Acadia Shelties

New RACH Ch. Acadia Independence Day, CD, PCD, BN, RM3, RAE, RC, TKI

>> Tuesday, May 12, 2026 – Mason, Rally

12 year old Mason, and Anita completed the Rally Advanced Champion title at the Blue Ridge Dog Training Club. Congratulations on this huge accomplishment!

To earn the RACH, the dog and handler team must earn 300 RACH points from the Excellent B and Master classes, at least 200 of which must be earned from the Master class, and earn 20 triple qualifying scores. That means they must qualify in Advanced B, Excellent B. and Master class at the same trial, 20 separate times (separate events).

Puppy love

Yesterday we went to a park today to meet people and socialize puppies. We had mom and 3 puppies with us. One of the boys asked, "where did you get them?" I replied that they had been born at our house. It dawned on me that people don't have puppies and kittens anymore, so this is a foreign concept to kids- that an individual might have litter of puppies born at their house.

The boys really enjoyed meeting and playing with the puppies, and the puppies enjoyed them too. Their own mother apologized for her kids disturbing us, but I told her that her kids were welcome and that the puppies were not for sale, so she was not in danger of having to be the one to say, no, you can't have one. I think she was relieved to hear that.

Leash Training

>> Sunday, May 3, 2026 – articles and information

From an early age we put collars on the puppies so they get accustom to the feel. After they have adjusted to that, we add tabs so they learn to feel the weight of a clasp and also so they can pull each other around. It's a wonderful passive way to begin the process of leash training.

The "tabs" are a result of leash abuse ;-) Leashes left in the wrong places get chewed. Over the years I have lost the original function of many leashes, but no worries, they gain a new function- puppy leash training. I have many leather leashes of various lengths. Those different lengths serve different purposes. Even the clasp itself is useful as it introduces weight and something dangling.

I have a favorite leash type- 1/4" leather, braided, not stitched or riveted, small clasps, 6' long. There was a wonderful vendor who made her own leashes of this style in many leather colors. She would vend at dog shows and I bought leashes from her on a regular basis. For a while I would also sell her leashes (at cost) to puppy buyers. Most commercially available leashes are not appropriate for sheltie puppies. The claps are too big and heavy as are the leashes themselves. Sadly for me, she retired. Happily, I was able to find this style of leash available from a company that has been around for awhile.

J&J dog supplies is a company that specializes in supplies for obedience, agility, rally and many other competition sports. Their leashes only come in one color, but they meet all of my criteria. They suggest the 1/4" is for dogs up to 15lbs, but that is the size I have always used and will continue to use. My dogs don't pull while walking, it fits well in my hand and softens to a pliable feel and use. Leather is not as slippery as nylon and when you clamp down on the leash, it won't keep slipping in your hand.

Where would one look if they were interested in a puppy?

>> – articles and information, great pets

It turns out this is not that easy of a question to answer. When I was a child, the answer for many was the classified ads in the newspaper. The answer was also, go to the pound, or a pet store in the mall, a neighbor had a litter, word of mouth, or find a dog show and go meet people (how do you do find a dog show?). Today the answer is, see an in-person adoption rescue event, word of mouth, and Google. Both then and now there are undoubtedly other answers as well, but these may be the top Family Feud answers if you ever get on the show and are asked this question.

Google is most likely where most people start who want to put some thought into a dog. I have an ad on AKC Marketplace https://marketplace.akc.org/ and hope that people looking for a purebred dog will look there. I am pleased the answer to that is yes. I googled AKC marketplace and AKC marketplace was not the top choice in my list, a place called puppystop was listed first, and that was with me specifically using the name of the site itself!

Some people look for the parent club, in our case, the American Shetland Sheepdog Association https://www.americanshetlandsheepdogassociation.org/ to find breeders of a specific breed. Occasionally people email me saying that is where they got my information.

My blog is not monetized and I have never attempted to make it a marketing tool. I am thankful to those who find it and read it and I am very thankful to you 82 followers, but I don't expect it is how a random person will find out we have puppies available. Puppies bred intentionally, by people who care about family lines are becoming less common because of the big business of "rescue". I could write all day about the many ways that "rescue" is a farce- but I will spare you in this post (may that will be a topic for another post).

Thankfully, people who do find us are the BEST! I have been so fortunate over the years to have wonderful people find me and join the "Acadia family". I have written many times about how much I value our puppy buyers. However it was you found us, whether it was to purchase a puppy or just to read the blog, we apricate you.

Puppies- 6wks

Acadia's Film Director- 2nd in the Bred By Exhibitor class

>> Friday, April 3, 2026 – ASSA National, conformation

Windsor placed 2nd in the Bred-By-Exhibitor class at the 2026 ASSA National Specialty

(GCh. Acadia Stage Director x Laureate Zinfandoll)

Acadia Brigadoon, AXJ, OA, NF, RA, BN, CGC

>> Sunday, March 22, 2026 – Liza

Yesterday 13 year old Brig came back to Acadia after his owner, Holly, passed away. Brig is the son of GChS. Acadia Stage Presence, CC- “Liza”, who passed away last year. He is a half-brother to Aiden and Chica. Brig was in Liza’s first litter, born Thanksgiving week 2012 at the farm in Pennsylvania.

For many years, Mike and I hosted our families for Thanksgiving at the farm. My sister Beck’s 9 year old daughter, Cadence, was really hoping that Liza would have her puppies during their stay, but sadly, she did not. Liza delivered November 27, after all of the guests had gone home. Cadence is now a senior in college and has just been accepted into Vet school.

I feel so fortunate that Holly had included instructions in her last Will and Testament that he was to be returned to his breeder if she preceded him in death. All of our puppies are sold with a contract stating:

“Not to abandon the dog at a shelter or rescue for the purpose of finding a new home or euthanasia. If the buyer can’t keep the dog they must 1) notify Acadia Shelties and 2) offer the dog back to Acadia Shelties at no charge. Buyer is responsible for any expenses incurred to return the dog to Acadia. If the buyer has another prospective home, they must still notify Acadia Shelties. If upon notification to Acadia Shelties, the buyer and Acadia Shelties mutually agree on a third party as the new owner/home, Acadia Shelties must be provided with the name, address and phone number of the third party.”

Over the 28 years I have been breeding dogs, I have only had a handful of instances where the life circumstances of a dog have changed. I hope that truly only a handful of our dogs have had lifechanging circumstances. That is the case for Brig.

I was first contacted by Holly’s friend Kris that Holly was in the hospital and Brig was safe with a friend. Kris told me that once Holly got out the hospital and rehab she would be going to assisted living where she would be allowed to have Brig. That sounded good. Holly and Brig would be together. Sadly, Holly never made it to assisted living and the home that was caring for Brig while he was waiting to be reunited with Holly couldn’t keep him long-term. No problem, he is always welcome with us.

Brig seems to be taking this change in stride. Resilience is a great trait. We are proud of him and happy to have him back.