Blue merle Shelties may have blue eyes or one brown and one blue eye, but all others have dark-colored eyes. Sable merle—faded or mottled sable and white. The story of this breed begins on a tiny, bleak Scottish Island in the northernmost point of the United Kingdom: the Shetland Islands. [31] Due to this genetic mutation, affected dogs may exhibit sensitivity or adverse reactions to many drugs, including acepromazine, butorphanol, doxorubicin, erythromycin, ivermectin, loperamide, milbemycin, moxidectin, rifampin, selamectin, vinblastine, and vincristine. Shelties normally weigh around 5–11 kilograms (11–24 lb)[citation needed]. They are small-bodied animals, with some wool on their faces, noses or legs, but not in excess. Use a mix that is made from real grains and free of synthetics. The Shetland Sheepdog, often known as the Sheltie, is a breed of herding dog that originated in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. Shetland Sheepdogs were originally bred on the rocky Shetland Islands, the United Kingdom’s northernmost point. One Response. Herding instincts and trainability can be measured at noncompetitive herding tests. [9] They are most commonly farmed for their prized wool, but they also may be kept for their meat. [2] An intermediate estimate of the arrival of Norwegians to Shetland is around year 800. The Shetland Islands are unusually inhospitable. A bi-black with the merling gene. [21] Many breeders will have their dogs' hips x-rayed and certified by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. No amount of training can substitute this trait. 17 September 2012. [2] The color modification genes are merling and white factoring. The Shetland Islands are located northwest of the British Isles, between Scotland and Norway. Rather, the Sheltie is a descendant of small specimens of the Scottish Collie and the King Charles Spaniel. This is because the islands are small and with limited food and habitat, so natural selection saw smaller animals survive better over the generations. He was kept with about 40 other sheep on President's Square in front of the White House. Thirty coat patterns and markings are recognised, many of which can occur in combination. For the most part, Shelties are athletic and healthy. [27] Mating a sable and white to a blue merle can produce a sable merle, which is undesirable for the show ring. Blue merle—blue, white and tan. [16], Shetland sheep can show almost all possible sheep colours and patterns (some of which are still being catalogued), although solid white and solid moorit (reddish-brown) or black are most common. "Collie." Shetlands produce numerous shades of wool colours (see below), and this variety was commercially important to the wool industry of the Shetland Isles, where natural wools are often used undyed. Collie eye anomaly: An autosomal recessive inherited trait which results in incomplete closure of the embryonic fissure; seen almost exclusively in Collies, Border Collies and Shetland Sheepdogs. Some say that they were brought by the Vikings to Shetland but others, notably Oliver Henry, say that they believe the Shetland breed was in the Islands before the Vikings brought the Spaelsaul type of sheep around 900 AD. [25] As the name suggests, it is a progressive disease which will eventually result in total blindness. [3] These included the Scottish Dunface, which until the late eighteenth century was the main sheep type throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland. [7] On the mainland the breed is governed by the Shetland Sheep Society. The mission of the Shetland Sheep Society is to promote all aspects of the breed, to encourage the breeding, keeping and welfare of Shetland Sheep and to uphold the 1927 Breed Standard, within the UK mainland. Breeding dogs should be tested for genotype for this condition before breeding and only animals found "clear" should be used for breeding. [11] Since then, a North American Shetland Sheep Registry has been established, and there are now thousands of the breed in the region. The origin of the Shetland breed of sheep is still largely unknown. Von Willebrand disease is an inherited bleeding disorder. [8] Their good-natured temperament is also a major attraction in keeping Shetland sheep. Sable merles are shown in the breed ring as sables; therefore, blue eyes are a major fault in AKC. The ewes are usually polled (hornless) and the rams usually horned, although horned ewes and polled rams do occur occasionally. Certain colour combinations can produce unwanted or potentially harmful results, such as mating blue merle to blue merle, which can produce what is called a "double merle", more likely to suffer from deafness or blindness. Web. Shelties exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials. This breed was fo… Fleeces usually weigh between 2 and 4 lb (0.9 and 1.8 kg). The Columbia Encyclopedia. [2] In the early 20th century, James Loggie added a small Rough Collie to the breeding stock, and helped establish the breed that would become the modern Shetland Sheepdog. Cross-breeds are also affected. Suggested Needle Size : range: 2.5mm - 3.25mm Tension - 10cm 30sts 32rows on 3.25mm Needles The breed is noted for its very fine, soft wool and the high quality of its meat, though its smaller size limits its use in commercial meat markets. Short-tailed sheep were gradually displaced by long-tailed types, leaving short-tailed sheep restricted to the less accessible areas. [35], Shelties can also be great therapy dogs for those who need comfort during hard times such as natural disasters or severe illness. Double merles, a product of breeding two merle Shelties together, have a very high incidence of deafness or blindness.