This page is my opinion, my place to growl and whine. Take it or leave it, like it or lump it, dear readers. Stay and read, or click away to another site!

Quite some time ago a topic came up on the Sheltie List that I found both interesting and disturbing. It seems that a number of Sheltie-lovers were very concerned about the common practice among Sheltie breeders of growing out a puppy, and, if he didn't turn out well for show, placing him at an older age. Some felt that this would damage the puppy in mind and spirit. They felt that it was a bad practice for puppies NOT to go to new homes by eight weeks of age, and that breeders should make up their minds early and end the practice of growing puppies out. I find this concern touching but ill-founded.

Why do Sheltie breeders grow out show prospects? Adult show quality for many breeds is easy to predict at, say, eight weeks of age. But Shelties are a tricky breed. A stunning puppy can go oversize by a sixteenth of an inch. Ears that were fine on a young puppy can turn intractable. That nice five-month puppy may never grow any more coat. The too-narrow muzzle may never fill. The once-clean head can widen and coarsen. Head planes can do very strange things. Adult teeth can come in crooked. So, the growing out occurs.

Some people seem to think that a puppy being grown out is left on its own during this time, "shelved," so to speak. I think "shelving" would be abominable, and perhaps it's the fear of a puppy being "shelved" until he is grown out, and then "ripped" from his family, that the Sheltie-lovers I refer to are worried about. No puppy should be shelved, and successful breeders know this well. If a puppy is left to grow up alone in a run, he isn't going to be a show prospect, even if he does "turn out" physically! Most of us breeders give all our puppies the same amount and quality of attention, as long as they are with us, and guess what? If we bond strongly to a puppy ourselves, we don't sell him, no matter how he turns out. (Just ask Gnat!) Show prospects as well as companion prospects must be leash-trained, played with, groomed, schooled in house manners, petted and hugged, socialized, and given the confidence to shine. Not play with a puppy hopeful you are growing out? I venture to say -- are you nuts? Sure, in every breed there will be a few of the clueless, who think a puppy can grow up in a run and suddenly blossom into a show dog if he "turns out." But the vast majority of us know that growing out a puppy means time and work and love.

Besides, if you want "natural," guess what? Growing out puppies IS natural. Let's examine how wild canines cope with separation of puppies from their earliest home. As a biologist, I have studied wild canines, observing some directly, and reading about others in the scientific literature. I would ask these concerned Sheltie-lovers this: What canine mother would send her puppy out into the world at eight weeks of age? Answer? None. We must not confuse weaning with breaking ties to the mother. It's not the same thing. In wild canines, puppies stay with their mother long after weaning. I know of no wild canine that drives the puppies away to fend for themselves during their first six months of life. Many wild canines live with their mothers for several years. Little wild canines are not self-sufficient for many months. They have much to learn from their mother and her associates.

On Clan Duncan hill live two coyote matriarchs, Gimpy Mom and Buffy. Each year their puppies come to our ponds to drink as soon as their spindly little legs will carry them. We see the moms and puppies (and the dads) often, since the ponds are the only source of water for several miles. Typically, the puppies are born in February or March. We begin to see them and their tracks in late April and May. During the summer, they come to drink in twos and threes and even sevens, moms with pups. At night, we can hear them howling from opposite sides of the gulch, two many-voiced families. In the autumn, they often come into our back yard as whole litters with their dams, half a dozen or more eight-month puppies rolling on the grass and wrestling, or feasting upon windfall apples. (This is why the cat has an extra apartment on the roof!) In October, they begin to disperse. We begin seeing one set of tracks here, another there. We see the puppies ranging farther and farther from our hill. We hear lone howls away up the gulch, more and more distant. In late fall and winter, Gimpy Mom and Buffy (who are mother and daughter) often come for apples together, with no puppies around. By midwinter, many of the puppies have dispersed. (We do have a couple of resident males, of course.) Mating begins, and the cycle runs its course once more. This is a typical canine lifestyle.

Domestic dogs are not exactly the same as wild dogs, of course. They have us to look after them, and we serve as the "alphas" of their packs. It is up to us to see that the puppies "disperse and find new territories" when they are ready. Only in a protected place (someone's care) could a puppy less than six months old survive being taken from his home. Therefore, I think it is perfectly legitimate to wait several months, even more than a year, to place puppies. It's in their genes to want to stay at the home place with "mom" for a while.

It's placing puppies too young that causes problems. A puppy placed very young in a "no other dogs" home, may have problems relating to other dogs, because he hasn't had a chance to learn the subtleties of dog behavior. A Sheltie placed in a no other dogs home may very well end up being hurt by or fearful of other dogs, if he left mom at five or six weeks. This is why I never place puppies at younger than eight weeks.

Young puppies are protected from being attacked by adult dogs by behavioral inhibitions the adults have. If an adult dog has learned proper dog behavior, a young puppy can jump on an adult while he's sleeping, pull on his tail, eat from his dish, and bark in his face -- and come to no harm. Wild canines don't attack their young. It would eventually kill their society if they did so, and makes no evolutionary sense for them. So a young puppy is undiscriminating in his play with adults. If the puppy grows up with adult dogs, as he grows he will begin to learn how to behave properly as an adult canine. He will learn that stiffened whiskers mean a low-level threat, and that lifting the tail is an escalation of that threat. For example, he will learn that a dog of high status who comes to the water dish with stiffened whiskers must be allowed to drink, unless the young dog is ready to dispute the older dog's status. As the puppy grows, the adults become less tolerant of puppy behavior. A ten-week puppy who runs up to a sleeping adult and jumps on his head will be tolerated. A seven-month puppy who does the same thing may be snapped at, or more likely the adult will get up and bowl the puppy over into submission posture. As he grows, the puppy will learn how to read the postures, scents, and behavioral indicators of other dogs. The puppy will grow into a dog-savvy dog, an adult who will not ignore behavioral signals, barge up to a strange dog, and thus be bitten. A dog-savvy dog will be a better stud dog or mother. A dog-savvy dog will likely be an adult having the behavioral inhibitions against harming young puppies. I think this is very important.

I have found that older puppies can bond just as tightly to their owners as just-weaned puppies can (it may take a little longer) -- but that puppies placed at older than 10 weeks are the more capable canine citizens. "Shelving" a puppy is not the same as growing one out. I always tell people looking for a family puppy that the older the puppy is, the better he is in many respects. He's a better specimen of the breed than one I or most breeders would sell early, has more socialization, more training, more manners, and is much more aware of how to be a Sheltie. He may even be housebroken! This is a disadvantage?

When Clan Duncan Shelties and their owners return to the home place for a visit, the Shelties greet us like grandchildren visiting their favorite grandparents: these fellows and gals will always be part of our extended family. But when it's time to go home -- even if they were placed as young adults -- the Shelties want to go with their "forever" moms and dads!