What are your Sheltie's funny quirks?

[Sharon7]

I was thinking today about how all our dogs have had funny little quirks that are pretty endearing. It made me wonder about what kind of quirks other Sheltie owners have noticed. I mean, beyond the general, like herding behavior, barking at noise stimuli, etc. Here goes with mine:

Brooke: She has several funny things. When I run the vacuum, she will run and grab something, anything to fiercely shake, like a toy. But she has also grabbed her big foam bed and given that what-for, too! I don't let her do that anymore because she tore a hole out of the foam!!! Now I just make sure there's some toys lying around handy for her to maul. She also loves to run into the bedroom when I make the bed. When the quilt hits the floor so I can deal with the sheets, she's immediately on it, but only with one paw and her nose. It is so dang funny. I have to really coax her to get off it.

Faith: She is obsessed with our kitty Mario. Well he's on his third and fourth Sheltie and numerous foster dogs so he's not too fazed, but Faith likes to escort him to his room which has a baby gate in the doorway to keep the dogs out, sometimes gently poking at his hind legs to keep him going. She then lies down to wait for him to emerge again, and then escorts him wherever else he's going. He'll wank at her sometimes when he's had enough, but usually he'll just turn around and rub his face on hers.

Ally: I have to add her in (God I still miss her so much), because she had a thing about birds on the bird feeder. She tolerated only a certain number and when that was exceeded, she'd run and do a pogo stick bounce, bounce, bounce, barking all the while. If there were only a couple of birds though, it was OK. I remember reading the Shetland Islanders used to use Shelties to scare birds off their fish catch on shore...

 

[tesslynn]

Kaleigh talks to her treats before she eats them, especially her lamb ears. It is almost like asking permission. I love to watch her do that.

Savannah had puppy grunts, especially before naps. Now, before we go to sleep, she still has the soft grunt, that I guess means- I am comfortable, I am settled, goodnight. Until the grunt happens she won't drift off.

I am not fond of barking, but I do like sheltie chatter. I get a soft good morning not quite bark. Sometimes with Savannah it sounds like "hi"-creepy but adorable. Both my girls know phrases and will chatter back.

If Savannah needs a potty break, she will lick the back of my leg. Kaleigh paws my leg. If they want to go walk they will sit on my feet. It is like they discuss it and each takes a foot. I HATE THAT, ha, because I can't move with them on my feet.
These are things they were never taught, just do...

*I remember your posts on Ally...the holes that never quite heal in our hearts for furbabies that aren't with us anymore are icky.

 

[Hannah]

Honey does something similar with the vacuum cleaner where she'll run in and charge at it and try to tackle it, then gets herself really stirred up so she goes running around the house trying to tackle other things too.

Honey is also the police officer/quality control officer of the household; any new item to come into the house has to get the sniff-down, and she needs to give the back yard a thorough sniff-down first thing every morning to make sure there were no intruders over night.

Pepper's quirks are that she bites her nails (very loud, gross and definitely discouraged!), she also grazes on grass like a cow, and makes a lot of squeaking and chirping noises in her sleep.

 

[JacqueZ]

My favorite quirk of Honey is her flea bites. We just call it nibbling, but if you're giving her scratches she needs to give you nibbles on your hair, or for my husband, his beard. It's very gentle and sweet. She also loves used towels. As soon as I unwrap my hair I have to put the towel down so she can roll around in it.

Mango (honorary sheltie sibling) isn't concerned with towels, but if I put down a lavender spray on the bed sheets she rolls around in it until she smells like it, she also likes smelling like my lotion and will rub on my legs after I put it on.

 

[Chris]

Layla is our only Sheltie who is a cave dweller. She loves to lie on her side like a flounder and work her way under the bed, where she'll stay for hours!

 

[Cubby2014]

Melli goes pee and then does this strange waddle over to my husband for petting. She throws her feet out into a duck walk in the back and does this slow exaggerated wiggle waddle over to him in the garage. From behind it is the strangest thing.

Cubby is my nutter. He has learned the sound of the last toilet tissue off the roll and will run from anywhere to get that toilet tube. Cubby has deemed himself cat scratch patrol. If the cats try to scratch the couch, rugs, or carpet he runs and makes them stop. He also cleans their ears out daily. They literally line up to have this done. Oh, my favorite quirk is that Cubby likes you to kiss his face. He climbs up on the bed or couch and drops his ears and waits. If you kissy kissy his face he gets this look of pure heaven. Since less dominant dogs lick the mouths and faces of more dominant ones, I just think it makes him feel like the "King of the Universe" he thinks he is.

 

[mimiretz]

Oberon, like a lot of Shelties, jumps on my husband when hubbie sneezes. When I sneeze, Oberon jumps at Cassie-the-cat. Lee (hubbie) has a pair of clog-like slippers that he wears to take Oberon out at night, or when he doesn't want to put his regular shoes on. Oberon has decided Lee also needs to nap with one of them, and so whenever Lee lays down, Oberon brings him one of them.

 

[Hanne]

"Oberon has decided Lee also needs to nap with one of them, and so whenever Lee lays down, Oberon brings him one of them"
oh, I love this helpful boy

 

[Greenepony]

Olive loves being under things- the writing desk, my sewing table (while I'm sewing), the guest bed, the tiny side table. It doesn't matter, as long as her head at least can fit under it. Her butt can stick out though, that's fine.

She's also very judgy. Corgis are ridiculous as a rule and dogs misbehaving (pulling on their leash, barking excessively, chasing each other) are subjects of scorn.

 

[mimiretz]

Olive loves being under things- the writing desk, my sewing table (while I'm sewing), the guest bed, the tiny side table. It doesn't matter, as long as her head at least can fit under it. Her butt can stick out though, that's fine.

Oberon does this too! He loves being halfway under the bed, and loves being under either my desk when I'm working or under Lee's desk (across the room) where he can keep an eye on me. When we moved and now have a far bigger office, we put an extra cat tree in the office, so now I have Oberon watching me from across the room and Casanova keeping an eye on me from above -- it's almost like having two supervisors