Sheltie Size
Sue
Ann Bowling
Shetland Sheepdogs are one of the few breeds with an
absolute disqualification on size. At the same time, the breed
as it now exists has
within the last century and a half or less combined breeds
ranging in size from papillions and English Toy Spaniels to
full-sized
Collies.
The allowed size range has changed during the development of
the breed, generally
moving upward from a one-time maximum of 12" as more and
more Collie genes were incorporated. (The
actual sizes were often much larger, especially during the
period when Collie crosses were common.) But the desired size
range is achieved by balancing genes from large and small
breeds, and consequently breedings in which both parents are
the correct size can produce puppies much larger or smaller
than desired. As one result, Shetland Sheepdog breeders tend
to become obsessed with
measuring the size of their puppies, and a number of
growth charts have been developed to estimate adult size from
measurements made at various ages. Replots of the
Sea Isle,
Nobel and
Pow
(Ch Cherden Sock It To 'Em CD ROM) line charts are shown here.
One of the oldest charts is the Sea Isle chart, especially
as modified by Jo Parker. This chart checks for potential
oversize only, and does not give any "maybe" zone except at
the very top, where there are separate lines for strains that
stop growing by six to eight months and those that may
continue to grow until they are as much as a year and a half
old. (Note also that bitches normally stop growing earlier
than dogs, so the upper line is useful for the girls.) The
green triangle shows the 10-week - 10 inch decision point for
Macdega and Barwood; the blue diamond is the 9-week - 9 inch
point used at September Shelties.
Sea Isle Growth Chart. Based on the same numbers as the one
included in Sheltie Talk
In recent years the Nobel chart has become popular. This
chart includes two sets of limits, one for potential oversize
and the other for potential undersize, as well as an "iffy"
range at both the upper and lower limits. Note that this chart
does not define any safe range prior to almost 10 weeks of
age.
Nobel size chart, replotted from the data in the back of the
Shetland Sheepdog calendar
A third chart is specifically for lines with heavy Pow (Ch
Cherden Sock It To 'Em CD ROM) breeding, and is based on
statistics collected by Cheryl Anderson and sent to me by Nora
Borgstrom. Pow was the result of crossing a dog heavily
linebred on Golden Note/Timberidge/Geonimo lines (Ch
Diamond's Robert Bruce ROM) with a bitch who combined
Page's Hill with Ch Thistlerose Arcwood Aladdin (Pocono/Thistlerose).
Pow line height chart (use in conjuction with weight chart
below) The blue and green lines give separate values for male
and female pups.
Pow line weight chart
Nora Borgstrom says the following about this chart:
"The first type (slower maturing) appears smaller,finer boned,
but still has that chiseled headpiece and plenty of muzzle and
underjaw. Through puppyhood and even teen stages it appears
weedy, no coat to speak of,but still has that "look of
promise." This type once it has reached maturity will never
"go off". At ten or twelve the look and body are still
there,and the head piece never coarsens. The second (faster
maturing) type is the one that you sometimes worry and fret
"Will he stay in?" type.Very often they will be at the top of
the chart or even a little over through early growth stages,
so you will use the weight to gage the final outcome. If they
are a little over chart in the height department but are okay
weightwise it's a good chance they will stay in. It's never a
sure thing in the boys especially but once youve seen a few of
these chancy ones, you begin to "just know" which are going to
stay in.Not too many puppy bloomers in the POW line but as I
said when they finally mature they don't change. The second
type of growth seems to produce the "stallion like" male. The
first type tends to produce more moderately."
Different Sheltie lines do follow different growth
patterns, so if anyone has information on growth rates for
other specific lines, I'll post them too. Of course most
Shelties today are combinations of a number of lines, and line
crossing can produce growth patterns (especially in the second
generation) that are quite different from either parent
strain. Note also that with any chart it is wise to look at
how fast the dog is growing relative to the rate shown on the
chart as well as how tall the dog is.
Size is measured at the highest point of the shoulder
blades, just behind the base of the neck. The dog should be
measured standing on a hard, level surface with the front legs
vertical and the head in a natural position. The ideal
measuring device is an adjustable wicket or guillotine
standard, but for the owner of a single Sheltie, the easiest
way is to tape a yardstick to a wall with the 0" mark against
the floor. Then take a drawing triangle or a rectangle of
cardboard (the cardboard backing from a pad of paper works
fine) and hold an edge against the yardstick above the height
of the dog. Stand the dog with its front feet lined up with
the yardstick and slide the triangle or rectangle down until
it just rests on the withers. Read the dog's height from the
yardstick at the bottom edge of the cardboard.
