The Shetland Sheepdog Little Oak from Large Acorn

Four years ago on a late July afternoon Chip DePhillip, age four, set out to visit a neighbor's house nearby for milk and cookies. The Clinton, Maryland, lad was accompanied as always by his Shetland sheepdog, Shelly. As they walked along, a pit bull appeared from out of the blue and rushed toward Chip. Before the pit bull could attack, Shelly, who weighed 15 pounds, leaped at the approaching bully and sank her teeth into his neck.

Chip's mother, Carolyn DePhillip, who had witnessed the attack from a bedroom window in her house, ran outside. Shelly "was being destroyed the whole time," she told a Washington Post reporter, "but she never let go of that pit bull. She could have outrun him easily, but she never let go."

Carolyn DePhillip and a neighbor grabbed Chip and carried him to safety in his front yard. Meanwhile the pit bull dragged Shelly behind a house. When police officers arrived minutes later, they found the pit bull still mauling Shelly, who was already dead. As the officers approached the pit bull, he turned on them. A shotgun blast from one of the officers put an end to the dog's marauding.

Afterward, a neighbor told the Post reporter that Shelly was never far from Chip or his older sister, Jessica, age 7. "Whenever the kids walked down the block, you'd see the little dog," the neighbor said. "They were inseparable. If you got too close to the kids, the dog would start yapping."

Ultima Thule

Shelly's courage and devotion are but two of the many stocks in trade of the Shetland sheepdog. This diminutive, dynamic and devoted breed, known as the sheltie, originated in Shetland, a clutch of 100 islands that lies in the North Atlantic Ocean about 130 miles northeast of Scotland. The Romans called Shetland Ultima Thule "the end of the habitable world," but many people would question just how habitable these craggy, isolated islands are.

"Nature is at its most elemental here," wrote one visitor, who described Shetland as a "wild, windswept" place where "you are always aware of the pervasive presence of the sea." Mainland, the largest of the Shetland Islands, is 55 miles long and, at most, 20 miles wide; yet it gathers to itself a 3,000-mile coastline, and none of its inhabitants is more than three miles from the sea. Nor is anyone at far remove from the savage winds that clatter across the Shetland Islands' wide beaches, peat bogs and grassy moorlands draped in heather. The wind is a force to be reckoned with on these gnomish islets that occupy, on average, fewer than six square miles. Not surprisingly, only 17 of the Shetland Islands are inhabited, and their total population is fewer than 23,000.

Picturesque Beginning

Shetland has been occupied since the late Stone Age, more than 5,000 years ago. A small, dark, contentious people known as the Picts held sway over the islands until the eighth and ninth centuries, when Viking invaders arrived. The Vikings had set off from the coast of Norway, 200 miles to the northeast, in search of land and treasure. These invaders, most observers believe, brought herding dogs with them that were descended from the same stock as the Norwegian Buhund and/or the Icelandic dog. In addition the Vikings brought their small sheep, cows and horses to the islands. Shetland remained under Scandinavian rule until 1469, when Christian, king of Norway and Denmark, included the islands in his daughter Margaret's dowry when she married King James III of Scotland.

In time larger sheep were imported to the Shetland Islands from Scotland, and "it is reasonable to assume," writes one sheltie historian, that these sheep "were accompanied by working collies related to the ancestors of the modern rough collie and the Border collie." Fishing fleets that put in at Shetland added Icelandic dogs and Greenland's Yakki dogs to the islands' canine population. No matter what their ports of origin, however, the dogs on Shetland had to contend with sheep that were small, skittish, lightning fast and agile. Thus, the sheepdogs developed for use on the islands were bred for agility, brains and speed.

Cute for Sale

When tourists discovered the Shetland Islands during the 1800s, residents of the islands discovered they could sell small, fluffy dogs to tourists. Soon islanders were busy turning out fleecy lap ornaments, whose parents often included Pomeranians and even a Prince Charles spaniel left behind by a departed yacht owner. Such commercial choices were detrimental to the island dogs' working abilities, and by the turn of the century more than a few people began to fear that the "authentic" island dogs were in danger of extinction.

Collies were conscripted by some breeders to restore the island dogs to their original type. These collies resembled old-time farm dogs, not the stylized collie seen in show rings today. Other people elected to re-create type in Shetland dogs by breeding only to dogs that looked like the older, pre-tourist variety, and some folks kept right on breeding small and fluffies.

As the popularity of Shetland Islands dogs grew, people began to exhibit them at agricultural shows, first on the islands, then on the Scottish mainland and eventually throughout England. In 1906 the Shetland collie, forerunner of today's sheltie, made its debut at Crufts dog show. The new breed didn't keep its surname long. Collie fanciers viewed it with repugnance, and collie was soon replaced by sheepdog. In 1914 the Kennel Club in England granted official recognition to the breed, and even though collie breeders had strong-armed the club into the changing the sheltie's last name, there was no mistaking the collie's influence on shelties. The controversy over the use - and rumored use - of collies in sheltie breeding programs continued into the 1930s. Ironically, many sheltie owners today bristle if anyone refers to their dogs as miniature collies.

When all was said and shouted about, the sheltie that had evolved into a rugged, hard-working, certifiably bright puppy, blessed with an almost uncanny ability to make decisions regarding the welfare of the small sheep and ponies in its charge. Size and type were variable for a time as a result of the different outcrosses in the sheltie's background, but through it all the breed emerged with the sweetest, most amiable temperament anyone could ask for in a pedigreed dog.

