A Shetland Sheepdog stands somewhere between 13 and 16 inches at the shoulder and wears enough hair for a dog twice that size. Most of the work of Sheltie grooming isn't spread evenly over all of it. It piles up in a handful of spots: the wispy hair behind the ears, the mane and frill, the heavy feathering on the back legs, and the feet. Get those right and the rest of the coat mostly looks after itself.
Why a Sheltie coat stands out from the body
The AKC breed standard for the Shetland Sheepdog calls for a double coat: a long, straight, harsh outer coat over an undercoat that's short, furry and "so dense as to give the entire coat its 'standoff' quality." It wants an abundant mane and frill, forelegs well feathered, hind legs heavily feathered but smooth below the hock, a profuse tail, and smooth hair on the face, the tips of the ears and the feet.
That standoff look is the undercoat holding the outer coat up and away from the skin. It's also why a Sheltie can fool you. When the undercoat is full of loose hair, the dog still looks fluffy, maybe fluffier than usual, right up until that loose hair starts to felt together. A coat that's gone flat and clumpy in patches, instead of standing off evenly, is usually telling you the undercoat has packed down.
The fine hair behind the ears
Behind the ears is the first place to check for a mat. The hair just behind and below each ear is much softer and finer than the rest of the coat, almost like cotton candy. It tangles from scratching, from the dog lying on that side, and from the ears folding back into the frill when the dog relaxes, which the standard describes as normal ear carriage at rest. Every one of those folds rubs the fine hair together.
Check it with a metal comb at least every few days. Small knots there tease out easily with your fingers and the end of the comb. Wait a couple of weeks and they can turn into a firm pad right against the skin, which is no fun to work out on a sensitive spot. You might like that fluffy hair thinned out so there's less of it to knot. Or you might prefer it left full. Either is fine, and it's something we can talk through when you drop your dog off.
Mane, frill and the pants
The mane and frill around the neck and chest are the thickest part of the coat. A collar sitting in the same spot all day will press the undercoat flat there, so it's worth moving the collar now and then and giving that ring of hair a careful brush-out down to the skin.
The heavy feathering on the back of the thighs, often called the pants or trousers, is the other trouble spot. It's long, it's dense, and it sits right where a dog sits. Burrs, sticktights and leaves from a fall walk end up in there, along with anything from a bathroom break that didn't go perfectly. A comb run through the pants after a walk in tall grass saves a lot of picking later. Our post on getting burrs out of a dog's coat has the step-by-step for the stubborn ones.
A brushing routine that fits the coat
Brushing a Sheltie only on top skims the outer coat and leaves the undercoat alone. Line brushing reaches the part that mats:
- Start at the back legs and work forward and up.
- Hold the coat up with one hand so you can see a line of skin.
- Brush the hair below that line down and out with a slicker brush, using light strokes.
- Let another inch of hair down and repeat.
- Follow with a metal comb. Where it catches, you've found a knot to work out before moving on.
A light mist of water or a coat spray before brushing helps. Brushing a bone-dry coat can snap the harsh outer hairs and fill the coat with static. For a typical pet Sheltie, a full line brush once or twice a week keeps things manageable. When the undercoat is shedding hard, usually at the change of seasons, an undercoat rake through the thickest areas every day or two gets the loose hair out before it packs in.
Bathing and drying a Sheltie
The harsh outer coat lets a lot of dry dirt fall out on its own, so a Sheltie doesn't usually need frequent baths. When one does get a bath, the hard part comes after. That dense undercoat takes a long time to dry, and a coat left damp close to the skin can start to smell and tangle as it dries. Plan for more drying time than you'd expect for a dog this size. A thorough blow-dry also pushes loose undercoat out, which is why a bath and de-shed can take so much hair off a Sheltie in one visit.
Trimming: feet, hocks and ear tips
The standard itself notes that excess hair on the ears, feet and hocks may be trimmed for the show ring. For a pet, those same three spots are where a little tidying is most often considered. None of it is required.
- Feet. Hair can grow out between the pads and around the toes until the foot looks like a slipper. Trimming it back gives better grip on hard floors and less for mud, burrs and winter ice to cling to. Our post on trimming the hair between the paw pads covers the pros and cons. The tops of the feet can be left natural or neatened into a tidy, rounded shape.
- Hocks. The standard calls for the hind legs to be smooth below the hock joint. On a lot of pet Shelties the hair there grows long and ragged. Tidying it gives a cleaner outline. Leaving it is fine too.
- Ear tips. Long wisps at the tips of the ears are mostly a looks question. Tidying them gives a neat edge. The fine hair behind the ears is a separate matter, covered above.
- Sanitary area and pants. A little shorter under the tail can keep things cleaner. It also takes a bit of the fluff out of the back view, so it's a trade-off.
Shaving a Sheltie
When summer gets humid, a shave can look like the obvious fix. The undercoat does a job for the dog, though, and a double coat doesn't always grow back the same way after it's clipped short. On the other side, a Sheltie whose undercoat is matted to the skin may be better off with a shorter cut than a long, uncomfortable brush-out. We lay out both sides in our post on shaving a double-coated dog. It's your dog and your decision, and if you're thinking about it because of a skin problem or heat trouble, bring your vet into it.
When a Sheltie is due for a groom
One option is a bath and de-shed every six to eight weeks, with brushing at home in between. Another is keeping up with brushing yourself and booking mainly for nails and a tidy, or when the coat is shedding heavily. Both can work. A few signs say it's time: a comb that won't pass behind the ears, tufts of undercoat working out along the sides, pants that have turned into a tangle, or nails clicking on the kitchen floor.
If your Sheltie's coat is getting ahead of you, book a groom with us and we'll look at the coat with you and go over the options.