Australian shepherd?

Fletcher is called an Aussie all the time, 4 times just yesterday at Petsmart as a matter of fact. Don't worry about it, just teach them about Shelties....

 

I can understand how one could be confused with a puppy, but honestly, this person, when corrected, should have taken you at your word!

 

Yep, Melli being black tri gets the "Is than an Aussie with a tail?" thing constantly. Smart people squint and do the "Is thaaatttt a . . . ?" and let me fill it in for them. I have had Aussies myself and I can very well speak about the differences in personality and physical standards.

Your little Shay not so sure why someone would argue because she is a sable. I mean, NOT even close to a red Aussie! Changing the collie opinion is even harder though more logical than Aussie. Just explain that she is a sheltie which is a well-established breed and if they argue tell them to look up sheltie on the internet and go about your business.

Try a German Shepherd without a tail! I have been actually accused of cruelty by children and adults alike. People have whispered behind my back but loud enough to hear. Not sure why people have to butt in. The dog and I are on a mission, not there for people's entertainment or to be a petting zoo for their children.

 

I usually get asked if Riley is a mini Aussie or a mini Sheltie. I get the aussie comment, being he his blue but the mini sheltie confuses me. People must just be used to seeing large shelties. I tell people that he is a regular sized Sheltie puppy. He is 15 inches at 11 months, I can't imagine he will get taller.

 

When they're little and fluffy like that.. it's easy to get them confused with other breeds like border collies or aussies. They all kinda look similar as puppies! Missy was often mistaken for a border collie puppy... still happens as an adult. She's also been called a "baby husky", which I will never understand. Once Shay get's bigger, she'll just be mistaken for a little collie lol.

What I don't understand is why anyone would choose to argue with you. I wouldn't even engage. I would be like, she's a purebred Sheltie, and if they tried to tell me otherwise, I would just walk away. I can't stand stupid people.

 

People like that annoy me. "Is that a mini collie?" "Not, it's a sheltie," "Same thing," "No it's not." Then we get into an argument about what MY dogs are! A friend's BF was looking at pictures of my dogs and we got into that same argument. I finally said. "OK, stop for a minute. How many shelties have you had?" "None" "How many collies have you had?" "None" "I've had 7 shelties and have known many collies. I've also studied the history on both breeds. Please, don't ague about something you don't know anything about. Learn about the breeds THEN you can school me." That shut him up quick!

 

Jess041:

I agree with you. I find it more interesting that so many people get worked up because some random yahoo thinks their pup is some other breed than I see any real reason to allow the misidentification to upset me. If someone wants to argue with an owner about what breed the dog is, that would signal to me that the person either just wants to argue or has a questionable level of intellect. Either way, I'm on my way.

As far as misidentifying breeds, I still have an issue with Alaskan Malamutes/Siberian Huskies or American Eskimo Dogs/Samoyeds. I know there are several differences between the breeds, but because I have no great interest in owning any of those dogs, my brain doesn't store the intricacies of the breed differences. I wouldn't, though, try to convince a Samoyed owner that he/she actually owned a American Eskimo Dog.

 

I have a Smooth Collie. Not a Greyhound/Collie mix. Most people are happy to understand that Collies do come in Smooth variety, and they tilt their heads sideways like "really? …" and you can see them thinking like "maybe that's a good idea!" Then I tell them she sheds just as much, it's just shorter and constant, and they are are like "oh, never mind".