Shetland Sheepdog

Shetland's small island sheep were worked by a small spitz-type herder, later crossed with collies, a little Rough Collie among them, and the Kennel Club recognised the result in 1909. The Sheltie keeps the full herder's alertness in a dog under 40 cm at the shoulder. In a house that alertness comes out as barking, at the doorbell, at birds, at anything that moves the wrong way, and as a dog that notices every change in routine. It shares the collie family's MDR1 drug sensitivity and Collie eye anomaly, so ask for test results.