Different Types of Shelties?

[Kelsey]

Before I was knowledgeable about shelties, the only one I knew of was my husband's growing up, and he was a big sheltie at about 18 inches high and 40 pounds. I once saw a sheltie who is the size of the one I have now and mistakenly thought it was a miniature sheltie. It seems, though, that most shelties I see these days are closer to the size of my husband's sheltie growing up; tall, heavier, and big-boned. My sheltie, however, is a little guy; well, he's within the AKC standard (at 15 inches tall and 25 pounds), but even though he conforms to the standard size-wise, he is still petite and different-looking from most shelties I've seen. His features are very petite, he is very dainty, and he looks more like a fox. I didn't know about ear tipping when I got him, so his ears stand straight up, contributing even more to his fox-like appearance. Anyhow, are there different types of shelties? I read somewhere about American shelties vs English shelties- apparently the English ones are more petite and fine-boned. Is there such a thing, and is there a chance I ended up with an English sheltie?

[Lightplum]

well the type of sheltie depends on where they come from and their pedigree. The majority of US and Canadian shelties are thicker boned and fuller rounder muzzle than the UK/Euro shelties. Now that doesnt mean you wont end up with that type here in the US, since the breed of shelties itself is relatively new as they were doing out-crosses as late as the 40's variations are still popping up.

Some lines in the US carry a lighter finer bone giving you that foxy look, but the majority are heavier boned. Also puppymill byb shelties tend to be finer boned.

[nykkchick]

Originally Posted by Kelsey

Before I was knowledgeable about shelties, the only one I knew of was my husband's growing up, and he was a big sheltie at about 18 inches high and 40 pounds. I once saw a sheltie who is the size of the one I have now and mistakenly thought it was a miniature sheltie. It seems, though, that most shelties I see these days are closer to the size of my husband's sheltie growing up; tall, heavier, and big-boned. My sheltie, however, is a little guy; well, he's within the AKC standard (at 15 inches tall and 25 pounds), but even though he conforms to the standard size-wise, he is still petite and different-looking from most shelties I've seen. His features are very petite, he is very dainty, and he looks more like a fox. I didn't know about ear tipping when I got him, so his ears stand straight up, contributing even more to his fox-like appearance. Anyhow, are there different types of shelties? I read somewhere about American shelties vs English shelties- apparently the English ones are more petite and fine-boned. Is there such a thing, and is there a chance I ended up with an English sheltie?

i have a supposed sheltie, i stil question that, that is 23" tall from head to paw that was 34.5 lbs, he did way 40lbs and lost weight. this big boy easily gets up on my counter and pulls stuff down. it makes me wonder what type he could be. i have a petite little girl that is 14" tall from head to paw weight 18-20ls. what a big difference.

[Calliesmom]

Originally Posted by nykkchick

i have a supposed sheltie, i stil question that, that is 23" tall from head to paw that was 34.5 lbs, he did way 40lbs and lost weight. this big boy easily gets up on my counter and pulls stuff down. it makes me wonder what type he could be. i have a petite little girl that is 14" tall from head to paw weight 18-20ls. what a big difference.

have to jump in here- I have littermates- the boy is 17.5" (withers to ground) and maybe 30 lb- I need to get a new weight. the girl is 14" and a little more- didn't measure her with the wicket as I knew she was over 14" and definitely under 18". She weighs about 20 something lbs- need a new weight on her too
A rough measurement of Cran's head to the floor is close to 22-23" so I don't think that your boy is all that huge.

[OntarioSheltie]

My Ginny is petite at 14" tall and weighing 13 lbs. Her littermate however is closer to 18-19" and weighs 30 lbs. Their parent's are CKC dogs and well within the limits that they should be.

[MissSuzie]

I guess just like people, shelties come in all sizes. But it still surprises me when I see bigger shelties. Meggie is pretty small at 14" + a little and currently just under 17 pounds. Cooper is somewhat taller, but still under 21 pounds.

I was in California last month and spent time with my daughter and her two shelties. The older, Piper, is easily 17" and 30 - 35 pounds. She looks like a black bear, much beefier all around than Meggie. She obviously much larger boned, etc.

[SheltieGuy]

My sheltie is about 17 inches and 35 lbs and no fat on him. He is just a bigger boy. I was kinda surprised because my last sheltie was only 20ish lbs.

[Trinba]

I'm new to shelties, and the ones I have seen around town and fell in love with were all very small, 12-14 inches tall. Can't imagine they could weigh more than 15 to 20 pounds. Then I bought my sheltie thinking that he would turn out to be a small dog. But to my surprise, currently at 10 months he weighs 32 pounds and is 17 inches tall! Shelties sure vary in size!! Shelties are very popular where I live. Buddha has a lot of sheltie friends at the dog park. He just looks like a giant next to all of them :P

[nbrard]

Mikos is a tall sheltie at 18", and he weighs in at 30 lbs, but his sister is only 13.5" and a little feather weight! In a litter of 5 Mikos is the giant, his sister the smallest and the rest fall in between, so lots of variation even within families.

[Jaynie]

(For reference, Shelties are commonly measured at the shoulder height. The breed standard is 13-16 inches - somebody correct me if I'm wrong, since it's been a while since I read the standard.)

My first boy (acquired from a byb at the too-young age of 6 weeks) was 12.9999 inches at the shoulder and weighed 12 pounds. He was extremely fine-boned - his footprint was no bigger than a quarter. I ran him in obedience in both AKC and UKC. He did measure in at a UKC show (someone called me on it in the ring and tried to get him disqualified for being undersized). He was also closer to the color of the English dogs - being more red that most US Shelties. He, too, had the "foxy" look with the pricked ears.

My puppy mill rescue mama is also small. She's around 14 inches (estimate - I haven't measured her with a wicket) and weighs 19 pounds. I'm used to smaller Shelties, so when I look at her, I think she's monstrously huge. But I took her to the local pet store for a little socialization last weekend, and met a lady with a Sheltie who was the size of my friend's mini-horses!!!

Shelties are not too common around my part of the country, and when you do see them out and about, they are usually HUGE.

Another difference I've noticed between my big girl and my little boy is the muzzle. My boy was extremely delicately boned and his muzzle had sharp, well-defined lines. My girl has a softer, more rounded muzzle. She's not nearly as dainty as my boy was. My boy also had the classic little dog "Napoleon" complex - possibly from being picked up and carried so much (he was small enough to be highly portable, and that was sometimes the only way to get him to shut up or stop him from trying to "protect" me). Also, my girl HATES being picked up.