Sheltie Growth

At what age are shelties finished growing?

GOOD QUESTION!

Some lines of Shelties develop very quickly. In others, they are slow to mature.

As a general rule, I tell people that Sheltie growth stops at about 10 months old and that's when you can see how tall your pup will be.

At about 18 months is when the Sheltie growth plates in the legs close (FYI: if you are planning to train in agility, young dogs need the bone in their legs to calcify before doing repetitive athletic jumping over obstacles).

It has been noted that dogs spayed / neutered early tend to be taller than those of the same breed spayed / neutered later because it delays the closing of those growth plates.

After that, your Sheltie will continue to "fill out" over the first year or two. His coat can take up to 3 years to develop into a beautiful full double coat.

Hope that answers your question. Thanks for asking!

Yankee Shelties

Comments for Sheltie Growth

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Aug 18, 2017
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Good information
by: Cathie Skoog

Thank you for the growth plate information. I have Shelties and they compete in all sorts of performance activities. . .I'm always worried about their growth plates and with my pup, I was searching for Sheltie specific information. I didn't want to have X-rays so was looking for valid timeframes. Thank you. . .

Aug 24, 2016
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Growth Spurts
by: Yankee Shelties

Yes, while most shelties will follow the growth curve shown in the Nobel Chart, there are times a pup will continue to grow longer than anticipated.

Aug 24, 2016
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Sheltie size
by: Anonymous

The Sheltie pup is 8 weeks old I am looking at is slightly on the small size breeder said it might not be big enough to take to the show ring , is it possible it could have a spurt on and reach its height look forward to your reply

Aug 16, 2013
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Here's Another Page to Help Out
by: Yankee Shelties

After writing my response to your question, it occurred to me that I should also give you the page on Sheltie Size that I wrote a while ago..... DUH!

https://www.yankee-shelties.com/sheltie-size.html

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