It’s a guess on our part that Shetland Sheepdog owners grit their teeth every time they’re asked if the dog at the end of their leash is a “miniature collie.” Of course it’s not, but a well-meaning (if not uninformed) person may be forgiven their mistake because Collies do show up in the distant pedigrees of some Shelties. In 1914, a breed club was formed in England, and the breed was first registered as a “Shetland Collie.” Because of objections by Collie fanciers, however, the name was changed to Shetland Sheepdog in late 1909. That said, English breeders still made the effort to have Shelties resemble “miniature Collies” by crossing the two breeds. At the time, these crosses were acceptable in the UK provided that offspring were bred back for three generations to a Shetland Sheepdog. After the required three generations, the get would be registered as purebred Shelties.

According to the AKC’s New Complete Dog Book, Sheltie type improved rapidly as a result of Collie crosses, and many of the dogs imported to America in the 1920s and 1930s did, in fact, have these crosses show up quite close in their pedigrees. Because of the Collie crosses listed in the pedigrees of the imported dogs, however, many early imports weren’t eligible for AKC registration, considered, as they were, to be of impure breeding. One such imported dog was even a breed Champion in the UK.

Collie crosses made stabilizing size a challenge for Sheltie breeders for a time, but now nearly ninety years later, today’s breeder seems to have a handle on size.

Sheltie pen and ink drawing by Cindy Alvarado-Yeary – PawprintsPortfolio
www.etsy.com/shop/PawprintsPortfolio