Just wanted to say hi, i am a sheltie lover, naturally,LOL. I am currently the owner of a blue merle, rescued sheltie, from Second had Shelties, (aka Parker) now named Bandit. He was estimated to be about 7 yrs old.
He is a wonderful animal, as are all shelties, but remarkably quite. I renamed him Bandit, because they said it took them almost 3 weeks to catch him,( And I've found he does like to explore, when he can, LOL). While he may have wandered off, they think he was dumped as he had a huge tumor on his chest, about the size of a grapefruit. They were surprised he hadn't torn it open. Secondhand shelties had it removed and gave him a good bill of health. I got him a year ago, in December. In August of last year however, I found a lump, on his chest near his left leg, and it was cancer. They didn't think it looked good, especially if it had gotten into the muscle. I had it removed, and while they said that the borders weren't clean, and it would most probably come back, it appears he has made a remarkable recovery, and is doing well. While the cancer was a big scare, it was even more upsetting because not long before i adopted Bandit, I had to put my best friend of 12 years down due to cancer of the spleen & bladder. Like Bandit, he was also a blue, (my personal preference), but Bandit has 2 beautiful blue eyes. Bandit is my 4th Blue sheltie, and I also adopted a blue collie, over the years. Bandit like I mentioned before is remarkably quiet, only barks if someone comes to the door. My first blue boy was quiet also, I honestly didn't know at the time they were considered barkers, but Bandit is so quiet he will not bark for any other reason, even food, unless he's playing. He makes the strangest huffing noise. Never met a dog like him, he also is very aloof, probably because I was not his original owner, he makes it appear that he just lets me live with him.
Well I have found that unlike Shadow he also travels very well, better than myself actually. Thanks for reading our story. I hope to get him a playmate someday, but I do live in an apartment so that may not be possible, unless i can talk my landlord into letting me foster a sheltie. So thanks for reading about us, hope to make some friends on this site. Sincerely Janet
He is a wonderful animal, as are all shelties, but remarkably quite. I renamed him Bandit, because they said it took them almost 3 weeks to catch him,( And I've found he does like to explore, when he can, LOL). While he may have wandered off, they think he was dumped as he had a huge tumor on his chest, about the size of a grapefruit. They were surprised he hadn't torn it open. Secondhand shelties had it removed and gave him a good bill of health. I got him a year ago, in December. In August of last year however, I found a lump, on his chest near his left leg, and it was cancer. They didn't think it looked good, especially if it had gotten into the muscle. I had it removed, and while they said that the borders weren't clean, and it would most probably come back, it appears he has made a remarkable recovery, and is doing well. While the cancer was a big scare, it was even more upsetting because not long before i adopted Bandit, I had to put my best friend of 12 years down due to cancer of the spleen & bladder. Like Bandit, he was also a blue, (my personal preference), but Bandit has 2 beautiful blue eyes. Bandit is my 4th Blue sheltie, and I also adopted a blue collie, over the years. Bandit like I mentioned before is remarkably quiet, only barks if someone comes to the door. My first blue boy was quiet also, I honestly didn't know at the time they were considered barkers, but Bandit is so quiet he will not bark for any other reason, even food, unless he's playing. He makes the strangest huffing noise. Never met a dog like him, he also is very aloof, probably because I was not his original owner, he makes it appear that he just lets me live with him.
Well I have found that unlike Shadow he also travels very well, better than myself actually. Thanks for reading our story. I hope to get him a playmate someday, but I do live in an apartment so that may not be possible, unless i can talk my landlord into letting me foster a sheltie. So thanks for reading about us, hope to make some friends on this site. Sincerely Janet
Coincidentally, I had a blue merle named Bandit too, who was also a rescue. When he came to us at age 2, he'd been shaved and weighed about 23 pounds. He was skin and bones. We renamed him Bandit because for the first six months, he ate everything in sight...dog food, cat food, horse food and especially people food. He was a large Sheltie (we always thought he was a mutant collie!) and eventually weighed 35 lbs. He, along with my first Sheltie, Scruffy, were both lost to cancer at age 13. I connected with a wonderful organization called The National Canine Cancer Foundation which is a great resource for anyone interested. The URL is 
I do want another blue girl. I have a sable and white pup, Kiara, who we are picking up from the breeder on 4/16/08. Can't wait. I still want a Blue Merle though, preferably with the blue eyes. The tris are really beautiful too. Ah just Shelties.
