Shelties in Australia

This page will give info on health care, diet and grooming.

Health Care

Shelties are a reasonably hardy breed of dog, but to maintain their health for a lifetime requires a schedule of worming, vaccinations, and general health care. For most Australians the most convenient and "proven" way to do this is through veterinary pharmaceutical products. Although all-natural substitute products to the ones I am about to discuss are available and are receiving more credit, if you are interested try Diana Hayes' Animal Naturopathy Page.

Intestinal Worms
Shelties need an all-wormer to prevent worm infestation. Most vets recommend and sell Drontal All-Wormer. This should be used fortnightly until your sheltie is 3 months, then monthly until 6 months, then 3 monthly for life. Some of the newer combination products also protect against worms but in many cases not tapeworms, please read labels carefully and talk to your vet about your worming schedule. Virbac Tapewormer is available to supplement products that do not kill tapeworms.

Heartworm
Shelties also need treatment for Heartworm. This is transmitted by mosquitos and in the warm climate enjoyed by much of Australia most vets will recommend year-round treatment via either a daily tablet or monthy tablet/chew/spot-on. Your sheltie should begin heartworm prevention medication at 6 weeks of age. Most of these medicines are available by prescription only. If you have an older sheltie, tests need to be conducted to ensure the dog is already free of heartworm disease before preventative medicines are used. Some vets recommend annual testing to ensure the dog remains heartworm-free. Sheltie (and collie) owners need to be aware that this breed of dog can be over-sensitive to ivermectin-based products. A common monthly heartworm prevention is Heartgard which does contain ivermectin. The levels of ivermectin within Heartgard are well within the "researched safety limits" for shelties, but you need to ensure you treat for the correct weight of your dog and never overdose.The Dose of ivermectin in Heartgard is about 0.006 mg/kg. Toxicity has been found in collies above 0.1 mg/kg. In other dogs, toxic signs are seen at doses at and above 0.8 mg/kg. Monthly alternatives to ivermectin-based products include Sentinel, Interceptor, ProHeart and Revolution. The table below describes these monthly products in more depth.

Brand	Active Ingredient	Type of Dose	Additonal Ingredients	Available From	Additional Effects
Heartgard	Ivermectin	Tablet or Chew Monthly	none	Vet Only	none
Heartgard Plus	Ivermectin	Tablet or Chew Monthly	Pyrantel	Vet Only	Controls for some Roundworm and Hookworm
Interceptor	Milbemycin Oxime	Chew Monthly	none	Vet Only	Controls for some Hookworms, Roundworms and Whipworms
Sentinel	Milbemycin Oxime	Tablet Monthly	Lufenuron	Vet Only	Controls the Flea cycle but does not fill adult fleas, controls some Hookworms, Roundworms and Whipworms
ProHeart	Moxidectin	Tablet Monthly	none	Vet or Pet/Produce or Online	none
ProHeart SR12	Moxidectin	Injection Annually	none	Vet Only	none
Revolution	Selamectin	Spot-on Monthly	none	Vet or Pet/Produce or Online	Controls for Adult Fleas, some Hookworms, Roundworms and mites, some ticks (not paralysis)

Daily heartworming tablets are also available. Common brands include Dimmitrol and Decaflea (prevents fleas as well). Care must be taken to ensure an adult dog is heartworm-free before starting on these medications. Your vet can now also give your dog an annual injection to prevent Heartworm- it is put out by ProHeart and is also based on the active ingredient Moxidectin. This can be very useful in Australia where year-round treatment is often necessary and if timed with annual vaccinations and check up it is wonderfully convenient too.

Canine Diseases
An annual vaccination will also protect your dog against common contagious diseases. A C3-vaccination protects against Canine Hepatitis, Canine Distemper, and Canine Parvovirus. A C4-vaccination protects against these plus Canine Bordetellosis (Kennel Cough) and C5-vaccination against Canine Parainfluenza. Your vet will recommend which level of protection would be best suited to you and your sheltie. Vaccinations for pups are recommened at 6-8 weeks, 12-14 weeks and 16-18 weeks.

Fleas
Flea treatments include internal and external applications. The most popular externally applied products include Advantage or Frontline both kill adult fleas quickly and help prevent flea allergy dermatitis. Frontline is reported to be more effective for dogs that swim regularly and can also help in the fight against ticks. It is available in both the top-spot application and a spray application. Revolution is also a combination heartworm spot-on product that kills adult fleas. The most popular internal applications include Sentinel or Program, both are monthly flea control medication that prevent fleas from breeding and break the lifecycle- but do not kill adult fleas on the dog.