Coming to America

Shetland sheepdogs may have accompanied Scottish immigrants to the United States before 1911, but no members of the breed were registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC) until that year. The honor of being the first AKC-registered sheltie went to Lord Scott, a golden brindle imported and owned by John G. Sherman Jr. of New York. The breed's parent club, The American Shetland Sheepdog Association, was organized at the Westminster Kennel Club show in 1929. Last year - when 32,086 new shelties were registered - the sheltie ranked 15th among the 145 breeds registered by AKC. The sheltie's popularity is supported not only by its good looks and temperament but also by its stellar performances in conformation, obedience, herding and agility.

The Fair Isles' Pattern

The stylistic variation that resulted from the sheltie's multicultural background had been refined to the highest common denominator, fittingly enough, by the end of the 1950s. The current breed standard, approved by the AKC in 1959, describes a dog as singular and cunning in appearance as the plush-looking but sturdy sweaters made from the wool of the Shetland Islands sheep. The sheltie pattern specifies that shelties may be no smaller than 10 and no greater than 13 inches at the withers. Over all the sheltie is a compact dog with a moderately long head, the tiniest of ears and an expression of wisdom and kindness. It may be dressed in black, blue merle or sable - the latter ranging from golden through mahogany - marked with varying amounts of white. Brindled dogs and dogs with more than half their coats given over to white are not eligible for show-ring competition.

The sheltie's glory is its breathtaking, profuse double coat, which is most abundant in males. The sheltie's outer coat consists of harsh, long, straight hairs that spread their mantle over a short, furry undercoat so dense it gives the entire production a bouffant, stand-off appearance.

Any coat that lovely requires more than a dilettante effort to maintain. Although no clipping or trimming is necessary, at least two - and preferably more - thorough grooming sessions a week are mandatory to keep the coat healthy and to avoid skin problems. The sheltie likes to keep itself clean and will provide some assistance to its owner by grooming and preening its coat between grooming conferences.

Living With a Sheltie

The Shetland sheepdog has been embraced by dog lovers around the world and has responded to that embrace with unquestionable devotion. Nevertheless, the sheltie has several personality traits that can be difficult to cope with if an owner is not careful to control them when the dog is still young. This is not to say an older dog cannot be retrained, but it is far less difficult to avoid a problem in puppyhood than it is to correct one later in life.

As much as they adore their people, some shelties are possessed by a stubborn streak. Those that are will test their owners repeatedly to make sure they're adamant about wanting their dogs to avoid certain temptations. More vexing yet, the sheltie, which is smarter than most college students, remembers what it is taught, what it has gotten away with and how to get away with it again.

Prospective sheltie owners should not forget that this breed was created to be the guardian of its flock. Brave beyond its size, the sheltie is master of a bark that's louder than its bite. The sheltie is accustomed to using its voice and will do so more often than necessary if this tendency isn't stifled in puppyhood. Barking to let you know a stranger is approaching is acceptable. Barking for the sake of barking is not. The owner must help the young sheltie to understand that distinction.

With their high degrees of intelligence and energy, Shetland sheepdogs are easily bored, particularly if they don't have an opportunity to be active. Moreover, they're people dogs, and if they're denied the opportunity to spend sufficient time with those they love, they're apt to use their famous voices to demand attention.

One of the breed's finest qualities is its desire to bond with and to please its master. Not being allowed to do so can make even the best bred sheltie unhappy and difficult to live with. The sheltie's need to be with its owner is most certainly a holdover from the breed's herding days when there was little value in a dog that would abandon its flock or the shepherd with whom the dog shared the responsibility for the flock's welfare.

An Eye for Trouble

A well-bred Shetland sheepdog can easily live into its midteens, and thanks to the various genetic threads that make up the breed's mosaic, the sheltie generally enjoys good health. The breed is subject to several eye problems, however: progressive retinal atrophy, cataracts and trichiasis.

Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) is the wasting away of the vessels in the retina. Initially manifested as night blindness in young dogs, as PRA progresses, its victims become totally blind. Trichiasis is a condition in which the eyelashes grow in an inverted position, causing irritation and injury to the eye. In severe cases the eyelashes have to be removed in order to provide relief for the dog.

Deafness is associated with the blue merle color in shelties. Anyone interested in puppies of this color should test the puppy's hearing by clapping hands behind it or calling the puppy when it isn't looking.

Shelties are also troubled by hypothyroidism, a common endocrine disease characterized by an abnormally low production of thyroid hormones. The symptoms of hypothyroidism include lethargy, mental depression, weight gain and a tendency to seek out warm places. Hypothyroidism can also affect the coat and skin, causing hair loss and excessive dandruff.

Finally, von Willebrand's disease, a type of bleeding disorder caused by defective blood-platelet function, has been identified in shelties. A test exists that can identify the presence of the genetic potential for this disease in shelties. Before you buy a puppy, make sure its parents have both tested negative for this disease. If the breeder cannot establish this to your satisfaction, i.e., by producing the relevant certificates, look elsewhere for a puppy.

In addition to determining - as much as one can determine - the occurrence of inherited problems in a particular line of dogs, anyone who is considering a sheltie or any dog should ask the seller or provider of that dog who will be responsible for the vet bills if a radiant-looking puppy should be victimized by an obviously inherited condition later in its life.