Shelties

Puppies on the Move

Welcome… Yankee Shelties is a small hobby kennel dedicated to breeding, showing and raising the lovable sheltie. Located in the beautiful Willamette Valley of Oregon, Yankee Shelties have several acres to run and play. Raised as house dogs, familiar with farm life of chickens, rabbits, goats and a cat, these dogs have a wonderful time here in Lebanon, Oregon. All Shetland Sheepdogs whether adult or puppy are fed a raw food diet, consisting of a variety of meats, veggies, starches and recreational bones. As a Sheltie breeder, I welcome your questions about the breed.

Foster or Rescue Shetland Sheepdogs are accepted from private parties when there are no litters to protect from outside infections and room allows. A Foster/Rescue dog will be re-homed to a suitable place whenever possible. If it is not possible to re-home a dog, a permanent place will be made here at Yankee.

Goals

To produce well rounded shelties which includes:

Great structure
Sturdy temperament
Ability to participate in performance competition
Suitable for family pets
Winners in the conformation ring.

Always consider carefully from whom you purchase your Shetland Sheepdog. While the initial cost may seem to be your only concern, breeding any two AKC registered Shetland Sheepdogs doesn’t guarantee quality. AKC registration simply means they are purebred, not WELL BRED. Most people say they want “just a pet”. But there is a big difference between a healthy sheltie and one that will grow into a chronically ill dog with the subsequent, astronomical vet bills. And a big difference between a sheltie that LOOKS and ACTS like a sheltie versus one that is a sheltie on paper only.

Goofy Mr. Peabody

There is a written, agreed upon “standard” that reputable breeders keep in mind… a goal… a target to shoot for. While there are no perfect dogs out there, those of us who care about the breed, attempt to keep our eye on that standard, and just as important, willing to stand behind what we have produced. We are also willing to spend the money, and yes, pass SOME of that cost on to you (I said we were caring folks, not brain dead) to test breeding stock and hopefully avoid some health issues. See the page for Show Hopefuls and note the STATS for the dogs there. You will see what tests are performed on Yankee Sheltie breeding stock. We keep the best in order to improve health, structure and temperament with each generation. There are even some of us willing to start over with completely new stock when the dogs produced don’t show the quality desired.

But there are plenty of folks out there who are in it JUST for the bucks. Now, there is nothing wrong in making a good or even obscene profit for quality products of any type, but profit by producing pups without any concern or knowledge of health and genetics issues isn’t what you bargained for.

On the flip side, buying a sheltie just because it’s expensive doesn’t make it healthy or a good specimen either.

So read up on the breed of your choice, and shop around. Ask questions. Find a good, healthy, happy sheltie from a breeder who knows about structure, temperament, conformation, and pedigree. If they don’t know ANYTHING about ANY of these topics, then you are dealing with a person who doesn’t give a hoot about the dogs. Everyone buys a dog with the intent of having them around for quite a while. Don’t you deserve a good one?

On the following pages are the show dogs of Yankee Shelties. With these dogs, healthy, happy, true to standard, Shetland sheepdogs will be produced. They are the Show Hopefuls as they are still in the process of competing in the ring for their Championship title. The Championship title denotes a dog that is true to type, (i.e., looks like a Shetland sheepdog compared to the standard of the breed, has good structure and moves well. A dog that isn’t structured well won’t move well. A dog that won’t move well, will tire easily when doing it’s job such as herding, or wear down joints quickly, causing such issues as hip dysplasia. So while most non-show folks see it just as a beauty contest, there is the component of a well put together animal. The plan is to move from Conformation competition to Performance competition with these dogs. Some Performance competition to name a few: Obedience, Agility, Fly Ball, Herding etc, etc. Both AKC, UKC and a variety of other organizations such as NADAC, USDAA, AHBA and NAFA hold these trials and are great fun. Perhaps you too, would like to have one of your own Show Hopefuls from Yankee Shelties.