Ticks
If you live within parts of Australia that have Paralysis Ticks then specific tick prevention is also necessary. The symptoms of poisoning from paralysis tick may take from 3 - 5 days to start causing signs. Some symptoms are wobbliness, especially in the hind legs, or reluctance to move, a grunting type of breathing, a change in bark, vomiting and a disinterest in eating, dullness or depression, complete paralysis and eventually death. Treatment involves administration of anti-serum, injections to lower blood pressure, antibiotic and sedative injections.

To prevent paralysis tick poisoning you should check daily for ticks from July to February, searching your sheltie with care concentrating on the front half, especially the head and the neck . It is very important to part the coat and inspect carefully as ticks are impossible to see in the long haired coats of shelties. Most vets will recommend Proban tablets every two days as the most effective preventative against the paralysis tick (it receives the highest recommendation for ticks, but is reported to be not so good on fleas).Proban is an organophosphate called cythioate. It can cause toxic reactions in dogs and care should be taken not to overdose, use any other organophosphate product in conjunction, or use on pregnant bitches. A "generic" and cheaper product available from supermarkets that also doses 30mg of cythioate is called Fleaban by Exelpet. Other products that are available but are not regared as highly are Frontline every 2 weeks, preventic or Kiltix tick collars (replaced every 2 months for non-swimming dogs) as vets have reported cases of tick paralysis just days after treatment with these products in some high risk areas. If using the collars many vets will recommend using frontline in conjunction. For more information on Paralysis Ticks click here.

DESEXING Various health and behavioural problems can also be prevented though desexing of males and females at 6 months of age. This also prevents unwanted litters.

MICROCHIPPING A small microship is inserted beneath the skin provides your sheltie with a permanent means of identification if it becomes lost. Owners addresses are maintained on a database with the microchip scanning code. It is crucially important to update any address changes with the microchip manufacturer.

PET HEALTH INSURANCE may be well worth considering. Vet care can be expensive. Pet Protection Plan premiums start from around $14 monthly for dogs.

For Australian prices and purchasing on-line of many of the products mentioned above, try VetShopOnline. For more information on Medical Conditions specific to the sheltie breed see this helpful site. For info on many pet products and the active constituent drugs try the peteducation site.

Diet

This is a tough area to write about objectively as different people have many differing thoughts from the fully commercial diet, home-prepared to the BARF diet. I will give links to, and information about, each of these approaches. I will also write about the diet we use for our dogs- it is simply a report on what works for us- it is not gospel. Please read widely and choose a regiment that suits both you and your dogs (and be prepared for contradictory arguments from the various sources).

Fully Commercial
The pro-commercial food argument starts with the many dollars spent on research of the requirements of the canine diet resulting in a balanced dietary food with the necessary calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals for a healthy dog. In addition it is convenient for most dog owners. Information on feeding is available from the major producers including Waltham (Pal), Supercoat and Eukanuba.

BARF
The Bones and Raw Food Diet is just as it suggests. Raw bones- chicken necks and wings are especially good for shelties, as well as mutton shanks and beef marrow bones, raw eggs, yoghurt, raw fruit and raw vegetables- but not cereal grains such as wheat, rice or corn. It is a diet that tries to replicate dogs natural feeding habits. For more information see Jane Johnson's FAQ page on the BARF diet. "Give Your Dog a Bone" by Dr Ian Billinghurst gives further information on this style of diet.

Home Prepared
Many breeders that are providing for a large number of dogs daily prepare their own foods and often give a recipe along the lines of cooked rice, meat and vegetables to provide the carbohydrates, calories and fat that dogs require. These breeders usually supplement with a good quality dry dog food that is balanced in providing the extra vitamins and minerals required. "Let's Cook for Our Dog" by Dr Ed Dorosz gives further information on this style of diet.

What We Feed
At Harrisonhill Shetland Sheepdogs we feed a combination of methods. They recieve a raw chicken wing or neck or beef soup bone most days. In the evenings we feed BARF patties. Though if we run short our dogs receive some commercially produced dry dog food. We supplement with Vets All Natural Joint Formula. The amounts vary for each dog and are constantly judged and adjusted depending on exercise, age and requirements. My shelties are also trained using reward-based operant conditioning methods. Their rewards include cooked liver, chicken, dry food and jackpots of carob buds. Their treats include portions of frozen yoghurt some nights and the occassional cooked skin off the roast chicken.

