What breeds do Shelties get along with?

[take4roll10]

I have a maltese and a chihuahua. The maltese does not like Bailey at all. She has no interest in her. The chihuahua will play with her every once in a while. The chihuahua is definitely the alpha dog of my house.

Bailey gets along great with her Shiba Inu friend and her king charles spaniel friend. They can run around for hours.

IMO I think it has more to do with the dogs; personalities and age then it has to do with different breeds.

 

[MissSuzie]

Meggie was an only child until I had to move in to take care of dad. He has a 1/2 chihuahua, 1/2 dachsund mix. She is smaller than Meggie and at first Meg's exuberance was a put off, but they are definitely BFF's now. Meggie and I are in Florida for a couple of weeks and Dad said Lucy keeps looking for Meggie in the yard and around the house.

My suggestion would be to get the new dog as a pup and let it grow up knowing your sheltie was first and is the alpha dog.

 

[KarenCurtis]

Another option may be a Belgian Shepherd. I believe they are kinder, gentler versions of their German cousins!

There is a family in our neighbourhood that has a Belgian and a Sheltie. We often visit while dog walking. One of my employees has two Belgians, and they too, seem quite gentle.

Plus they are lovely looking dogs!

What type of Belgian? There are four types- the Teruven (sp?) are used as police dogs-my old dog was part Belgian, forget what kind, but it was not the Teruven.
Karen

 

[Cindy]

it's all about temperment

my neighbor has a great pyrenees puppy...
who adores Gavin! She will sit outside my balcony waiting for him to come out and say hi. They play fight all the time, and she is soo gentle with Gavin even though she weighs 80 lbs. When she wants to play, she puts her paw on him until he starts play biting her (with very ferocious sheltie teeth, I might add!)

her grown up dog doesn't play with Gavin at all.

Gavin rarely plays with other dogs outside of my neighbors' dogs, mostly it's run and chase and so he prefers herding breeds for that.

 

[Phebe*DD]

What type of Belgian? There are four types- the Teruven (sp?) are used as police dogs-my old dog was part Belgian, forget what kind, but it was not the Teruven.
Karen

There a Teruven in one the of agility classes we attend. He loves Phebe and she loves him back. Are you certain you're not thinking of the Malnois? Malnois have the shorter coat like GSDs and Teruven have a longer coat.

 

[Toffee's Mom]

There a Teruven in one the of agility classes we attend. He loves Phebe and she loves him back. Are you certain you're not thinking of the Malnois? Malnois have the shorter coat like GSDs and Teruven have a longer coat.

I agree
you see way more Malinois in Schutzhund and police work than Tervurens... one of the best agility dogs around here is a Tervuren what a GREAT dog...

As for breeds... I honestly would not recommend a Lab or a Golden, I agree they don't get 'brains' witht heir 'brawn' til they are at least two, LOL, sorry Cadbury.. but they are gentle and wonderful later... lol so unless you have the big dog first and he is filly grown I would completely agree with Caro

We all ow Toffee's BFF is Scotty the neighbour's poodle... and now we have a small GSD senior girl, who is our new roomie

 

[mbfrench]

We have a gorgeous 8-month old Sheltie named Howard and really want to get a 2nd puppy (and eventually a third!) We live in New Zealand and will have lots of space for dogs when we finally buy a house.

Obviously an entire pack of Shelties would be awesome As much as we LOVE Shelties since getting Howard we're also drawn to other breeds - and my partner has always wanted a German Shepherd.

Is this a good idea? I notice that German Shepherds can get very big and are also quite rough in their play and could hurt little Howard. That would be really awful. I'm also very keen on Golden Retrievers, I saw a local breeder who has lots of Shelties and Retrievers so I'm assuming they must get along well?

As you can see we are looking for a slightly larger breed, although I appreciate you can have big and small variations. We asked the Sheltie breeder that gave us Howard and they recommended to avoid dominant or aggressive dogs as they would push him aside. Even small breeds can be very snappy, they said, and to avoid terriers.

I notice various collie breeds get along with him very well... this is definitely a possibility. However my partner feels the bigger the better.... eeeps!

We'll get our next dog as a puppy to grow up respecting Howard as the alpha, but I'm sure at some point it would outgrow him and take charge? Would getting a female would solve this?

Anyway my long-winded question is this.... Has anyone had experience of owning both Shelties and larger breeds and how did they get along? Howard is so very submissive we don't want him pushed aside! Neither do we want him getting hurt when play gets rough. Whatever dog we get next will be in Howard's best interests... we'd just like to know what our options are!!

