Pros and Cons of Shelties?

I've got a papillon. Brought him home at 12 weeks, and I've had 3 shelties..

Paps:
pros:
Small (Thus easy to transport and not too destructive)
Affectionate, great lapdogs
FAST, but no endurance
REALLY soft fur--a pleasure to pet
Intelligent, but in the hard to train sort of way.

Cons:

EASILY INJURED!!! They have tiny thin bones, and tend to get underfoot because they do want to be near you. I often turn around and he's right there. With a pap, an accidental kick that wouldn't phase a sheltie can break bones.

LOUD-- he barks more than my shelties, and it's this loud, high pitched bark that just goes on and on and on. My neighbors don't complain about my shelties--but I have had complaints about him!

Tough to housebreak is an understatement. Paps are toy dogs, and they tend to see the entire house as too big to consider the 'nest'. I've tried everything, but at 7 years old, he still marks in the house. Crate training, constant supervision, puppy pads, repellant, none of it does any good--and I've housebroken literally dozens of other dogs. My three shelties housebroke with very little effort and within days... Dante still poops in the house, and marks all the time (and yes, he's neutered). That's before we get into the territorial marking. He still does that, too.

nervous disposition-- they're smaller, they're scareder. Nuff said.

Small- yes, that makes him portable, but also makes him harder to find. If he dashes under the bed or a piece of furniture, sometimes it's a long time before I can get him out.



I had shelties before, and got a pap... 7 years ago. I must say I regret that decision. I still have him, I do love him, and will care for him till the end of his days, but I will never have another Pap... meanwhile I show shelties and have 2 of them now.

Hope this helps...
 
Thanks for your post about Paps - I'm always happy to learn new things :smile2:

I also would ask myself what do I want to do with the dog? I wanted a dog that would fit in a small appartment but could be with me in the farm and take part in the hikes and endurance competitions that often take place in some very difficult terrain and use to be even 30 miles long. I think a Sheltie would fulfil these conditions fully.
 
Analeyn said:
Thanks for all the answers :)! And I hope I didn't offend you guys by asking what the cons are. I meant like shedding and stuff :D.
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I have to say,and I say this honestly...since Earnhardt has crossed rainbow bridge almost now a month ago...the hair tumbleweeds have ceased 98% in my home. My shelties honestly do not shed like he did.
Yes,you will get hair when you are brushing them,but to say there is hair on the furniture,clothing,floors like before,it's just about nill.

We miss our big guy,but labs take the cake for shedding. It simply is an endless cycle of 24/7 shedding.
 
Yeah, I have had so many people ask me if Buffy sheds. It's really not that bad, but she does need to be brushed. I have noticed much more hair on the furniture after friends had their labs or beagles over for a few hours. Shelties usually have 1-2 big "sheds" per year and other than that it's really not bad. But you do have to be willing to groom them. I saw a sheltie the other day at the dog park that clearly hasn't been groomed regularly.... and I thought it was just sad. I enjoy the grooming, Buffy and I have "girly time" and watch shows in the evening when I brush her hair and teeth.

I think Shelties are sturdier than Paps. They can go for longer walks, hikes, are good for agility, are just more solid little dogs if you have kids or other pets around the house. Shelties are more like real "dog" dogs, while Paps are more toy dogs that fit in your purse. Kind of depends what you want.

My Sheltie is unusually small, 13 pounds, so she's actually not much bigger than a Pap. What I like about her size is that she can go on the plane with us and ride in the seat in front of us. We even took her to the mall once, in a bag. (This was NOT my idea but she seemed to enjoy it...) You wouldn't be able to do this with a bigger Sheltie.
 
I'm going to reiterate that shedding for my two pups is not bad at all. Frankly I think my parent's lab mix was worse. Sometimes you could not even pat him with fur and dander flying....I was SO allergic to him.

With my guys...they shed into their undercoats.... not around the house...A could bath and brush and then the undercoat is gone. That being said, if you don't groom them at least every one or two weeks, then yes, you are going to get matting and furballs. But every day grooming of shelties is not a requirement, unless you are a fanatic!

And once or twice a year, they will blow not matter what you do. But its not overwhelming that I've ever experienced.
 
I agree. I show my shelties, and I brush them both about twice a week, but it's a quick,light brushing to prevent matting and tangles and spread the oils over the coat. For mine, there is a twice a year 'coat blowing' in the spring and fall, but when it starts becoming an issue I give them a good bath and brush (or take them to a groomer and pay 25 dollars each for the same) and the problem is handled in one day.

my Pap sheds a little bit constantly, but more than that, the long fur of the tail seems to get matted ALOT.
 
The book "The Intelligence Of Dogs" lists the Shetland Sheepdog as one of the smartest breeds. That's one of the (numerous) things that influenced my decision.

Between being very smart, very eager to please, and having an excellent memory, my boy was extremely easy to train/educate. He constantly studied everything that I said and did, with the goal of making me happy.

He was the only canine companion that I have ever had, so I can't compare him to other dogs.
 
mbfrench said:
I have to say,and I say this honestly...since Earnhardt has crossed rainbow bridge almost now a month ago...the hair tumbleweeds have ceased 98% in my home. My shelties honestly do not shed like he did.
Yes,you will get hair when you are brushing them,but to say there is hair on the furniture,clothing,floors like before,it's just about nill.

We miss our big guy,but labs take the cake for shedding. It simply is an endless cycle of 24/7 shedding.
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Hugs, Michele!
 
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