Grooming

Shelties do not require a lot of grooming. Once a week is usually sufficient to keep your sheltie's coat lovely. Grooming is easiest if the dog is taught to appreciate grooming from puppy age. They should be taught to lie still (usually a towel on a table or bench is best) and if using the same place each time the dog will learn even more quickly. If you reward your sheltie for good behaviour as you go they will learn to love grooming time. I find coming into summer my dogs will drop coat and it is easier for this week to dedicate a little extra time and brush each day or second day, concentrating on removing the loose undercoat. We also hydrobath once a month.

Grooming Equipment
Basic tools include a pin brush, a comb, a bristle brush, a spray water filled with water, scizzors and nail clippers.

Brushing
Using the spray bottle dampen the coat and rub all over to help dampen the undercoat. With your sheltie lying on its side start at the ears and brush the coat backwards (towards the head) layer by layer. I like to use the pin brush to start with and brush down to the skin so that the undercoat is seperated to ensure no knots and dead coat is removed. I also ensure I do the hocks, stomach and tail. Then roll your sheltie over and repeat on the other side. Once finished, stand your dog up and use the bristle brush to lay the coat down again in the correct direction. I also use the comb through the ears to ensure no knotting. I trim long hair from the feet and between the pads on the paws, then trim the nails with the clippers as far as I dare.

Tipping Ears

A problem faced by many Australian sheltie owners is pricked ears. Pricked ears, while a major problem for conformation showing, is not a health problem and is commonly seen among pets, obedience and agility shelties. Some shelties have naturally tipping ears, others require help as puppies to ensure a nice tip. However, in some shelties no matter how hard you try their ears will eventually prick. If you have a young puppy, there are several things you can do to help ensure their ears tip. The first is gently but frequently rolling the tip of the ear between your thumb and forefinger (I stress gently) to soften the fold. This can be done whenever you are cuddling your sheltie pup and you can also use a softening lotion like vaseline along the crease of the tip to maintain a soft crease. Secondly is using a weight, this can be used in conjunction with the first method. There are several things that can be used to weight the ear. You can use sticking plaster rolled into ball and attached to the tip of the ear. Alternatively, use a small piece of sticking plaster on the ear then add a small sticky weight to the plaster, or attach the sticky weight directly to the ear hair at the tip of the ear. The sticky weight can be a product called antiphlogistine, which can be ordered from your chemist, or virtually any product that is non-harmful to your dog. You just take a little of it, ball it between your fingers and stick it to the ear, until you get a slight amount of tip. Then powder the weight, so the part that faces out doesn't stick anymore. The color is almost unnoticable on most shelties, and the dogs don't seem to be bothered by it much. A recipe used by a number of breeders is cement combined with sump oil.Put some cement in an air tight jar, add sump oil until the consistency of chewing gum. Mix thoroughly and apply to the inside top third of the ear, then coat with talc. This hardens and stays on the ear and will crumble off naturally. Just be wary of over-weighting as this too can cause ears to strengthen and prick. I tried the weighting method but during obedience training when my young sheltie would sit at my side and look up to my face the weight would cause her ears to tip backwards. I then tried gluing the ear tip down.This article gives a description of how to do this, Gluing Ears. I was unable to obtain the glue mentioned in the article so instead used Cherry Knol glue available from the Pet Network. It is kind of messy, but did work (for a while). The disadvantage of gluing, is that you cannot roll the ear crease simultaneously, which many breeders will advocate as an important part of tipping ears. Other common but fiddly methods include taping the ear with Japanese Ear Tape or moleskin. These methods are mostly used when the ear set is wide or the ear tip is too heavy though. I do not profess to be an expert on ear tipping as I have had very mixed success with my own dogs' ears, but here are some links to articles on tipping to help you decide what might work best for you and your sheltie.

Japanese Ear Training Tape
More on Taping Ears

For more information on grooming see Shelley's site or the book " Illustrated Guide to Sheltie Grooming" by Barb Ross. For info on a maintaining a great coat read Fur by Farr

If you need more indepth answers and you are serious about having answers to all your sheltie questions at your fingertips, then the book "Sheltie Talk" is for you.