Hi,

My CKCS is 18 weeks old now and when we go out either walking or in the car (he goes mad to come in the car and loves looking out of the window), he trembles like he's shivering. He doesn't do it when we go for our daily walk to the park where he gets to go off lead and loves it. We've just returned from a quick trip to the city centre - it wasn't too busy and Harvey was pulling along like a train sniffing and exploring but when we stopped outside any shops, the trembleing started - then stopped again as soon as we set off walking. He also trembled all the way home in the car yet now he's home he's all snuggled in bed fine! One other thing, he has never eliminated away from our garden no matter how long we are out for.....Has anyone else come across these problems??

Thanks in advance

Hayley x

IME the trembling is just a nervous thing.  Our previous dogs and our new pup do it when in a situation they are either unsure of or not entirely happy with.  When yours was sniffing away his mind was occupied with that so all the hustle and bustle around him wouldn't have mattered much.  Then when he stopped and noticed it all he was probably a little over awed by it all bless him.  However, if its shivvering then I'd suggest getting him a little coat.  Our little girl trembles when nervous but we noticed her shivvering when outside as its gotten very cold so we did just that :)  Unfortunately they only had a 'burberry' effect coat in her size so now she looks like a chav :rolleyes: hahahaha

Regarding the 'eliminating' away from home thing IME its quite common for pups and certain breeds as their basic instinct is to not make predators aware of them so they only do it in a place they class to be 'safe'.

:)

Hi Hayley

My JD trembles when he's at shows & believe me it's not fear or nervousness but excitement ! He just so loves the attention he gets when he's at shows that he just can't contain himself. It can be a trait of cavaliers that they so want to be cuddled & stroked that they tremble in anticipation

Your puppy now knows that he will get attention when he's outside & you stop, The same applies when he's going home in the car he isn't frightened just expressing his excitement. My less outgoing boy, Lou, doesn't tremble at all, but I know he's not happy all the time with people

Don't worry about him he sounds a normal Cavalier to me

Edited to add JD didn't do anything away from home not even a pee until April this year ! JD was 5 years old in September !!

Our little girl trembles out of nervousness sometimes bless her cos she def ain't excited in the car - she's a bit travel sick (exactly like our previous bitch but our dog loved it!).

:)

thanks for the replies. He already has a little coat so I don't think he's cold. We've been out in the car again this afternoon and he was fine! Stayed with my son when I went into supermarket and watched the world go by out of the window.....he's so nosey!!!:rolleyes:

Your little boy pup sounds adorable :)  I saw a little blenheim cavvy pup (think it was about 14 weeks old) in our local Pets At Home about a fortnight ago and he was gorgeous :)

Our new little sheltie girl is seriously missing the companionship of other dogs - there's a 5 month old pup next door and the pair of them try to play thru the fence but the owners have been a bit funny and won't let them actually meet which is such a shame for both of them! :rolleyes:  We were originally looking at both cavvies and shelties but she became available before we'd got very far with the cavvies - and of course we're very pleased that she did as she's lovely :)  Maybe in 9-12 months time (when she's 100% settled in) we'll look for a canine companion for her.  We've had two dogs together previously and it was not only a joy for them but a joy for us owners too :)

My son got a scalextric-type-thing for his 4th birthday yesterday and after we'd set it up today and started playing it she was running round after the cars yapping excitedly at them :) haha

There's a world of difference between a 7 month old that's been recently rehomed & a 14 week old puppy who is outgoing & confident ;)

Shelties are quite a sensitive breed they are very hardy & can go feral quite quickly & avoid all humans even ones they know if they go missing. A bitch around your bitches age went missing one winter near me & she survived snow, freezing conditions etc for 6 weeks until recaptured by her breeder She too was nervous whilst out yet managed to feed herself whilst away from home, Cavaliers on the other hand will seek out human compnay especially if they get separated from their owners They are very much a companion dog as opposed to a herding breed especially one like the Shelties whose ancesters would have been left alone for quite long periods of time to guard & herd their flocks !