Thanks so much for your ideas

Well we have two sheltie pups,1yr & almost 9 months.They are half brothers.And they have a big brother,his name is Earnhardt.He is a lab/retriever mix.At the time we brought Trapp home,Earnie was a whopping 93#.

Now I had previously discussed Earnhardt with our breeder.And I told Janet that we needed a pup that showed signs of not being shy,I wanted outgoing,and somewhat gutsy.Well we got that and more.

They have been inseperable from day one.And Jasper the youngest sheltie is more gutsy & firey than Trapp.So all 3 mesh well together.All are males.

We also have a blind cat,her name is Bumper.So honestly I do think if they are exposed to cats,dogs,all sizes when they are very young at the breeders home,and then after you bring them home,all would work out fine.

Do be prepared for a differant type of play though.I think with Trapp,he kinda learned to play as a lab does,which can be clumsy,if they are young.He plays just as rough as Earnie,and often dishes it out worse than what was dished to him.But Trapp respects Earnhardt,that has been obvious since the beginning.

I will say,thay my son has two tea cup chihuahuas.One is a real b****.I know she's my grand dog,but boy is she a witch.

She is hateful towards both of the shelties,and it really is her trying to be protective towards Lynn & Eric,and also her sister Lucy.

If they had two chi's just alike (Lucy) they would get along wonderfully with my two shleties.Now let it be Earnhardt..and she minds her P's & Q's.She would not even think of snapping at Earnhardt.

I find myself really being aware of Lexi,as she is snappy,and will bite one of mine,if they wander to visit Lynn or Eric.

 

[mbfrench]

Oh now I really must protest! My choccie lab is the sweetest floppy-lipped dog you can meet and trust me, he is smart, gentle lovely and gorgeous!

A bit of a softy, but has a wicked sense of humour (ask my trainer!)

To pick up on another comment, he is indeed bouncy, however as a young pup he happily ran around with a sheltie and he never played roughly with her or squashed her - he seemed to know she was not a lab and so would not appreciate 'wrestling'. Her owners had another older sheltie that didn't like to play. If Cadbury went up to it, it would give a quiet growl and Cadbury would wander off and leave it be.

Its all about socialisation. If you could see Cadbury with a small puppy you would realise how gentle a lab can be. The other week he met a staffie puppy, only about 10 weeks but full of beans, it wanted to meet Cadbury and he laid down so the puppy could sniff his nose, then he rolled on his side and rubbed his head against the pup and the pup rubbed back and then he started bouncing on Cadbury's head, and Cadbury let it and just laid there.

The only thing with a lab is they are so so stubborn! Sometimes people think this makes them stupid, but that's not the case, they just need to know that what they are doing is worthwhile.

Well, I've stated my case for a lab - tbh, I think any dog breed from a good breeder, with socilisation and training should be able to mix with any other dog breed, and I think shelties are fully capable of looking after themselves with big dogs

I agree,labs are labs.At one time,we had 7 here,all beautiful lab pups,and I will tell you there is nothing more slobbery,clumsey and totally funny than lab pups.And one time,I really did not think I would own any other type of dog.Brian was the big dog type,always had a german shepherd,or lab while growing up.

I agree that socialization is key,with the breed..really any breed.They need to be exposed,and need to have a handler that is knowledgable in the breed.

In his six short years,he has been exposed to so many dogs that have passed thru here as fosters.I could not ask for a better well behaved alpha male as him.He knows us,respects us,and all that come here.

I wished ya'll could see videos of Earnhardt as a pup,he was just the best pup,altho rowdy,and had his puppy moments.But I would'nt trade any of those fun times.I just love him to pieces.He is such a special dog.

 

[labgirl]

As for breeds... I honestly would not recommend a Lab or a Golden, I agree they don't get 'brains' witht heir 'brawn' til they are at least two, LOL, sorry Cadbury.. but they are gentle and wonderful later... lol so unless you have the big dog first and he is filly grown I would completely agree with Caro

You're breaking my heart here.:sadsmile: Actually the first dog Cadbury played with at the park at 12 weeks old was Penny the sable sheltie. They adored each other and played chase, he knew not to bounce on her even at that age

Michelle, if only Earnie could come to play with Cadbury - they would get on like a house on fire.

 

[KarenCurtis]

There a Teruven in one the of agility classes we attend. He loves Phebe and she loves him back. Are you certain you're not thinking of the Malnois? Malnois have the shorter coat like GSDs and Teruven have a longer coat.

Yes, it is the Malnois who are police dogs, you are correct!
Karen