As I am a new sheltie owner and new to showing I was wondering what it is exactly that sheltie judges look for?  So far my girl has not done anything in the puppy classes except once she was 4th out of 9.  Now at 7 months her coat is looking lovely so I may have another go.  At the last show she wasn't even in the final line up but she was amongst the youngest and I could see that her coat was not so good as some. Also she was messing about and wouldn't stand properly for the judge. She does lgeberally ike showing being a show off  (we go to ringcraft)and is very pretty but doesn't for instance have a big white ruff - she is shaded sable with a partial ruff!  She does have a very good pedigree coming from the Jetsfire line.

I would loe to have your thoughts and advice.  I must say that this is a smashing board - one hardly needs to look in a dog book these days!!

Snowflake

To get a good idea of a dogs quality you need to show it over a season or so to maturity, under breed specialists and experienced all rounder judges. 

At 7 months I doubt you have had a chance to go to many shows yet, and if they were open shows the judges may not have been breed experts or may have been judges in training. 

Also as you say your bitches coat and behaviour may well have a bearing 'on the day'.

What the judges should be looking for is a dog that in their opinion as closely as possible meets the breed standard.

Kath Jefferies (Jefsfire) has bred some nice Shelties and Rough Collies in the past.  The amount of white ruff won't make any difference but conformation and breed type will.

If you enter her at a Sheltie Club Show, you'll see a number of pups of her age to compare her quality with, as well as many experienced exhibitors who can help and advise.