Yeah I know I was just responding to a post thats all :)  Oh, and by the way - our little girl is pretty outgoing and confident :D  IMHO the breeds around today, though descendants from the 'originally bred' guard/companion/hunting/etc dogs (i.e. their ancestors), despite maintaining 'characteristics' have 'evolved' somewhat because of the environments they are bred and raised in :)

the breeds around today, though descendants from the 'originally bred' guard/companion/hunting/etc dogs (i.e. their ancestors),  despite maintaining 'characteristics' have 'evolved' somewhat because of the environments they are bred and raised in



You've lost me now are you saying show bred BC's can't work sheep ??? & that  Shelties are no longer the hardy independant breed originally used by the shetlend shepherds ?  Most odd because i know  of show bred for generation Bc's that can work sheep just as well as some farm dogs & at least four shelties all from different breeding that can work sheep in the way they were originally bred to do. Plus my GSDs could all work sheep despite not being from the HGH lines in Germany ! & my Cavaliers are still hunting spaniels(albeit on mice rather than woodcock the bird they they were originally used on as there are no woodcock in this area) I often get gifts of mice from them :D

The nearest to "evolving" my Jack Russell has come to is hunting crows on top of the Downs. But that's only in the absence of a nice handy rat! :D

My Yankee shivers a bit in the car and I think it's because he was very car sick as a puppy and still isn't too keen on journeys!

My friend's Cavaliers hunt chickens, and I know a lot of show bred dogs have a fair amount of their original instincts for whatever they were bred for, but quite a few haven't! My own Cavaliers wouldn't have a clue what to do if asked to hunt something, they're purely lapdogs! :-)

No what I'm saying is that many of the bred dogs aren't 'worked' as they were originally bred for (i.e. as intended ).  Many of the dogs around today are pets and not 'working' examples of the breeds.  Our previous two shelties wouldn't have had a clue what to do with sheep or anything else that could be 'herded' - they looked, got scared and wanted to go off in the other direction haha  That's because as a 'pet home' we didn't 'work' them in any way that their 'breed characteristics' depicted - they didn't show any of these anyway!  You can't class all dogs of one breed as being the 'standard' thats all I'm saying, cos there are many who, although having 'typical traits' aren't what you'd call a typical [instert breed here] :)

I'm surprised you found shetland sheep to try your shelties on they are a very rare breed :) the 4 shelties I have seen are on a rare breed farm that is I think the only one in the UK to have a reasonable number of Shetland Sheep to work a dog on. I took a friends 18 week old puppy & he was incredible. Now if you tried your dogs on other sheep I'm not surprised they weren't interestered as they are a totally different ball game. BTW Shetland Sheeodogs working shetland sheep don't herd them the way BC's do but then you will be aware of that having owned the breed ?

  I didn't say we tried to work them on anything let alone Shetland Sheep :)  When we holidayed in the UK with them we went into cottages surrounded by farmland and of course there were sheep all over the place but whether or not they were shetland sheep I honestly wouldn't now - if it looks like a sheep and baa's like a sheep then its a sheep ;)  I do know that BC's and Shelties have different 'herding' styles but ours never showed any interest in 'herding' anything - not even a little nip from 'em! haha  All dogs are individuals :)

:)

You would know a shetland sheep when you saw one as they are like all the shetland breeds-small LOL. You would be surprised I was with my friends puppy as he just switched on to the sheep & just got on with it. I know of one KC BC who is so powerful on his sheep who would expect his parents to jave been working dogs

Dogs might be individuals but you shouldn't underestimate tham.

Seeing sheep in a field, & the wrong breed of sheep as well,is nothing like a dog being allowed to have a good look at the right sheep in the right place-lol ie on a beach for shetlands. My trialling dog ignored sheep in fields when Iwe walked past them, but put him in the same field with the same sheep & he switched on the brain & went into sheep mode

Shelties don't do much herding eecept to get the sheep in to the boat to be taken to market/slaughter, their job is to keep the sheep out of the sea & protect from themselves & any predators(not many on the shetland outlying islands mind you)-this is why they can be gobby at times :D

"Dogs might be individuals but you shouldn't underestimate tham."

I don't :)

"[...]this is why they can be gobby at times"

Not half like - they're very vocal little things are shelties! haha :)