Shelties "Sebastian & Oliver" - Our Handsome Boys

I've written about a number of things since I started this blog back in January of this year however there are two very important members of our home that I have not told you about. So I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our beautiful (and much beloved) Shetland Sheepdogs "Sebastian & Oliver"

First a bit of background information on this breed in case you are not familiar with these wonderful dogs. The Shetland Sheepdog, often known as the Sheltie, is a breed of herding dog. They are small to medium in size and,their coats can be Black, Blue Merle or Sable, marked with varying amounts of white and/or tan. .

They are vocal, excitable, energetic dogs who are always willing to please and work hard. They are partly derived from dogs used in the Shetland Isles for herding and protecting sheep. The breed was formally recognized by The Kennel Club in 1909.

Shelties have a high level of intelligence. According to Dr. Stanley Coren, an expert on animal intelligence, the Shetland sheepdog is one of the brightest dogs, ranking 6th out of 132 breeds tested (pretty cool don't you think). His research found that an average Sheltie could understand a new command in less than 5 repetitions and would obey a command the first time it was given 95% of the time or better. Unless that Shelties name happens to be Sebastian and he's in his selective hearing mode.

Waiting For Carrots - Yum

Along with their intelligence, loyalty and sweet affectionate nature there are a couple of things about Shelties that are important to know before bringing one home. They are what the experts call "Vocal" and trust me when I say the experts are right, not much gets by them and they let you know about it (we have one that is a little more vocal than the other).

So if you live somewhere where a lot of barking could be an issue this is definitely not the breed for you. Another consideration is the grooming, as Shelties have a double coat they shed a lot (we always joke about there never being a shortage of hair in our home) and need regular brushing.

Meet "Sebastian" aka "Little Man"- " Mansy Mans" - "Poi-Poi-Poi", I know - I know. Sebastian is a "Sable & White" male Sheltie. He is our "Extremely Vocal" boy, barks at anything and everything but really gets carried away when you come home from somewhere. In fact you can go out the door, return half a second later and he carries on like you've been gone a month.

Sebastian's Baby Pictures

He is also the stubborn one, he's very smart but boy if he doesn't want to do something he won't. One example of this is when we go for a walk and he's had enough he drags behind causing my husband to nicknamed him "The Little Boat Anchor" He's very affectionate and loves to play, whether in the house with toys (he loves his squeakies) or chasing a ball outside (he can do this long after you've had enough). He is the smaller of our two but there is never any question about who the Alpha is in this house.

Next up is "Oliver" aka "Olla-Walla" - "Ollie" - "Prince Goofy" (Prince Goofy explanation in a moment). Oliver is a Blue-Merle male Sheltie and a giant fluff-ball. Oh, what to say about "Oliver", he's just as intelligent as his brother and so affectionate (we call him the licky monster) but he's goofy. Now I don't mean this in a bad way as I said he's very smart, (in fact many times he will obey a command faster than Sebastian) it's mainly this silly expression he has not to mention some of his habits.

A couple of examples: When he's outside he barks,bounces (like a bunny) and spins at his own shadow (daytime/nighttime) the first time he ever did this was at night and he scared me half to death, I thought something was in the bushes.

Another habit he has is to look up at you (smiling- yes, Shelties smile) as he's prancing along beside you, which is fine except he's run into things (trees trunks, bushes, even the house) because he's not looking were he's going. But those are just the kinds of things that make him so special to us.

Oliver's Baby Pictures

Oliver doesn't care much for playing with toys, even when he was a baby toys really didn't interest him. One thing he did that always mad us laugh was when Sebastian was playing Oliver would run behind holding onto the "Little Mans" tail (like baby elephants do). We all thought it was just so cute. He gets so excited when you (or anyone for that matter) come into the house, spinning and bouncing straight off the floor, I call him our "Little Circus Puppy".

Such Sweet Faces

The boys are the best of friends and never get very far away from each other or from my husband and I. That's just one of the things we love about this breed, they love their "People" and want to be were every they are all the time.

Hanging Out On The Deck - Waiting For Something To Bark At

So if barking and lots of hair are not a problem and your looking for a loyal, affectionate, intelligent and eager to please dog, a "Shetland Sheepdog" might just be in your future.