Welcome to the Clan Duncan Breeder's Notebook. All of us wear many "hats" as we travel through life. Here in the Breeder's Notebook, I put on two of my professional "hats," those of biologist and scientific illustrator, to bring you thoughts and perspectives from my own personal vision of the Sheltie. These pages are offered in a spirit of inquiry and with a desire to share.

If you are new to Shelties, I hope that this page will serve two functions: 1. better understanding of Sheltie excellences and faults, and 2. some understanding of how much knowledge, care, and planning goes into breeding a litter of good Sheltie puppies!

On this page of the Breeder's Notebook, I offer a look at Sheltie head planes. This is a look at the correct alignment of the top of the muzzle and the top of the backskull as seen from the side. In the drawings on this page, the correct outline of the ideal head as I see it, is drawn in black. The skull is placed in proper position, x-ray wise, inside this outline. Areas of the head profile that are made from the dogs' soft parts rather than bone, are done in pink, or flesh color. The planes formed by the top of the muzzle and the top of the backskull are drawn in gray.

Note: In the AKC Sheltie Standard, there is some room for interpretation in the top profile of the head, and this is where interpretation is appropriate: in the length of the stop and in the depth of the stop, because the Standard states "slight but definite." So perhaps your interpretation of the length and abruptness of stop is not the same as mine. I am not going to illustrate or discuss problems of incorrect stop on this page of the notebook, just head planing. However, parallel planes are a geometric construction, and they are real. In other words, the planes may be farther apart than I have drawn them or closer together than I have drawn them, but in the ideal skull, the profile is formed of two straight lines that are level when observed dead-on from the side, and these lines, if extended indefinitely, would never meet because they are exactly parallel. The backskull does not rise and it does not fall. The muzzle does not rise and it does not fall. The topline of the muzzle and the topline of the backskull are FLAT. This is important. No flatness, no planes.

Note that the nose extends the flat topline of the muzzle without dropping off and breaking the plane of the muzzle. At the stop, the bones of the skull, while they do rise, do not rise in an abrupt "corner" fashion, but the appearance of definition of the stop is provided by the bump of flesh at the eyebrow.

The drawings above illustrate two common problems. In receding backskull, the planes are not parallel because the backskull, while flat, drops off. Oftentimes Shelties with receding backskull are quite high over the eyes (I haven't drawn that above). Dogs with receding backskull and hairy backskulls can easily be trimmed into a semblance of the correct profile, so be sure to check the bone with your hand. The other plane problem shown above is rising backskull, in which the planes are not parallel because the backskull rises. Often, dogs with much hair on the backskull can look as if they have rising backskull when they do not, so when checking on the profile, flatten the hair down with your hand so you can see the true topline of the backskull.

Another common profile problem is domed backskull. The backskull should be flat. If the backskull is not flat, then there are not parallel planes. There is just one plane, the plane of the muzzle. The profile line of the backskull is a curve.

Here are two faults that look very apparent as I have drawn them, but are quite subtle when seen on a dog, and the hair and shading can combine to provide camouflage. Here the topline of the muzzle is not flat, but rises somewhere behind the nose pad and then dips just before the stop. Some wavy muzzles do not dip before the stop. The second illustration shows another muzzle-plane fault, that of dropping down of the nose itself. The first fault is a fault involving the skull bones themselves, while the latter is a fault involving soft tissue.

A perfect profile in Shelties is very, very rare. We should all strive for parallel planes, because they are an important part of Sheltie type, and result in a head of great beauty and refinement when seen from the side.

About faults: Every time I put up a page of Breeder's Notebook, I receive emails from concerned newbies that their dog or puppy has a fault that I have illustrated. Some are angry that their puppy, though AKC registered, is not perfect. Others were told by the seller that their show prospect Sheltie was perfect, without faults. A caveat, my friends: All serious breeders strive for perfection under the show standard. None of us reach it. There are no perfect Shelties. At least I have never seen one in 35 years of involvement with the breed. The top-winning Best In Show dog has faults; the cute and healthy companion puppy has faults; the finest breeding stock has faults. If someone tells you a dog for sale has no faults, it is not true.

What matters most is a healthy Sheltie with a good personality and enough structural soundness to reach old age without problems in the "get-along." Details of head, expression, length of neck, color, coat, tail carriage, absolutely perfect structure -- these are desirable, but a Sheltie can be stunningly beautiful, amazingly intelligent, loyal and loving, strong and sturdy to the end -- and have faults. They all do. The quest for perfection is the work of generations.