realized she would not allow us to get a cat and had eventually convinced my mother that I was responsible enough for a rodenr. She went out to the store to purchase my hamster and came back with a giant box with a kitten inside instead! Haha. She could not go through with getting the hamster I guess. I love dogs and yours is gorgeous. There is a group on Facebook you can join called Beyond Cesar Milan and it is full of positive reinforcement trainers that answer all sorts of training queries. They are really good and would surely help with the reactivity issues you have been experiencing.


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## Chuck (Jul 15, 2013)

He's beautiful. I have an 8 year old sheltie. She is the sweetest dog, so patient and gentle but she certainly has that Sheltie quirkiness. They are wonderful dogs.


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## Chuck (Jul 15, 2013)




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