Some historical perspective on the size problem might be in
order.
Shetland Collie Club (1908) "height shall
not exceed 15 inches...A register shall be kept of members'
dogs 12 to 15 inches."
Scottish Shetland Collie Club (1909)
"height about 12 inches and weight from 10 to 14 pounds" but
seems to have been interpreted as a 12 inch maximum height.
Dogs benched at Crufts in 1910 ranged from
13 to 16 inches at the shoulder
Crufts 1911 longer, lower dogs, 10 to 12
inches
Scottish Shetland Collie Club (1913) ideal
height 12 inches
English Shetland Collie Club (1914) ideal
height 12 inches
Scottish Shetland Collie Club (1914) ideal
height 12 inches at maturity, fixed at 10 months. (Smooth
coated specimens were explicitly barred for the first time in
the same year.)
English Shetland Sheepdog Club (1923) From
12 to 15 inches, the ideal being halfway.
American Shetland Sheepdog Association
(1929) 12 to 15 inches
American Shetland Sheepdog Association
(1934) resolution passed that all Shetland Sheepdogs be
measured in the ring and those over 15 inches be penalized
accordingly. AKC refused.
American Shetland Sheepdog Association
(1936)
Gentleman's agreement not to show dogs over 16 inches.
American Shetland Sheepdog Association
(1937?) Gentleman's agreement formalized and 13 1/2 inch ideal
height stated explicitly.
(The above taken from Catherine Coleman's book on the
breed.)
American Shetland Sheepdog Association
(1952) 13 to 16 inches with a disqualification for any dog
measuring under 13 or over 16 inches. It is worth pointing out
that the Sheltie is one of the very few breeds with the same
size specified for dogs and bitches. Note also that the
committee that wrote the new standard wanted a 15 1/2 inch
upper limit. It is somewhat ironic that the ideal height over
much of the breed's history (13 1/2 inches) would be
considered too small to show by most breeders today. (Source:
1977-78 ASSA Handbook)
English Shetland Sheepdog Club (1965)
Ideal height 14 inches for bitches and 14 1/2 inches for dogs,
anything more than an inch above these heights to be
considered a serious fault. The wording of the standard was
changed in 1986 to put height in cm, but the actual height
remained unchanged. (Source: 1970 and 1990 ESSA Handbooks).
Note that almost every country except the United States and
Canada uses these size limits.
I have a copy of the 1934 ASSA catalog with heights marked.
Here are some adult heights more than an inch and a half from
the 13 1/2 inch ideal:
Novice dogs: 2 entered, both in size.
American bred dogs: 7 entered; 3 over (1st place Wee
MacGregor of Anahassitt 15 1/2; 4th place Neilsland
Nuffsaid 15 1/2 inches; Rowcliffe Rip 17)
Limit dogs: 4 entered, 1 over (4th place Saruh
15 1/4)
Open dogs 1 entered, in size - Gigolo of Anahassitt 14 3/4
inches (eventual best of breed)
Novice bitches 5 entered, 4 oversize (1st place
Weetamoe o'Page's Hill 16 7/8, 3rd Cynthia 17 1/4, 4th
Topaz o'the Hills 17 7/8; Brenda 15 1/2)
American Bred Bitches 9 entered, 4 oversize (1st place
Weetamoe o'Page's Hill 16 7/8; 2nd place
Anahassitt Adoration 15 5/8; Pheemie 15 3/4;
Sheltieland Sweetbriar 15 3/4)
Limit Bitches: 4 entered, 1 over (2nd place Ardeth of
Anahassitt 15 3/4)
Open Bitches: 4 entered, 1 over (2nd place Alice of
Anahassitt 15 1/4)
The Specials were
Ch Mowgli
ROM (15 3/8),
Ch
Bodachan of Clerwood (no height available)
Ch
Sprig of Houghton Hill (12 7/8) and
Ch
Helensdale Sapphire (15 1/2).
Note that Sprig, who would be disqualified for undersize
under today's standard, was the only one of the three measured
specials that was in size under the (unenforced) standard of
his day: 12 to 15 inches, ideal 13 1/2 inches.
Dogs whose names are in italics are behind
modern ROM Shelties.
last update October 29, 1997