The Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) (or Sheltie) is a breed of dog, bred to be small sheep dogs ideally suited for the terrain of the Shetland Islands in Scotland. While they resemble a rough Collie in miniature, they are not a true miniature Collie, as there are many differences in appearance.
Appearance
Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) have several coat colors. There are three main acceptable show colors, sable (ranging from golden through mahogany), tricolour (black, white, and tan) and blue merle (grey, white, black, and tan). Bi-Blues (Grey, black, and some white) and bi-blacks (white and black) are less common but still acceptable. The best-known color is the sable, which is dominant over other colors. Shaded, or mahogany, sables can sometimes be mistaken for tricolored Shelties due to the large amount of dark shading on their coats. Another name for a shaded sable is a tri-factored sable and white. This names comes from the breeding of a shaded sable, which is a tri-color to a sable and white, or a tri-factored sable to another tri-factored sable. Another acceptable color in the show ring, but much less seen, is the sable merle, which can often be hard to distinguish from regular sables after puppyhood. Double merles, the product of breeding two merle Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) together, can be bred but have a higher incidence of deafness or blindness or retardation than the other coat colors.
Temperament
The Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) is an outstanding companion dog and is intensely loyal. It is lively, intelligent, trainable, and willing to please and obey. Shelties are loving, loyal, and affectionate with their family, but are naturally aloof with strangers and might not appreciate being petted by someone they do not know; for this reason Shelties must be socialized extensively. Some can be quite reserved and some have varying degrees of shyness. Although they are excellent family pets, Shelties do especially well with children if they are raised with them from an early age; however, their small size makes it easy for a child to accidentally injure them, so supervision is necessary.
Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) have a reputation as vocal dogs, but that might be undeserved. The intelligent Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) can be trained to be an excellent watch dog, and not yappy, giving two or three barks to alert its owner to a person at the door.
Unlike some dog breeds, males and females make equally good pets. The main difference is that males tend to have more impressive coats, and unsprayed females will 'blow' coat after every heat cycle. Males should appear masculine, females feminine.