Shetland sheepdog: Small but perfectly formed

‘To [the] list of good things that come out of Scotland might now be added shorthorn cattle and Scottish dogs,’ Country Life reflected in 1928. The magazine noted in 1909 that ‘“sheepdog” would be a better cognomen’ for the miniature collie, shown at Crufts in 1906. The Scottish Shetland Sheepdog Club was founded in 1909, although the breed would not gain Kennel Club status until 1914.

‘Small animals are produced in the Shetland Islands, whether they are ponies, sheep or dogs, and there is always rather a fascination about the diminutive as long as they are well formed,’ Country Life opined in 1937. One romantic tale suggests that the breed, bred as a crofter’s working dog, originates from a shipwreck long, long ago on the shores of Unst, where the only survivor was a small bitch in whelp that produced five puppies only a few days after being rescued. However, it is most likely that it was ‘a natural process of selective breeding [that] produced the peerie or fairy dog of the Shetland Islands’.

Resembling a rough collie in miniature, the dogs are ‘picturesque, hardy, and intelligent’ with a disposition that is unlikely to lead them into any mischief, but one with a fully developed herding instinct. In 1909 Country Life reported of one that was fond of rounding up poultry in the garden, driving them into a corner, and then lying down until ‘a good Samaritan comes along and opens the gate’.

‘Gay, jaunty, sensible and affectionate, shelties have only to be known to be liked and adopted,’ the magazine extolled in 1937.

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This is an extract from 'The Country Life Book of Dogs' (Rizzoli, £50) by Agnes Stamp.