Shelties love

rutakurpniece · Jan 27, 2015

We are having our first sheltie. She is very smart and lovely, but… It looks like she loves only one person from family. Our last dogs loved everyone equally so it's a bit of surprise for us. :confused2:

She doesn't like when someone is touching her except for me. It looks like she is a bit scared. We have had her for 1 month and now she is 3 months old. What can we do? Should I spend less time with her?
Thank you :smile2:

trini · Jan 27, 2015

Welcome.

If you are the one who feeds her and does most everything with her...I would recommend that you have other family members do the feeding, treats, walks, etc., so she learns that good things come from them too.

Shelties do sometime bond deeply to one person only, but for her sake as well as everyone in the family it is important that she trusts them and allows them to handle her.

Trini

JacqueZ · Jan 27, 2015

My husband had that problem with Honey around that age. He started doing training with her, and she warmed up quickly.

JLSOhio51 · Jan 27, 2015

rutakurpniece said:
We are having our first sheltie. She is very smart and lovely, but… It looks like she loves only one person from family. Our last dogs loved everyone equally so it's a bit of surprise for us. She doesn't like when someone is touching her except for me. It looks like she is a bit scared. We have had her for 1 month and now she is 3 months old. What can we do? Should I spend less time with her?
Thank you

Perhaps I'm the wrong person to comment on this issue, but with the one and only Sheltie I have had, I went through this very same thing. Trini's advice is excellent, but there MAY be something else to consider. From the time I brought my pup home, he was MY dog. I am the one who fed him, groomed him and trained him. I am the one who took him to classes, for walks and to the vet. He was a GREAT companion and did ANY and EVERY thing I asked of him. BUT - he fell I love with my WIFE. Whenever SHE was around, SHE had his attention. He followed HER around and watched over HER. When each of my daughters came along, he gravitated to THEM too.

At first, this was a problem for me, but as time passed, I was OK with his behavior. As it turned out, HE loved my girls as much as I loved my girls. I would have felt differently if he would have been aggressive or acting out in some way - but he wasn't. He just clearly loved the girls more. In the final analysis, that was OK by me.

ghggp · Jan 27, 2015

When I got my first sheltie years ago the breeder strongly suggested that I take her to obedience classes to socialize her as shelties can be shy and reserved. It was the best advice ever!

I did every class from puppy, beginners, intermediate, advanced, and canine good citizenship! It did the trick as she was rock solid with anyone. Although she preferred my company, as I was her owner, she loved my family too!

I can not stress enough that socialization really helps.

I have adopted 5 rescue shelties since then and have signed up for obedience classes with all of them. It helps the bonding process with a new dog that maybe unsure of how to act around others.

Just my thoughts... It is a great social event for other who love their dogs!

Good luck and I hope everything works out for you and your little one!

Shelby's mom · Jan 27, 2015

Both my Shelties prefered My husband. Don't get me wrong they both love(d) me very much but he is always their favorite. I attribute this to several reasons.

When we had Hollie DH worked swing shift and as a result he was home with her a lot more than I was. And he took her everywhere with him. She was his best buddy.

Then when Hollie died we got Shelby. We brought Shelby into our lives because I just could not stand not having another dog. DH was not over the loss of Hollie and was not quite ready for another dog. Shelby had to work very hard to prove herself to DH and even harder to get him wrapped around her paw. Where as I was an easy catch. I did everything with her, lots of training classes, socialization, etc.

It did bother me at first realizing that Shelby has picked DH as her "favorite". But I am OK with it now. Just seeing how happy she and DH are when they are playing or when she is sitting on his lap every morning makes me very happy.

EJHUNTL · Jan 28, 2015

Another thing about some shelties is that they do not like to be petted on the head - tell your family to start with a scratch on the ruff, preferably at her level so they are not looming over her.

We've owned 5 shelties over the years and from that limited sample I can tell you there are not really cuddly dogs. They are very loyal and sensitive and need to be with their people but not necessarily on them. Unlike my daughter's corgi who cannot get close enough, and lays on top of her when she's reading or tries to crawl on her lap when she's at the computer - all 30 pounds of him!

Caro · Jan 28, 2015

Welcome to you in Latvia!

She's very young and still working out the world. I wouldn't worry too much. Who are the other people in the family that may be patting her? Kids can be rowdy and men have deep voices, so it sometimes takes a while for them to get used to that. But they do. Don't spend less time with her, its sounds like she is a bit timid so will need all your support. She will be more confident with others if you introduce her to them or are by her side.

I agree with the others. Socialise (once she's finished all her puppy shots), try not to loom (the people she is scared of - ask them to get down to her level, and if it's kids in particular to sit on the floor, to pat her) and try patting around the neck or just above the tail.

EJHUNTL said:
We've owned 5 shelties over the years and from that limited sample I can tell you there are not really cuddly dogs.

You should try my shelties! I've had them all my life and one of the things I adore with the breed is they are so cuddly. With my current two I can't sit on the couch without at least one climbing on my lap and they want to cuddle everyone they meet. Maybe it's in the upbringing.

Chris · Jan 30, 2015

Welcome! We have four Shelties and a Corgle. Each dog knows who his or her human is. Even though my sister crate trained both Bits and Layla together when they were puppies, Layla always knew she was mine, and Bits knew she was DS's puppy. Annie bonded immediately to my DH, and Beckon knows he has two Mommies. Huckleberry the Corgi-Beagle is DS's alone. But everyone loves all the humans as family. They figure it out.

VallejoSheltie · Jan 31, 2015

Mark another one down as definately preferring me over my wife. But then, I've worked from home his whole life, so we do most all of the real fun stuff together, so its not that surprising.

For the last couple of years, I've been both the adult, but also the 'pal'. I'm not above getting down on all fours and playing chase and roughhousing upstairs and downstairs. I mimic a lot of how I see him play with his park friends, and it really seemed to make him much more affectionate, though nowhere near a Golden or similar.
While still not exactly 'cuddly', I've found that his preference is to sit with his behind on a step above where I am sitting, with his front legs on the same stair as me so that we're about level. I just lift my arm and he leans right into me. The occasional lick behind the ear or wet-willie....

Most of the Shelties I've run across seem to like a little cuddle, however is seems like if its more than a short amount of time, they seem to pull away. I've noticed this with Boots with both my wife and my Mom, and a few other women, and they almost always end up trying to pull him back by the head or by the neck for more cuddling.

Least it seems that way to me.