.........I did state, and still DO find it ODD that a Sheltie board (supposedly knowledgeable about their breed) would tell new members "that's just how they are" instead of "yep, they can be that way and here's some ideas and tools to work on it"
I'd put money down that the majority of the people on this sheltie board have never picked up a copy of Sheltie Talk, let alone read it through. If they DID they would probably be very, very surprised at the descriptions of temperament laid out in the book. Most of their dogs would be so far from it they wouldn't know exactly what to make of it.
Most of those members probably think there's nothing wrong with their dog, or they think it's "cute" or "funny."
The problem is, as Laurelin said, that a lot of show breeders out there are producing dogs that are so far from what the breed SHOULD be. Overly shy dogs, problem barkers, neurotic tendancies, little working ability, dogs that above all are NOT thinking dogs. Again, putting money on a majority of the people showing a sheltie never having picked up Sheltie Talk, and they'd be SHOCKED if they did. They would go "Oh, this isn't right at all! This is crazy! What are these people talking about?!"
But why should that be surprising, really? The show BC and the working BC are worlds apart. I personally would prefer it if there was no such thing as the "show" alternative. I do believe that form follows function but form changes in the show ring, and I hate it. A majority of sheltie breeders now are producing dogs that are heavily coated and that's about the end of what they look for. I watched the dog show on Thanksgiving Day and asked Auggie "Why do we watch these, Auggie? It just makes me mad." Watching the herding group and looking at movement on the dogs (of many breeds, mind you) that made it to the group ring is just ridiculous. I doubt if a lot of sheltie breeders have any idea about proper movement, let alone a concern for it. They might do agility with them, but even more rare is that they might take them to a herding trial or two, but the majority of these dogs have never seen sheep let alone have them essentially in their backyard. I don't think that every single sheltie breeder out there has to have their own sheep but I DO think they should have dogs that prove working ability on SHEEP since they are, after all, shetland SHEEPdogs.
Look, I know I'm not the normal sheltie owner, LOL. I was very blessed to find Auggie's breeder, somebody who believes in that old sheltie temperament and wants to keep it going, somebody who health tests, somebody who not only has sheep to work her dogs on but also plays agility with her dogs to give them another outlet - and somebody who also still strives to prove her dogs in the show ring. The problem is that the split between a working dog and a show dog is widening with shelties and ring trends are starting to take over the breed. I have also been very lucky in the last several years to love a breed that can do everything INCLUDING succeed in the show ring, but IMO that's going to be harder and harder to find in the future as the gap continues to widen. I'm not willing to give it up yet... I still want to believe that you can have the best of both worlds in one dog... but I have a feeling that's going to change in the future. =/
Anyway, I hope that makes sense. It's a bunch of politics and I hate dog politics. =P
ETA: I should also note that when I went looking for a breeder I knew more about what I DIDN'T want than what I did. I knew what to watch out for. I've learned a lot about the breed from her and from Auggie. There's still a lot to learn, too. Most people don't have that opportunity. It's no wonder the kinds of shelties that are being produced by a majority of breeders these days.