People who own Shetland Sheepdogs once again strutted their stuff at Dennis & Pat Sbarbaro's home in Lake Shastina last Saturday. Members of this herding breed are affectionately called "shelties" and are often mistaken for toy collies. They are very social and extremely intelligent; they also do well at agility and obedience trials all of which being reasons they are considered such good pets.
There are perhaps half a dozen sheltie owners in Lake Shastina but the "Roundup" began in Mt. Shasta when Bruce & Sally Batchelder gathered some sheltie lovers for a backyard potluck in 2001. Word got around, people started asking friends, and as things do, the party sort of took on a life of it's own.
This Roundup is the 7th one and there were people (and dogs) from as far away as Grants Pass and Elk Grove, CA. The puppies shown belong to Karen Coombs from Elk Grove, for example. There were perhaps 18 or 20 dogs (they get kind of hard to tell apart as you can see in this picture) and a few less people since some own more than one.
The Sbarbaros handed out gift bags full of toys and treats to each dog and special prizes to various categories such as oldest, farthest away, tallest, shortest, etc. Needless to say the doggies went right along with this in true party fashion. At one point maybe a dozen dogs got into a soccer match (sort of, they couldn't get their mouths around the ball) with the guests.
If anyone owns a sheltie here in the area, or knows of someone who does, please let our group know by calling Bruce Batchelder at 530-938-0385 so we can add their name(s) to our ever-growing guest list.
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