To me the american shelties and English shelties are so different I can hardly believe they are the same breed at first
I wonder what happens when a judge who is used to US type shelties has to judge in Europe. The europe type head shape is different, and more delicate. I can tell the difference even as an amateur in shelties.
(The two lines are quite distinct both in terms of type and genetically. However, the American and UK standards are acatually rather similar and it is interpretation and perception of how the breed ought to look that has resulted in the differences. I think though that there are certainly dogs from both countries which are not very different from each other and presentation does make a huge difference to appearence and can be misleading. In Australia both types are sucessfully shown and bred together.)
In reply to both Barb and ClantyreSheltie's points, I will and am doing my utmost over here in the UK to support show breeders, purebred dogs and the right to continue showing and breeding them. Unfortunatly, from what I've observed of life, it takes only one or two 'rotten apples' to spoil things for everyone. My goodness but this was illustrated in Pedigree Dogs Exposed!! The day before it screened I think most members of the public would have said they enjoyed Crufts, thought KC regestered was a mark of quality etc. In the space of one evening, the reputation of EVERYONE who bred dogs for the showring was very badly tarnished indeeed. People were saying they were planning on going to a show breeder for their next pup but now they would do anything other than that. I was (am) so proud of the Crufts stickers in my car but the morning after the programme was aired I feared I would be spat at or the car vandalised - it really was that bad. 'The public' didn't take into account the majority of really good breeders who invested everything into ensuring they produced wonderful, healthy dogs. Every one was tarred with the same brush because of an hour of TV telling the nation what a mess pedigree dogs were and how dog showing was the height of evil.
The result is likely to be some form of external regulation and there are already considerably more restrictions placed upon breeders. It's been over 3 years but those who breed for show are STILL regarded with deepest suspicion.
I cannot stress too much that breeders need to be proactive and be able to justify their actions to an increasingly sceptical public. Unfortunatly, it does seem that the lowest denominator frequently dictates life for the rest of us. If 'show breeders' are seen (even if it is only in a small minority of examples) to be disregarding ethics, welfare, health etc for purely asthetic purposes, which the 'public' have no concept of, there will be calls for regulation, bans etc. It won't matter that most are breeding sensibly, only one or two instances is usually sufficient ammunition.
I really really don't want to see merle breeding banned or regulated. It is a truly beautiful colour, after about a centuary, as much a part of the sheltie as any other colour and I've seen no proof that leads me to think heterozygous merles are less healthy either.
There are no guarantes in reproduction and sometimes, mistakes happen. The outside possibility of two cryptic merles inadvertently being bred together shouldn't (IMO) be justification for eliminating the colour entirely from a genepool, providing the vast majority of breeders are responsible and not deliberatly breeding merle to merle.
I think Barb is asking a perfectly valid question as to how the breeding of merles can be justified if there is the potential for catastrophic outcomes when not done properly. There is every possibility for some kind of regulation or ban being imposed due to the actions of uninformed/uncaring (backyard, puppymill) breeders and this will be compounded if 'responsible' (show) breeders are openly prepared to do the same thing inspite of the known risks. It will only add fuel to the fire that 'show' breeders who should know better, only care about winning and not about producing disabled puppies. Because the show world is under so much scrutiny it really does need to lead by its actions and not persist in practices which many will find abhorrent.
I would hate to see the end of merles altogether. They don't *have* to have problems. It sounds to me like all are being punished for a few bad apples.
