About Shelties

The Sheltie breed originated on the Shetland Islands, off the northeast coast of Scotland. Over the years the breed was developed as an all-purpose farm dog, herding dog and affectionate and loyal companion. Its hardy nature, willingness to obey, and diminutive size, are ideal attributes for this occupation. An adult Sheltie will stand between 13" and 16" at the shoulder and are usually about 20 pounds. Shelties possess an intense desire to please their owners. They are highly trainable and very responsive, making them one of the top choices for many types of activities, such as obedience, herding, and agility. Shelties raised as pets develop a lasting loyalty to their families, and their natural affinity for children make them gentle and loving companions. At KeDiOs we know for a fact that these little warriors have the heart and courage to step in when they are needed to save their family. On June 19, 2008 our 6 month old Tetris saved all of us from a devastating house fire. To read more about this see "Heart of Courage" on this page. We have found that Shelties have many other endearing qualaties and quirky personalities, take a look at some of the sheltie stores we have posted.

For more information about Shelties go to http://www.assa.org.

Heart of Courage

Life can be mysterious and unpredictable. Sometimes even the smallest events can lead to life changing moments. We recently had a close call and could have lost all of our dogs and our own lives in a terrible fire were it not for the bravery of a little sheltie puppy. We were very fortunate to have this little puppy staying at our new house and kennel. I hadn't really been looking for another sheltie. We have been in shelties only 2 years since founding KeDiOs Kennels and already had 9 shelties. Then I saw an ad placed by our breeder mentor Locklyn Guzman for a lovely sable male puppy. Although this puppy was a beautiful BISS Am/Can Ch GrandGables Boy Oh Boy son, the ad mentioned Locklyn was keeping a smaller brother from the same litter, and that was the puppy we wanted-if she would part with him. After several emails and phone calls Locklyn agreed to let us co-own the puppy now named Apple Acres Game Boy (Tetris).

Tetris was as feisty as he was beautiful and we lost our hearts the moment we saw him. Since he was a new arrival and only 6 months old, we let Tetris sleep in our bedroom with us. He was very well behaved and slept through the night for the first few days. However, on his seventh night he woke us up at 1 am with a pitiful howl. My first response was to put him out to potty. He didn't want to go but after a couple of "go potty" commands he obliged me. Then instead of running to the farthest part of the yard (we have 13 acres) brave little Tetris came back into what he knew was a burning house and with great determination herded us around barking, nipping at our rears and heels. We knew something was wrong, but did not have a clue what it was. We began searching for what the problem was and finally noticed a little smoke coming from a light fixture in the hall. What we did not know was that the back of our house and the roof were on fire. With no idea how serious the situation was, we called 911 and evacuated all the dogs from the kennel, and the birds before the heat and smoke alarms went off.

Our shelties evacuated the kennel in a very orderly fashion considering the circumstances. We have a definite social order at our house and our head bitch Reba (Odyssey Kazon on Stage) and her lieutenant CH Amira (Ch Apple Acres Amira) kept all of our dogs in line with resident male Buzz (Apple Acres Toy Story) bringing up the rear, making sure there were no stragglers. I was pretty impressed as we have never had any sort of emergency drill and they clearly knew what was going on. We turned around as we left the kennel and were shocked to see the roof of our house was ablaze!! By the time the fire alarms went off (fancy new state of the art system with both heat and smoke detectors on every floor) our bedroom was engulfed in floor to ceiling flames, the fire department was on the scene, and all of our shelties were in the side exercise yard lined up at the fence (according to age and rank) watching the show. The first firemen on the scene said we would not have made it out if we had been asleep when the alarms went off. Once the fire made it into the attic it quickly destroyed the rest of the house and kennel. All would have perished in that fire except for the courage of one little 6 month old sheltie puppy named Tetris (Apple Acres Game Boy). We feel he is a great example of what a sheltie should be: brave, smart, resourceful, able to size up the situation and act on his own to safeguard his family. We will always be grateful to Locklyn for letting him come to our house. I do not like to think about what a tragedy this could have been had it not been for the bravery and the courageous heart of one little sheltie puppy.

Buzz and Baby Princess Have an Adventure

We had a close call and could have lost several of our dogs. The lawn crew left our gate open and Doug did not notice it when he let the dogs out for an afternoon romp. We have a definite social order at our house and our head bitch Reba (Odyssey Kazon on Stage) kept all of our dogs in the yard with one exception. Princess, a very mischievous 4 month old puppy, saw her chance for a great adventure and took off. Apparently our reigning male, Buzz (Apple Acres Toy Story) went after her. When we noticed the open gate and the missing 2 dogs we were horrified. The street we lived on had been made a through street and is now busy and dangerous at rush hour. We feared the worse. My husband and I are older and not as fit as we once were, but somehow we managed to find the speed of our youth and frantically ran around from house to house and on the surrounding golf course searching for our lost fur kids. Buzz and Princess were nowhere we could see. We talked to people on the golf course, children out playing in their yards, neighbors out tending their lawns; but no one had seen them. Finally Doug spotted them in a yard a few houses away. Buzz was patiently tending Princess, keeping her out of the street and as close to the house as he could manage. Some construction workers repairing the street said he had been doing this for quite a while. He barked when he saw Doug and helped Doug catch Princess. Then he followed them home with a very satisfied look on his face.

Needless to say Buzz got a big thanks from us and a nice treat when he got home. He continues to help us manage our puppies; rounding them up when they get away from us, barking when someone is misbehaving. We think Buzz is a great example of what a sheltie should be; smart, resourceful, able to size up the situation and act on his own to safeguard his family. (We are also taking him to the sheep farm ASAP).