8" Sheltie?

RikyR · Monday at 7:02 AM

I was watching the 2026 AKC Agility Premier Cup on ESPN yesterday, and in the 8" class there was a Sheltie!
It was competing against Yorkies!
Is this something new? First time I have ever seen a Sheltie so tiny!
Shelties were well represented in the other classes.

SheepOfBlue · Monday at 9:36 AM

RikyR said:
I was watching the 2026 AKC Agility Premier Cup on ESPN yesterday, and in the 8" class there was a Sheltie!
It was competing against Yorkies!
Is this something new? First time I have ever seen a Sheltie so tiny!
Shelties were well represented in the other classes.

I think end means below 9". So 8.9" works. There was one in flyball that might have hit that if not under 10". Probably the smallest I have seen that looked pure bred and healthy, she was just tiny. Of course Sca thought they should be best friends, she gave him The Who are you look

Poor guy thought everyone should be his best buddy.

Sharon7 · Monday at 1:06 PM

Even in reputable breeding lines there can be a tiny Sheltie. One breeder I know said with a sigh "In every litter there's a moose and a mouse...."
So fun to watch the Shelties fly around an agility field!

Darren · Tuesday at 2:23 AM

I thought Monty was small but that is tiny :eek2:

.

SheepOfBlue · Tuesday at 11:11 PM

Darren said:
I thought Monty was small but that is tiny .

What is Monty at the shoulder?

Darren · Wednesday at 2:55 AM

I can't remember his exact height but it was somewhere between 10.5" and 11"

Calliesmom · Wednesday at 10:15 AM

so now I feel the need to say that it's very likely that the sheltie was 11" or less at the shoulder to run in the 8" class- not that the sheltie itself was 8" at the shoulder.
I have known a few shelties that ran in the 8" class :smile2:

Caro · 2026-07-03T21:42:51-0400

I recall some years ago there was a discussion about 'Mini Shelties' being advertised for sale. Hope this wasn't an example, although I assume if it's running in agility the dog is healthy? 8-9 is tiny though, I sometimes see some about 10 but that it basically Chi sized.

Calliesmom · 2026-07-04T09:58:24-0400

Caro said:
I recall some years ago there was a discussion about 'Mini Shelties' being advertised for sale. Hope this wasn't an example, although I assume if it's running in agility the dog is healthy? 8-9 is tiny though, I sometimes see some about 10 but that it basically Chi sized.

so if I said I was running a 4" sheltie in agility then you would think that the sheltie was actually 4" at the shoulder? 8" sheltie just means it measured into the 8" height class not that it was actually 8" at the shoulder. cutoff to run in 8" is 11" at the shoulder.