Timeline The Sheltie & Shetland Isles
An engraving of the town of Lerwick depicts the collie-like dog being known on 1840 the island for at least one hundred years.
An article is written about the islands and the collie-like dogs are described and soon recognized for their hard work, but also for their loyalty and affection, as 1844 they could be seen living in the house, playing by the fire and sleeping on the couch.
Large crofts were converted into sheep farms and the old Shetland Collie soon 1850 gave way to the larger Collies required for the larger flocks. The Shetland Collie was nearly extinct by the early 1900's.
The first organized dog show is held at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England in June of 1859. There had been informal matches and tavern "Pot House Shows" for many 1859 years prior, but this was the first organized show with pre-show entries and a printed catalogue. There were 60 entries of Pointers and Setters.
The growing interest in dog shows in England led to the formation, by twelve men meeting in London, of the Kennel Club (TKC) on April 4th 1873. This club 1873 formulated a code of ten rules & regulations. The first sheepdog trial held at Bala on October 9th, 1873.
On September 17th, twelve men, each representing an established kennel club, 1884 met in Philadelphia to form the American Kennel Club. This club formulated a code of 34 rules & regulations.
Shelties are shown in Crufts in London, and received well. Connie Hubbard describes the Sheltie of this day in Dog World, August 1959. "This early Shelties, tho, was a far cry from our Sheltie of today. As late as 1906 1906 they were described as weighing only 6 to 10 lbs. They had short legs and long bodies with big ears and large round eyes, and a soft coat of only moderate length. It is thought some of them looked quite a bit like the Papillion of today, altho others showed the curly coat and low ears of the Spaniel."
In Lerwick (the Shetland Isle's capital) the Shet- land Collie Club was founded by James Loggie, where the dogs had been exhibited for ten or twelve years prior to this formation.
The first meeting was Monday, November 23 1908. Provost Porteus was the first President and Mr. James A. Loggie was pronounced Honorable 1908 Secretary.
“The type and points of the Shetland Sheepdog shall be similar to those of the Rough Collie in miniature. The height shall not exceed 15 inches. A Register shall be kept of members’ dogs from 12 to 15 inches.” 15
Timeline The Sheltie & Shetland Isles
The first English show which had classes for Shelties was the ladies Kennel Association (LKA). One dog appearing that year was Lerwick Jarl.
The Shetland Collie Club approaches the English Kennel Club with request for recognition and the club refused, but in the same year, the Scottish Shetland Sheepdog Club formed with C.F. Thompson of Iverness as secretary and had 40 members and drew up the standard of points to be the same as that of the Collie.
“The general appearance of the Shetland Sheepdog is that of an ordinary Collie in 1909 Miniature. In height about 12 inches and weight from 10 to 14 pounds. There are two varieties—the rough coated and the smooth coated. The smooth coated only differs from the rough in its coat which should be short, dense and quite smooth.”
Scottish shows put on classes in an effort to gain recognition by the English Ken- nel Club, and saw the debut of Inverness Yarrow and Inverness Topsy.
At the Cruft's show, one Sheltie is benched by Mrs. Ashton Cross in a variety class. (Two varieties, rough and smooth were allowed.)
“Pre-Collie Cross Era” The Kennel Club of England accepted registrations of Shetland Sheepdogs, 48 1910 registrations, but no pedigrees were published. For the first time, the Cruft's show provided a separate classification for the breed and increased interest and entries from both Scotland and England.
The first Shetland Sheepdog registered by the American Kennel Club was "Lord 1911 Scott" who was imported from Shetland by John G. Sherman, Jr. of New York. Crichton Olaf and Lerwick Rex appeared.
The well known Kilravock kennel came into existence.
1912 Halcreine and Inverness Gladdy were shown in 1912 along with the very well- thought-of bitch, Zesta who unfortunately died while whelping. Gladdy was later purchased by Miss Beryl Thynne who changed his name to Kilravock Laddie.
The foundation of the English Shetland Sheepdog Club is established with A.C. Shove as secretary.
The English Kennel Club recognized the "Shetland Collie" as a separate breed classification. Collie breeders disliked this name and due to pressure from Collie fanciers, the breed officiated itself as the “Shetland Sheepdog”. 1914 The British Kennel Club adopted an agreeable standard among British Clubs. It is simply written as follows, “The general appearance of the Shetland Sheepdog is approximately that of a show Collie in minature. Ideal height 12 inches.”
Wallace and Ch. Woodvold were introduced at the shows. Woodvold is an impor- tant early sire through his Mounfort offspring.
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Timeline The Sheltie & Shetland Isles
Miss J. Wilkinson, a great breed pioneer, is appointed secretary of the English Shetland Sheepdog Club.
The first Challenge Certificate (CC) was awarded to the breed. It went to a bitch named Frea.
1915 The first English Champion was Ch. Clifford Pat and he and Ch. Woodvold (English) were the only title holders before the shows were stopped in 1917 due to war.
The first American Champion was Ch. Lerwick Rex, (Bery ex Bee), a bi-black male, at the age of five.
The first book on the breed is written by Miss Thynne of the Kilravock kennel, London and she writes, “The original specimens of the breed were really mon- grels that were used for the purpose of herding cattle, ponies and sheep indige- nous to the islands.” 1916
The English Shetland Sheepdog Club revises and elaborates on the Shetland Sheepdog standard. Ideal height still 12 inches at maturity. “Any colour except brindle is permissible.”
