When someone loves dogs, they usually have a favorite breed and it’s easy to see why the blue merle sheltie would be a favorite among dog lovers in general. This dog gets its name from its history as it was first found in the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland. It looks similar to a collie because it is a descendant of the collie dog. The sheltie came to be in existence by breeding the collie with various other dogs to make it smaller and smaller in size until the sheltie was developed. Because of its small size, it is thought that the first shelties were used primarily to fend off small predators in gardens such as birds. Although that is thought to have been their main purpose, there is an instinct in most shelties to herd like sheepdogs which is an interesting fact.

Although this breed was being experimented with for many years, it wasn’t until 1909 that the English Kennel Club gave recognition to the blue merle sheltie with the first one recognized being a female named Badenock Rose. Another sheltie named Lord Scott was the first sheltie registered with the English Kennel Club in 1911.

Blue merle sheties are loved by many dog owners because of their excellent temperament. They are known for being loyal, fun loving, and very willing to please their owners. Although loving and intensely loyal to their owners, shelties are fairly aloof to strangers making it important to socialize them from a young age. If trained early enough, not only will they be fun loving with everyone they meet, but they make excellent guard dogs, barking when an unknown person is around or when they hear a car enter the driveway. It is their intense loyalty that makes them think they are bigger than they are and willing to attack anything that threatens to endanger their owners.

Shelties are very intelligent and any good owner can train them. They like to run and chase by nature, mostly ducks, birds, and other small animals, but with training, they can be taught to use their excessive energy when outside and trained to be calm and well behaved when inside. The blue merle sheltie definitely needs that outside time to play though as they are hyper by nature. They are great with children who like to play outside so the sheltie may be the perfect dog for a young family.