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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We had a sheltie and preferred dogs from 1 mom as opposed to another.  Met the moms and the litters.  Ours was not feral and barked outside-very diligent in herding up wildlife - chasing squirrels up trees and rabbits out.

Never killed an animal but could have caught rabbits and squirrels.  That dog had huge work instinct, was incredibly easy to housetrain.  So much fun to train.  lots of the hair gets stuck in the undercoat.  Not really all over the floor for such a hairy dog.  I'd get another-ours was about 26 pounds.  [/quote]

I was kidding about partially feral although actually there are some traumatized shelties that unfortunately display such anxiety they cannot really be handled by people for a long time (I have seen some heartbreaking cases). I have had a lot of shelties over my life from the time I was born. Only one was a fairly normal dog, the one I have now who I didn't get until over 1 yr old is sort of close, but he's afraid of my DH standing up and has major separation anxiety, looses his mind if I try to take a shower and close the door, etc.

I have been nipped by the shelties but they just do it playfully or mindlessly. I had one sheltie who snapped but just in your direction as a warning...didn't make contact. Never been bitten but it does happen, however generally shelties will give a lot of warning or you would have to really sneak up on one. Most shelties like to be left alone unless they come to you. Children excessively bothering or grabbing the sheltie is not recommended, but they are also sensitive and intuitive enough to be more tolerant of children.

There are a lot more ways to deal with dog anxiety nowadays. Back in the day you were just ruled by your sheltie's whims. Now you might just be ruled by them partially. For an entire period of our lives we never went on a full family vacation to anywhere a dog could not travel in the car. I loved that sheltie though...I would out my life on hold forever to have a little more time with him.

It is true shelties are relatively easy to house train, and keep themselves clean and generally "feel" clean. To varying degrees, but cleaner than an average dog. You don't feel dirty or greasy after holding or petting a sheltie. That I like. They don't drool much and they eat and drink neatly without spilling (probably as a function of their tiny snouts and skinny long tongues).

They will chase wildlife but none of my shelties has ever attempted to hold onto or kill an animal. That would not be a good trait for a herding dog :) [/quote]

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