The moment you knew ...

[Sullivan]

The moment I knew? That's easy, the second I laid eyes on her. I had bought this beautiful little baby girl that was only 7 weeks old, weighed in at about 4 pounds. I immediately took her to the vet to get started and was told she had a harsh, nasty infection in her "lady parts" and she was already showing signs of hip dysplasia. I told my husband if I'd had her 5 years and she developed the h.p., I'd learn to deal with it, but I was not going to start out watching this baby suffer. She was already just dragging one back leg and I wanted the vet's opinion before I turned her down. While at the vet's office he said one of his clients had just brought in a liter of 6 Shelties that morning for their first round of puppy shots and she posted on the bulletin board. We returned the first puppy and went to her house, saw mom and dad, 5 brothers and sisters and when I walked into the pen and bent down, Bambi made a running leap, knocked me on my back side, white dress pants and all, but I did not care, after all, that is what soap and water is for, right? So, she picked me, I never had a chance . . . love at first sight!

 

[dmeyer123]

The second I opened the e-mail with this picture in it from her breeder saying we have 2 puppies for you to chose from.....I can't even remember the other puppy...

 

[Justicemom]

It is the most common coloration. You just see lots of Merle's on here because this is a site full of enthusiasts for the breed more so than people who keep dogs simply as pets and as enthusiasts I believe a lot of people go for the more unique coloration. My guess is a lot of people who own shelties don't even know they come in colors other than sable.

In Minnesota, sables are less common in the show ring here in fact if you see a sable it likely is from out of state. Many times there are no sables in the ring. This is AOAC country yet people still dont recognize non sable sheltie very often.

 

[Justicemom]

Lets see, Justice was the second I saw him at 7 weeks, I love everything about him but he was sold to the Bahamas so when he was available at 11 weeks I jumped. He was mine by fate and I didn't even know I liked shelties. My heart dog

Birch about 4 weeks old he put his feet up on my leg and demanded my attention. Not the Bi blue I wanted but he was hard to deny . He was always around me, always even more bonded to me then his breeder. He is the only puppy that I have whelped directly into my hands. He had a neck flexion dystocia and I had to adjust him to get his nose free and he popped out into my hands. I guess we were meant to be. My second heart dog.

Celtic about 2 weeks after he got here. He just fit in to the pack like he has always been here and I was watching him moved in the yard and I thought wow what a pretty puppy and decided ifall rurned out I would keep him.

Diva the first time I saw her run in the yard. Omg the dog had duel suspension, still the most agile graceful dog/puppy I have ever seen and I knew she was special.

Ember, I have no idea. The first 6 months were rough, I really did not like her. Sometime over the next couple years we learned to get along. She is a great dog now but it was a process not a moment.

 

[SheepOfBlue]

You did not pick Ember you became her serf I think that was why she liked Spitfire, they were discussing plots to rule others.

 

[Sparta]

I knew I'd made the right choice the moment Sparta crawled into my lap at her breeder's. The feeling has been growing this past week - I don't think we've penned her once for annoying the other dog. They can relax together, start playing, and then go back to chillin' on the dog couch without us interfering. Knowing Junior's history (as a teenager he was quickly developing a strong dislike towards other dogs, we really didn't know if he could even handle a puppy) that's huge! She appears to have had a very good influence on him!