Scottish Blog

The Shetland Sheepdog is a breed of dog originating from Scotland.

To the majority of people, the Shetland Sheepdog would like a smaller version of the “Lassie dogs”, or Rough Collies. Although surprisingly, the Shetland Sheepdog is not a selectively bred Collie and a fully fledged breed in its own right.

It is generally accepted that the Shetland Sheepdog originates from the Shetland Island in Northern Scotland. It was first officially recognized as a breed of its own by the English Kennel Club in 1909. Yet, past these two facts there isn’t much definite information as the the history of the Shetland Sheepdog. Theories involve the breed coming to its current form long centuries of various cross breeds, this can be especially hard to trace as many of those breed were in development at the time also and do not necessarily resemble their modern counterparts. The list of possible cross breeds for the Shetland Sheepdog is long and uncertain, but some of the most likely candidates include various Scandanavian herding dogs, local terriers, early Pomeranians, Papillions and relatives of the Corgi family.

The Shetland Sheepdog is not a generally well known breed. As the nature of the breed is somewhat in the shadows of the Scottish Terrier and the world recognized “Lassie dog” which it resembles. In some regards this is unfortunate as the Shetland Sheepdog is a surprisingly good dog. In some tests, the Shetland Sheepdog has been rated as the world’s sixth smartest dog breed. This combined with their affectionate nature makes them an ideal dog for many situations.