[10]. Shelties have a double coat, which means that they have two layers of fur that make up their coat. Male shelties technically shed less than females but fur still comes off constantly. To combat this, the Shetland Flock Book Society was formed in 1927, and this remains the body responsible for the protection of the breed in Shetland. "AKC Breed Standard for Shetland Sheepdogs", "Why Nursing Dogs Lose Their Hair or Blow Their Coat", "Breed Distribution and History of Canine Mdr1-1δ, a Pharmacogenetic Mutation That Marks the Emergence of Breeds from the Collie Lineage", The Domestic Dog: its evolution, behaviour and interactions with people, "Information on Therapy Dogs - US Dog Registry", "Shelties as Therapy and Assistance Dogs - Shetland Sheepdog Club of Austin", American Shetland Sheepdog Association (ASSA), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shetland_Sheepdog&oldid=999204449, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2011, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2011, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2011, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Breeders should actively try to breed this disease out by only breeding with dogs that have "clear" eyes or very low scoring eyes. His research found that an average Sheltie could understand a new command in fewer than five repetitions and would obey a command the first time it was given 95% of the time or better.[15]. [17], Export and history outside the Shetland isles, "Native Shetland wool secures protected status", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shetland_sheep&oldid=995733958, British products with protected designation of origin, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 22 December 2020, at 16:27. Philadelphia: Elsevier Health Sciences, 2007. In this context Shetland sheep have evolved to cope with a special set of circumstances over at least 5000 years. [8] Having been moved to Jefferson's private estate at Monticello, the ram was eventually killed after having killed several other rams: it was described by Jefferson as "this abominable animal". Mats can be commonly found behind the ears, under the elbow on each front leg, and in the fluffy fur on the hind legs (the "skirts"), as well as around the collar (if worn). Merling dilutes the base color (sable, tricolor, or bi-black) causing a black dog's coat to show a mix of black, white, and grey hairs, often with black patches. Tweed is also produced from the coarser Shetland wool, but the Isles are best known for their multi-coloured knitwear (made using Fair Isle knitting) and for the traditional knitted lace shawls which are so fine, they will pass through a wedding ring. Shetland Sheepdogs have four times the risk of other dogs of developing transitional cell carcinoma, a cancer of the bladder.[16]. Unlike modern Shetlands (but like some related breeds) this ram had four horns. These dogs live happy and healthy lives as pets but should be not used for breeding. They are very hardy small breed of sheep that have developed the ability to survive harsh conditions. The legs are of medium length and finely boned. Find out more [38], "Shetland sheepdog." However, when the ewes are on better pasture, twin lambs are more common, especially from mature ewes. [1] This breed is kept for its very fine wool, for meat, and for conservation grazing.[2]. [28][29], According to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University, the Shetland Sheepdog, and many other herding breeds, have a risk of being born with a MDR1 Gene Mutation, with about 15 percent of individuals affected. Find out more Credo Reference. Rhonda Lynn Earnest. Shetland's climate is very harsh and the soil type, in general, very poor. In readding Hibbert’s account, they definitely were pretty wild. Deep tissue biopsies are required to definitively diagnose dermatomyositis. They belong to the Northern European short-tailed group which also contains the Finnsheep , Norwegian Spaelsau , Icelandics , Romanovs and others. AREA OF ORIGIN Scotland (Shetland Islands) DATE OF ORIGIN 1800s. [10], Today, Shetland sheep are mainly kept in the Shetland isles and a handful of other places. In Shelties, affected dogs as a general rule are not viable and do not live long. [12] They are small-bodied animals, with some wool on their faces, noses or legs, but not in excess. Shelties were used for herding until commercial livestock farming required larger breeds. Other accompanying defects (ophthalmic anomalies) may wrongly indicate a more severe manifestation of CEA. Currently there is no treatment for either disease, but as both diseases (CEA and PRA) are hereditary it is possible to eliminate them using selective breeding. Join Carol Christiansen, Curator at Shetland Museum and Archives, as she takes a look at Shetland wool from as far back as possible. [26] Like CEA, an affected dog should not be bred with but these dogs can live happily as pets. This is because of their ability to survive on infertile land that would otherwise be agriculturally useless. There are many more examples of breeding for colour, so a good breeder will research colour genetics prior to breeding. The mission of the Shetland Sheep Society is to promote all aspects of the breed, to encourage the breeding, keeping and welfare of Shetland Sheep and to uphold the 1927 Breed Standard, within the UK mainland. The Shetland breed likely descends from ancient Scandinavian sheep, and it is a member of the northern short tailed sheep breed family. They are highly adaptive, prolific and offer soft succulent meat and a myriad of colorful fine quality wool. In the US and Canada, breed standards state that males and females can be between 33–41 centimetres (13–16 in), all other standards (Australia, New Zealand and UK) specify males: 37 ± 2.5 cm (14 1⁄2 ± 1 in), females: 35.5 ± 2.5 cm (14 ± 1 in) except FCI which specifies females: 36 ± 2.5 cm (14 1⁄4 ± 1 in) at the shoulder (withers), however, some shelties can be found outside of these ranges but are not considered truly representative of the breed.