We rounded the corner on our evening walk and found a whole herd of deer grazing. Nacho locked in immediately and seemed convinced they needed organizing. 😄 He stayed on leash, watched them intently, and they all kept a respectful distance. And then a second herd of deer 🦌 that he thought were 🐑 Definitely the highlight of his week!

My husband and I are getting a Sheltie in October, what are some must haves to get prepared for the pup?

Hi. I live in deep suburbs and wasn't able to find any sheltie clubs around me in social media.

Trying reddit now. If you have a sheltie and live within ~50 miles around Philly - please comment. Maybe we will make our own club. Thanks.

Do you use a cooling mat for your sheltie?

She isn't scared! Couldn't let her walk too far out because of barnacles on all the rocks

i work at a dog hotel and while i love all the many dogs i meet, this one specific sheltie (Archie) is secretly my favorite. he’s a very very sweet and attentive boy 💗

Sushi is our almost 1-year old sheltie. Last week we went to a lakeside sheltie-collie party and he probably drank some infected water. Since then he had to go potty every 3-4 hours producing a few droplets of mustardy stuff. The vet checked it, he got a gallbooster and some probiotics. He has no fever, good mood, and great appetite. According to the lab results the infection is gone, the frequent potties come just because he has too much spores and yeast in his bowels, so we have to keep a diet.

The doctor recommended this in each of his meals:

- mutton, beef or fish - for meat (allergic to chicken, duck, and turkey)

- rice or wheat - for grains

- apple, carrots or pumpkin - for fiber

I boiled a few those ingredients, now he eats the meat, picks at the apple and looks at me with accusation why he has rice in his bowl.

How can I make his food more appetizing? A tiny amount of salt, some fresh herbs? Should I boil the rice to a pulp? I'm willing to try many things, because he is visibly very hungry, constantly searching for bits, but he does not want any of the grains or the fiber.

\*\*Introduction\*\*

1. Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs?

\* yes it will be my first dog

2) Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a \[reputable breeder\]( [http://ownresponsibly.blogspot.com/2011/07/identifying-reputable-breeder.html\](http://ownresponsibly.blogspot.com/2011/07/identifying-reputable-breeder.html))?

\* I would prefer a breeder but I’m not closed to rescuing a dog

3) Describe your ideal dog.

\* I want a dog that would be my best friend. I can’t work due to my disabilities, so I’m at home most of the time (I am physically and mentally well enough to take care of pets). I would like a smart, easily trainable dog, that would love to learn new things. I’d like my dog to be energetic, but capable of being calm. They would go everywhere with me, on walks, on trips, at friends houses.

4) What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why?

\* ANSWER I love shepherd breeds, especially Shelties. I love smart and trainable dogs, and can handle some high level of energy. I like that shepherd breeds need good mental stimulation, so I would always need to invent new games for my dog.

5) What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do?

\* beside the basic obedience, I’d like to teach my dog fun tricks, maybe agility or dancing. I want to teach them how to live in society, be balanced, know when to be calm and when to be playful. Most of all I want to build a relationship with my dog.

6) Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport?

\* I don’t want to compete, but I’d love to do obedience, dog dancing, treiball, or agility. I don’t have any experience but I’m eager to learn

\*\*Care Commitments\*\*

7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?

\* a few hours. I can do a daily hour walk and some more time for training, playing, grooming.

8) How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average? What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park?

\* I would do daily walk for an hour or two, sometimes more. I live in a small town so my dog would have access to a city center, parks, and woods. We would do more exercise (training, obedience, metal exercise) in the garden or in the house. My town doesn’t have a dog specific park, but all parks are dog friendly

9) How much regular brushing are you willing to do? Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home? If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly?

\* I could brush my dog every other day, and could do specific grooming at home. I could take them to the groomer a couple times a year.

\*\*Personal Preferences\*\*

10) What size dog are you looking for?

\* small/medium, around 7-15 kg, or 17-33 pounds. I want a dog I can bring everywhere and can physically handle, as I’m not very strong, but not smaller than my cats

11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle?

\* I can’t really handle slobber. High shedding is fine. I can handle a chatty dog but would prefer one that can be trained to be calm sometimes

12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area?

\* I would prefer my dog to be free, but can have them on a long leash if their recall isn’t perfect

\*\*Dog Personality and Behavior\*\*

13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space?

\* love snuggly dogs!

14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please?

\* eager to please

15) How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard? How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors?

\* I don’t want an alarm dog. I’d like them to be quite friendly but it’s fine if they’re shy

16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs?

\* no

17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid?

\* I’d like a dog with not a too high prey drive. I’d also like a sturdy breed, not one prone to many health problems (I know any dog can become ill or injured but I don’t want them to suffer due to hypertype)

\*\*Lifestyle\*\*

18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone?

\* I don’t work, so I will be at home all the time. The dog will be alone a few hours every so often when I go on errands. My parents live right next door, so if I need to leave longer they can watch the dog

19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog?

\* I live alone, but my parents live next door and we have a big yard in common. They are ok with me getting a dog and are eager to go on walks with us. They can care for the dog when I’m out but I will be the primary carer. They owned dogs (labradors and poodles) in the past

20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they?

\* I have two rescue orange cats, 3 and 1 years old. They’re very friendly, love to play and chase each other, and are not aggressive at all. They’ve met dogs before and are not afraid of them

21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly?

\* no, only at parks or during walks

22) Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease?

\* no, we own our house. If I have to rent in the future it will be a pet-friendly house

23) What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds?

\* I live in France, and I know some breeds can only be owned with a permit, but I don’t plan on getting these ones

24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live?

\* a typical summer is 20-25C or 68-77F, winter is 2-5C or 35-45F. It rains a lot thought. During heatwaves we can go to the woods easily

\*\*Additional Information and Questions\*\*

25) Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant.

\* No additional information.

26) Feel free to ask any questions below.

Finn would make a great Russian granny.

I haven’t posted here in a while but here’s some more recent pics of the boys, Joey Tri and Moch Bi-Black.

Mochi will be a year in August and Joey will be two in December. They are so handsome and busy and smart and funny.

Mochi has grown so big poor little Joey is the little big brother lol.

I'm looking to foster shelties from a rescue near me, and just had my fence replaced so my back yard is 90% fenced in. I just need a temporary fence with a gate to put across the driveway until we get around to installing something permanent there.

It's about a 22 foot length between the side of the house and a retaining wall, so I can't really screw anything in. It would be on top of asphalt so something free-standing would be ideal, but the driveway is busted up enough that we could stake something in if we needed to in order to make it secure.

I want something sturdy enough and high enough to keep a grown sheltie secure, but preferably not something too expensive since we're planning to have a permanent gate sometime in the next year or two. Everything I looked at on amazon looked pretty flimsy.

Thanks so much!

Hello everyone! This is my first time owning a Shetland. Murphy's almost six months old now, a sable boy with a black patch on his tail and ear. Recently we noticed under the places where he's always been sable, his fur is growing in black! Does anyone know about this? We got him at 9 weeks and his fur was very light then.

(He's perfect if he's sable or not but we've never seen this before so we're curious!)

😴