Size of your Shelties?

[Narmowen]

Yes, I had to remind my aunt the other day that CeCe is "within breed standard" not small for a Sheltie. I quite often tend to make stuff up off the top of my head, so I told her that many good breeders, breeders who show, will sell their larger dogs for companion dogs, and that's why you see alot of larger shelties out there as pets. OK, it sounded good to me at the time. And she bought it, maybe there's some truth to it?

Kinda true. If there's a really good looking puppy, that they think will go over, they'll hurry up and get the championship on it before it's full sized. Ergo huge champions, which means that there will be huge pets out there.

 

[mcguiregirl2248]

Forgot to mention...
I see soooo many "giant" shelties out there. Still wonderful dogs, but then people come up to me and say "Oh, is he a mini?! My (neighbor, friend, co-worker) has one and it's much bigger than yours!"
No, he's not a "mini", he is actually in-size thank you!
People are so used to seeing the over-sized shelties that when they see one that is actually "correct", they think I have a runt or something. It gets old sometimes.
Does anyone else get questions or comments about their sheltie's size(s)?

Yes, I hear it all the time with two of my three girls. Zoe and Marlie are smaller than Rasha. They are not too much smaller and Marlie is within size specs also. Zoe is borderline. Everyone thinks that Zoe is a puppy and is she going to grow anymore? People should really learn to think before opening their mouths sometimes!

 

[Tango]

For anyone interested that hasn't seen them before here are some Sheltie growth charts (Sea Isle, Nobel, & Pow):

http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/size/size.html

Tex is about 17.5 inches at 7 months so considered oversized compared to the standard. That's one of the reasons the breeder stated for placing him with us instead of keeping him for show was because she knew early on that he was going to be above the standard. We couldn't have been happier .

I think it's quite interesting because there seem's to be a lot variability of sizes in the breed still. I think our breeder told us about that. It's really funny. Often times when we meet folks out in about with Tex who have known other shelties their reaction is typically either:

a) "isn't he [Tex] big for a Sheltie?" or
b) "isn't he small for a Sheltie?"

Go figure . I think it just speaks to variability of the breed. Infact the other day I met a lady on a walk who has two Shelties, one of them she claims weighs 75 lbs!!! Now that's a Collie in my book!

 

[Hunter's Mom]

That's another question I get too

"Oooh, how old is your PUPPY?!" or "How much bigger will he get?"
He's not a puppy, he is full grown. Then the "Is he a mini?" or "Isn't he really small for a sheltie?!" questions are usually next.
I know they don't mean any harm by the questions and have to think to myself that not everyone is addicted to and educated about the breed as I.
The recent rash of all the BYB's creating "Mini's" of everything sure doesn't help either! Nor does the less-than-reputable sheltie breeders who breed without regard to size or other correct confirmation.

Yes, I hear it all the time with two of my three girls. Zoe and Marlie are smaller than Rasha. They are not too much smaller and Marlie is within size specs also. Zoe is borderline. Everyone thinks that Zoe is a puppy and is she going to grow anymore? People should really learn to think before opening their mouths sometimes!

 

[Marleys_Mommy]

Someone tried to convince me last week that there are "mini" shelties (a breed). I had to come home and look it up, lol. And, of course there arn't, me and my husband had a laugh.

 

[Sharon]

Size

I have seen some Shelties that are as a big as a collie. I have people say oh look a minature collie.Then I tell them there is no such thing as a minature collie. For those of us that have Blue Merles how many people ask you if your dog is old or better yet what is he mixed with? Shadow gets called an Aussie sometimes.

 

[mcguiregirl2248]

I have seen some Shelties that are as a big as a collie. I have people say oh look a minature collie.Then I tell them there is no such thing as a minature collie. For those of us that have Blue Merles how many people ask you if your dog is old or better yet what is he mixed with? Shadow gets called an Aussie sometimes.

I have had several people ask me if Rasha is a different kind of dog from Marlie and Zoe. Most people in Southeastern Michigan do not have a lot of exposure to Shelties and have no clue that they come in such an array of colors.

 

[Hunter's Mom]

Sadly, there are

There is actually a "Toy Shetland Sheepdog club of America" You can google for it. They claim their size of shelties (8-12 inches) is the original and correct standard, not the size the AKC has accepted.
While they might be right, that might have been the original size of shelties before the collie crosses occurred in the late 1800's and early 1900's, down sizing by breeding tiny to tiny is no different than what the "T-cup" breeders do to breeds like Chi's and Maltese. I worry about health, temperment and correct confirmation when a breeder's biggest concern is breeding for the smallest dog they can. There are cases where "T-cup" dogs have been so poorly bred and so tiny, they literally have no room for their internal organs in their abdominal cavity, as well as other genetic malformations and complications.

The fact is, the Collie crosses happened and it changed the size of the breed.

Now this rogue band of "toy sheltie" breeders are trying to change or undo this. My questions is, are they doing it safely and responsibly?

Someone tried to convince me last week that there are "mini" shelties (a breed). I had to come home and look it up, lol. And, of course there arn't, me and my husband had a laugh.

 

[Hunter's Mom]

I actually have the T-shirt that says

"He's a Shetland Sheepdog NOT a minature Collie and don't you dare call him Lassie!"

I have seen some Shelties that are as a big as a collie. I have people say oh look a minature collie.Then I tell them there is no such thing as a minature collie. For those of us that have Blue Merles how many people ask you if your dog is old or better yet what is he mixed with? Shadow gets called an Aussie sometimes.

 

[graydawntreader]

Treader is 13"