Types of Shelties

"My criteria are the dog should be able to do the job as a worker, day in and day out, with the drive (attitude, athletic, high energy) to want to do it, and bidability (willingness) to do it for the owner, even if tired or stressed (heart). I also want a dog stable enough to be able to entrust the care of my livestock to this dog in a thunderstorm (courage & sensibility). I look for a 4-square, standup dog who glides across the ground, a quiet, balanced mover who daisy clips with proper foot timing and actual suspension (carouseling). All else is cosmetic."
This is a post to a list I am on, by a well respected breeder.... Someone I would consider an 'expert' on the breed. I felt it tied in interestingly with this post.
I agree with her.
 
I definitely agree with all of that. I can honestly say I've only had one dog that meets that criteria, and he's every bit of 17" tall :)

I might print that out, because that is exactly what a dog should be.
 
Fletcher is hard wired for herding, that's for sure. 15 5/8", plenty of bone, good tight feet, and loves to chase.
 

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Bradt9881 said:
Fletcher is hard wired for herding, that's for sure. 15 5/8", plenty of bone, good tight feet, and loves to chase.
Click to expand...

To me, the test is not the "chasing", because chasing just shows there is instinct. But once you start to put pressure on the dog to do what you want him to do, what happens then? The ideal is to have instinct *and* work ethic in the same dog. The combination is hard to find.

My mothers sheltie LOVES to chase sheep. They even got her through Started A sheep. But as soon as they asked the dog to do something like stop, or to change direction (basic herding skills), the dog lost interest. She only wants to chase, she doesn't want to do it in the organized fashion that her human asks of her.

So now mother has a Border Collie :)

This is my current favorite picture of my dog working. I wanted pictures, so we was working for my instructor (which is great in case I chicken out!). And here he is setting up for a baby outrun (again, working for my instructor).

OMG IS HERDING ADDICTIVE. Like agility is fun, but this is waaay more fun.
 
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I agree with Clantyre as I have seen it. A lot of the chasers will turn off when asked to do more than chase.
My Athena will settle in and actually work. Same for Fury though she at a year old has less training with my limited time with stock. Of course it may change next year as I have been toying with at least getting ducks so I can do some work at home. Some of my others have good potential too... and they should. They're related to Flutter.
Another thing to point out is a heavy boned Sheltie is not an asset as far as a lot of performance people will be concerned. A sheltie with a lot of bone is not going to be able to work all day as easily as a light to moderate dog and will not be as fast or agile. Think about it. A draft horse is not going to beat a thoroughbred or a lighter quarter horse. In agility, the heavy ones tend to jump preferred as their regular jump height is often a struggle. The heavy ones also often grunt when they land. Most of them also are not the super fast dogs.
Current fads where more is better do not always fit hand in hand with what a working dog needs to be able to do.
 
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Fletcher needs instruction for sure! He does instinctively respond to the stick when it's used to have him change direction. I have been pretty busy with conformation and haven't been able to take him to Findley Vue Farm the last few times Kelly was running dogs to see if we can get him some real training instead of instinctive work.
http://youtu.be/dCZQkBql9H0
 
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