1920 Shows are held again and sparse for several years.
The English Shetland Sheepdog Club revises the standard with type confirmed but height altered to “from 12 to 15 inches, the ideal height being 13-1/2.” Ac- ceptable colors are defined as, “Tricolour, i.e., Black and Tan and white mark- ings. Black and tan, i.e., Black with Tan markings. Sable. Sable and White, i.e., 1923 Sable with White markings. Blue Merle. (White markings may be shown in the blaze, collar, frill, legs, feet and brush tip, all or some. Tan markings may be shown on eyebrows, cheeks, legs, stifles and under tail; all or some).” [Note: White-factoring along the stifle is disallowed.]
Sheltieland, Catherine Coleman Moore, foundation kennel established, giving the 1924 Sheltie a strong foothold in America.
“Collie Cross Era”
Far Sea, Fredericka Fry, foundation kennel established. 1925 Mr. Pierce of Eltham Park, who was a great advocate of the Collie cross, judged an entry of 100 at Aberdeen. Shelties of real Collie type became prominent in many early English pedigrees which carry over into the major American lines.
More influential dogs appeared, several of which proved to be very important to American pedigrees: Ch. Blaeberry of Clerwood, Farburn Captain, E. Ch. Eltham 1926 park Esme, Aberlady Dot, Helensdale Laddie and Helensdale Lassie and Melite of Clerwood.
1927 Anahassitt, Mrs. Wm. Dreer, foundation kennel established.
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Timeline The Sheltie & Shetland Isles
Walnut Hall, Katherine Edwards Nichols, foundation kennel established.
The American Shetland Sheepdog Club adopted the English Standard, after an agreement of a single standard by the British clubs were reached. The notable difference in the American standard regards color, “Any color except brindle or solid white is permissible, the usual colors being sable, black, and blue merle marked with varying amounts of white and tan.”
1929 American Shetland Sheepdog Association An organization meeting of ASSA was held in a dressing room at Madison Square Garden on February 12, 1929. Less than 30 people attended. 23 of these be- came founding members. The first Board members were: President: Miss Fredericka Fry of NYC and Cos Cob, CT. Vice President: Mrs. W.F. Dreer of Rosemont, PA 2nd Vice President: A.A. Parker of Worcester, MA Secretary: Miss Catherine Coleman of South Ashfield, MA Treasurer: George C. Carr of Reading, PA
Page’s Hill, William Gallagher (later J. Nate Levine), foundation kennel estab- lished.
1930 The English Shetland Sheepdog standard was altered to state under the topic of General Appearance that the Shetland Sheepdog “should resemble a Collie (Rough) in miniature.”
The American Shetland Sheepdog Association holds its first specialty show, May of 1933 in conjunction with Morris & Essex Kennel Club. 15 dogs and 18 bitches were entered. Winners Dog was Tilford Tulla, owned by Mrs. W.F. Dreer. Winners Bitch was Ariadne of Anahassitt, also owned by Mrs. W.F. Dreer. Best of Breed was Ch. Piccolo O'Pages Hill, owned by W.W. Gallagher 1933 and he repeated the win in 1935. He was brother to Ch. Mowgli. Winner of both the puppy and novice dog classes were Gigolo of Anahassitt. The first to ever win an Utility Dog Obedience degree was Beach Cliff's Lizette owned by Mrs. Irma Werner of Beach Cliff Kennels and bred by Basil & Agnes Benson of Merrilynn Kennels.
The American Shetland Sheepdog standard is changed so that size would read as follows, “The size of the Shetland Sheepdog should be no less than 12 inches 1936 and no more than 15 inches measured at the shoulder, the ideal height being 13-1/2 inches.” (The standard of 1929 did not specify an ideal height.)
New York Times, Sunday, October 1, 1939 "The declaration of war was a stunning blow and in the first day of that great exodus from London, nearly 7,000 dogs and 5,000 cats were painlessly de- 1939 stroyed. That may have been necessary, considering the enormous number of pets kept in the English metropolis... Over a long period English breeds have been preparing for the inevitable with complete plans for the removal of the breeding stock to the interior."
Catherine Coleman Moore published the first book on Shelties written in America. 1943 The project was financed through the generosity of William Gallagher, A. Ray- mond Miller and J. Nate Levine.
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Timeline The Sheltie & Shetland Isles
The American Shetland Sheepdog Association revises the standard to present day. Height, “The Shetland Sheepdog should stand between 13 and 16 inches at the shoulder.” Color is severely penalized, stating, “Specimens with more than 1952 50 percent white shall be so severely penalized as to effectively eliminate them from competition. Disqualification—Brindle.” The standard change of 1952 is highly controversial as it “split” the breed between color and white fanciers.
The American Shetland Sheepdog Association, prompted by the AKC, revises the 1959 standard to address monorchidism and cryptorchidism by disqualifying the disor- der from show competition.
The English Shetland Sheepdog Club revises the breed standard. Height is raised again to 14” for bitches and 14-1/2” for dogs. Anything more than one inch above these heights considered to be a serious fault. Color is elaborated, and 1965 white is added as acceptable trim along the stifle, “White markings may be shown in the blaze, collar, chest frill, legs, stifle and tip of tail.” [Note: from 1923 to 1965 white-factoring was unacceptable; however, many white-factored Shelties finished their English championships during this period.]
The Banchory kennel came to a sad end when the AKC brought charges against 1982 Donna Harden in a Trial Board in December 1982.
The English Shetland Sheepdog Club revises the breed standard to present day. White-factoring is disallowed again, but white-factored dogs continue to finish 1986 their English championships. “White markings may appear (except on Black and tan) in blaze, collar and chest, frill, legs and tip of tail.”
1988 The White Shetland Sheepdog Association establishes.
1990 The American Shetland Sheepdog Association standard is reformatted.
The United Shetland Sheepdog Association (USSA) is formed as a breed club to 2002 the United Kennel Club (UKC) in America.
Special thanks to Pat Ferrell, ASSA breed his- torian for pro- viding some of the quotes and information con- tained through- out these history pages. ***
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