IN SEARCH OF THE LAST SHETLAND SHEEPDOG BREEDERS IN SHETLAND
The grandfather of this dog was a Shetland Collie and the grand- mother was a Border Collie. The skull is broader and the nose shorter. An interesting detail is that Blue Merles were not recog- nized in Shetland. After a quick photoshoot of her dog, it was time to leave the islands. On the plane back home, I recollected what I’d learned on this journey. The information was rather confusing. The original Shetland Sheepdog, or Shetland Collie, was probably a dog resem- bling the Border Collie more than he resembled the Scottish Col- lie, with varieties in size, the larger ones for working in the fields, the smaller ones kept on the farms, serving several purposes. It nev- er mattered to a farmer how a dog looked. He only needed to be of use on the farm. That was his only reason to be kept alive in places and times when spoiling food was never a habit. The breed was fixed in Scotland by crossing the smallest examples, often brought to Scotland as pets for the families of Scottish landlords, with the Rough Collies from Scotland, hence the resemblance and colors and longer coats. The Shelties, or the small, original Shetland- Sheepdogs, were not meant to work outside the farms, at least not for collecting the sheep, because they were, in general, not adapted to the terrain, which is covered with pools and swamps, and inter- sected with numerous streams, often going underground with deep and dangerous potholes. And the islands are almost everywhere bordered by dangerous cliffs. I might be wrong, of course, but I strongly believe that I am very close to how it went. I often hear the comments on the breed, when presented by the speakers in the main rings, that as every- thing on these islands is small due to the harsh winters and fre- quent storms, the Sheltie is small too, like the Shetland Ponies. Ridiculous! On the contrary, the winters are rather mild due to the warm Gulf Stream near the islands, and the winds... what do they have to do with it?! If so, why then are there no miniature rabbits and hares, or seabirds, or whatever other animals? Our modern Sheltie is just a fashion product of a local working farm dog, a breed shaped into a cute, intelligent, practical, and popular family dog with all the basic instincts specific to the Collie, but no longer adapted to the original hard work. This adventurous quest for the origins of the Sheltie dates back to September 2002. I have no idea if the people mentioned in this article are still alive, which I hope, or if now there are new local breeders on the islands. I have fantastic memories of this trip and of the islands, and I can heartily recommend them.
pulling the wagons,” she said. “They had to be small, and the smallest types were most wanted. That’s why the farmers started to breed a smaller type too, and those are the ones that became popular and that we know now. The owners of the mines, mostly Scottish Lords, came over in the summer with their families, and those cute little ponies were, of course, the children’s favorites. And the poor farmers quickly learned how to earn a little extra money, breeding for small ponies.” Mrs. Jamieson arranged a meeting for me on my very last day, right on my way to the airport. Her Sheltie was the first to welcome me when I rang the doorbell. According to British habits, tea was served. (Indeed, we were still in the UK.) Mrs. Irvine had already collected several items that she thought would draw my attention. Her Sheltie was smaller than the ones from Mrs. Jamieson, and more the type we see at shows over here. “I imported my Sheltie back from Scotland as there are no breeders here any longer,” Mrs. Irvine noted. “Mrs. Jamieson stopped breeding them too. So, my only remaining option, if I would like to get one, is to import one from abroad. They are a national heritage, and especially as my ancestors formed the Shetland Sheepdog as a breed as we know it now, I wanted to get on with the family tradition. But the ancestors of my dog go back to old breeding on the Shetland Islands.” According to her, Scotland had more input in the breed than the Shetland Islands, when the lords (Lairds) from Scotland, who owned and exploited mines in Scotland and owned most of the land in Shetland, came over to spend the summer on the islands, around 1800, and brought their ladies and children along. On visiting the farms as landlords, they were often surprised by a summer litter of Shetland-Collie puppies, and like with the ponies, the smallest dogs were usually favorites to be picked out as summer pets for the children and taken back to Scotland. Once more, the smart farmers saw new opportunities to earn a little extra. The smaller they bred them, the better chance to sell them for a good price, but probably, they were not very uniform as a breed. And once back in Scotland, they were probably crossed with the Rough Collies, hence new colors and the outlook of a miniature Collie. This makes sense. She showed me the first show trophies of the Shetland Sheepdog Club and an original printed copy of the first breed standard. Her grandfather was one of the founding members of the Shetland Collie club as it was called in 1908 when the club was founded. The photo of the dog in front of the carriage was the old type of Shetland Sheepdog, owned by Agnes Leask around 1940. (See black & white photo above.)
88 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2021
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