Why did you get a Sheltie?

Toffee's Mom said:
A little dog, named Elaine, owned by my neighbour when I was a little girl, left such a lasting impression that 30some years later and 5000 kilometres further, I finally got one of my very own :)
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I think this is very true. Growing up my mom's neighbor had a sheltie named Dawn. My mom loved that dog, and I think that is why she very clearly wanted a tri sheltie - because that was Dawn's coloring. Aztec actually shares some of the same quirky habits Dawn had (he is much bigger than she ever was though)- and not that long ago we took Aztec to meet that neighbor, she loved Aztec!
 
I have owned numerous breeds...Poodle, Pomeranian, Australian Shepherd, Keeshond & numerous mixes. My Pom(Cody) died in 2002 at the age of 14. He simply fell over coming back from the mail box. He was one of the best dogs I ever owned. Jet black with a little white soul patch. Cody was as fierce & smart as they came. My parents called him a Doberman in a Pomeranian's body.:lol: After that, because of my hectic lifestyle, I didn't get a dog. When Cindy & I started dating, I told her I was ready to get another dog. When we knew we were getting a house, we started really looking. She wanted a Beagle, I didn't. A good friend of hers found out we were looking & suggested a Sheltie since she has 2 & competed in agility. You may remember them from Sheltie Nation(Max & his cougars:lol:). I started researching & found that they had all the traits I wanted in a dog. After my 1st failed meeting with a "breeder"(BYB w/ disgusting living conditions for the dogs), I located a retired Sheltie shower & handler who breeds a couple times a year. That's where I found Max. He was the one who acted the silliest & friendliest of the litter. I was able to play & pet the parents & all the litter mates. So now I have the silliest dog I have ever owned, but I wouldn't trade him for the world.
 
I've just always had shelties, and couldn't imagine having another breed. I got my first sheltie at 5 years old, and have had them, and been hooked, ever since.
 
When I was a little girl I always wanted a Collie. Some relatives of mine have a farm and always had a couple of collies running around, and they had very sweet dispositions. I dreamed of bringing home one of their puppies one day.

Eight years ago my parent's finally decided to get a dog (I was a little annoyed, I'd wanted a dog since I was a child and they waited till I was an adult and almost ready to move out to finally get one for my brother), and I was surprised when the chose a sheltie. I loved the idea since I knew them to also have sweet dispositions, they looked similar to collies but were smaller, but still big enough to have fun playing with, like a big dog (ball, frisbee, etc.)

Milo is very sweet, fun and extremely attached to my family. I knew then that I wanted a sheltie of my own one day.

My husband and I decided that we wanted a dog asap after we got married, but could not agree on a breed. I wanted a sheltie but my husband, who wasn't as crazy about Milo as I was, wanted a pocket dog (bit of a gender reversal there, I wanted the big dog and he wanted the lap dog :lol:)

We agreed to something in between, either a schnauzer or schnauzer cross. After making an appointment to see some schnauzer x puppies, my mother told me about a sheltie puppy ad she'd seen. I immediately made an appointment to see them, without checking with my husband. I had a feeling he'd change his mind if he saw a sheltie puppy. I told him I wanted to go look, even if he didn't, but he grudgingly agreed to go too.

We saw the schnauzer cross puppies and picked one out that we liked, but I convinced hubby not to make any final decisions immediately. They were puppy brokers and I did not get a good feeling from them.

It was love at first sight for both hubby and I when we saw the sheltie pups. They were 6 week old little fluff balls running around in their pen. The breeder was such a wonderful lady (especially compared to the last place) and we picked Sadie out and never looked back :smile2:

We're getting our second sheltie, Ginny, in 15 days from the same breeder and my husband is already talking about getting another from the next litter.

Shelties are DEFINITELY addictive! :lol:
 
Aztec said:
I think this is very true. Growing up my mom's neighbor had a sheltie named Dawn. My mom loved that dog, and I think that is why she very clearly wanted a tri sheltie - because that was Dawn's coloring. Aztec actually shares some of the same quirky habits Dawn had (he is much bigger than she ever was though)- and not that long ago we took Aztec to meet that neighbor, she loved Aztec!
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I think you and Toffee Mom are right. I think once you've met a Sheltie, they just kinda stick with you.

I remember when I was researching before I brought home Timber, I did all these "match your personality to a dog breed" tests. They kept pointing at other breeds and I always found a reason to discount the test. It had to be faulty; or I answered wrong, or some excuse. Ultimately, I guess I already knew what I wanted, and was just going through the motions.

And it was the same after Timber died and my son was dead set against another Sheltie. I went through the motions of looking at other breeds....but you know, I just couldn't find one. :rolleyes2: There was always something wrong with it. Sorry son, I can only seem to find Shelties around here! So Bacca came home!
 
There are some truly beautiful stories on this thread! It could be a book about how we came to be owned by Shelties. My story is much more mundane.

I always wanted a dog growing up but never had one. I vowed that when I had kids, they would have a dog. We started with a West Highland White Terrier, then acquired my mother's Pomeranian, Foxy (she gave him to us to housebreak and two years later he was still at our house...) and when my son was 12, he said he wanted a sturdier, bigger dog that he could play with. We'd seen a Sheltie in the neighborhood, and a horse friend had just had a littler.

Scruffy, our first Sheltie, was Jay's confirmation gift and he named her. She should have been named Duchess...she was the most regal dog I've ever seen. We quickly found that one was not enough, and rescued Bandit. Then Ivy came home--a pet store rescue. We lost Foxy, the Pomeranian shortly after at age 14, but by then we were confirmed multiple Sheltie owners. Heck, when you have horses, dog, cats and birds, you can never travel anyway so what's one more dog?

We lost Scruffy, the love of my life, in August 2005, and Pixie joined us that year. Bandit passed in 2006, and Pixie needed a playmate since Ivy was older and Barkley arrived in 2007. Now we have Barkley's littermate Checkers too! I think we are maxed out at four, but who knows. I do know there will always be Shelties in my life, no matter what.
 
Ann said:
There are some truly beautiful stories on this thread! It could be a book about how we came to be owned by Shelties. My story is much more mundane.
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I agree, some of these stories are just amazing. I feel mine is so ordinary: no dog as a kid, got married and wanted one, got Pierre and wanted another, bigger, more active dog, and ended up with Duncan! I'd repeat the whole long spiel, but I gave my longer story on another thread.

I went to a doggy day thing last weekend and when one of the ladies (who has Papillons) heard that I had a Sheltie puppy, she smiled at me and said, "Oh, you are going to be so spoiled. But in a year, you're going to miss the wear-and-wash days of just a Pap!" Little does she know, I've always liked grooming dogs (used to do my mother's mini poodle). It's like hairdressing, but you don't have to listen to them blab on and on about something uninteresting. I'll take the amazing personality, intelligence, and empathy in a long haired, high maintenance dog than anything less in 'wash and wear.' (I love Pierre, differently.)
 
I'm really enjoying all these stories - thank you all for sharing them!

Like Ann's, my story is pretty mundane... my mom fell in love with my uncle's Sheltie, Buster. Buster was, by all accounts, the smartest, sweetest dog my mom had ever met, and our family was looking for a dog (and my mom wanted to get "into" dog shows), so Shelties it was.

I've thought, briefly, about what it would be like to have a different breed, but Shelties are just such a nice fit for me: smart as can be, sweet and eager to please, tidy and not too big (I can fit three Sheltie crates in my Toyota Camry!).

Besides, at this point, my dog-owning life has been entirely shaped by the breed: I'm just used to sensitive, smart, responsive dogs. I have the vague notion that a Labrador would walk all over me... :wink2:
 
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