Hi Raian--
My grandmother has had three Shelties in the past 35+ years, so I can tell you some things about them even though I've personally never had one! They were all sweet dogs, easily housetrained and very bright, but they needed quite a lot of grooming compared to other breeds and seemed to shed a lot. They were also very protective and barked everytime the doorbell rang and everytime someone walked by the house!They loved cats and other dogs, and were good with us grandkids. (Most of those traits I just mentioned apply to herding dogs in general, though, not just Shelties.) Each of them lived to be about 15 years old, too, so they were fairly hardy dogs with no major illnesses that I recall. They died of old age.
It's true about ivermectin: ANY herding breed dog (or a mix that's part herding breed) shouldn't take Heartgard for this reason--if a dog is sensitive to it, it can cause coma. Just use Interceptor brand heartworm med instead; that's what we have Eli and Kobie on, and they do fine on it! As for the flea control, I have no idea if Shelties require anything special. I don't think ivermectin is in formulas that are solely for fleas anyway.
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