Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Herding Group · No. 29 in 2025

How to identify a Shetland Sheepdog

The Shetland Sheepdog is a small herding dog standing 13 to 16 inches, ranked No. 29 by the AKC in 2025. It has a long, blunt, wedge-shaped head, ears three-quarters erect with tips folding forward, and a harsh double coat with an abundant mane. Colors are black, blue merle or sable, marked with white or tan.

Photo of a Shetland Sheepdog
Photo: Flickr user nickobec (Nick Cowie) · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Shetland Sheepdog standard.

  1. Head shaped like “a long, blunt wedge” when seen from the top or side
  2. Small ears “carried three-fourths erect, with tips breaking forward”
  3. Long, harsh outer coat with a “standoff” quality; mane and frill “abundant”
  4. Black, blue merle or sable, marked with white and/or tan; only 13 to 16 inches tall

Tell them apart

Shetland Sheepdog or Collie?

Check the size. A Sheltie stands 13 to 16 inches, while a Collie stands 22 to 26 inches. The two share the wedge-shaped head and the three-quarters-erect ears, so check the scale against anything nearby. Brindle never appears on a Sheltie, and a mostly white dog points to a Collie.

Shetland Sheepdog

Shetland Sheepdog

  1. Head shaped like “a long, blunt wedge” when seen from the top or side
  2. Small ears “carried three-fourths erect, with tips breaking forward”
  3. Long, harsh outer coat with a “standoff” quality; mane and frill “abundant”
  4. Black, blue merle or sable, marked with white and/or tan; only 13 to 16 inches tall
Collie

Collie

  1. Head like “a well-blunted lean wedge,” smooth and clean in outline
  2. Ears “about three-quarters erect,” with the top quarter “tipping or breaking forward”
  3. Rough coat “very abundant on the mane and frill” with a smooth face (the Smooth variety has a short, flat coat)
  4. Sable and white, tri-color, blue merle, or white; 22 to 26 inches

Test your eye

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