Posted by Waste Happy on September 10, 2026

How Much Does a Shetland Sheepdog Poop?

Quick answer: an adult Shetland Sheepdog weighs 15 to 25 pounds and produces roughly 1.8 to 4.6 ounces of stool a day on dry kibble. That is about 1.1 to 2.7 ounces per pile, and 42 to 104 pounds a year.

How we worked that out

How much a dog produces tracks how much it eats, and how much it eats scales with body weight, but not in a straight line. Vets estimate a dog's daily energy need as 70 times its weight in kilograms raised to the 0.75 power, which means small dogs eat more per pound than big ones, and so produce more per pound too. We ran each breed's weight range through that formula, divided by the energy in typical dry kibble, and applied the measured ratio of stool to food eaten. As a check, the model predicts 62 to 105 grams a day for a 19 pound beagle, and lab beagles of that weight on kibble measured 90 grams.

For a Shetland Sheepdog, that comes to about 0.71 to 1.21 percent of body weight a day. How often a dog goes does not really depend on breed. Most adult dogs go about once a day, and two or three times is normal (PetMD). Diet and fiber drive frequency far more than breed does. So a big breed does not need more bags than a small one. It needs bigger, tougher ones.

Diet moves the numbers a lot. In one study of lab beagles, dogs on fresh cooked food produced about 38 percent less stool than on kibble, and dogs on raw diets about 56 to 59 percent less (source). Every figure on this page assumes dry kibble.

What Shetland Sheepdog owners should know

Coprophagy: 41% of Shetland Sheepdogs (n=27) in a 2018 survey were frequent stool eaters, vs 17% of other breeds (P = 0.003), the one individual breed the authors reported as overrepresented. (source)
About 15% of Shetland Sheepdogs carry the MDR1 (ABCB1) drug-sensitivity mutation (WSU estimate). Dogs with the mutation can have neurologic effects from loperamide (Imodium), a common human anti-diarrheal. (source)
Gallbladder disease: Shetland Sheepdogs are predisposed to gallbladder disorders, mostly mucoceles, often with high blood lipids and often without early signs. (source)

Any sudden change in your dog's stool, especially with vomiting, lethargy or blood, is a reason to call your vet rather than wait. Our dog poop color chart covers what the common changes can mean.

Cleanup with a Shetland Sheepdog

AKC standard: forelegs well feathered, hind legs heavily so. Heavy hindleg feathering is where stool catches; a sanitary trim helps.

How the Shetland Sheepdog compares

Of the 60 breeds we covered, the Shetland Sheepdog ranks #43 for daily output. Here it is beside the breeds closest to it in size:

Breed	Adult weight	Daily output
Boston Terrier	12 to 25 lb	1.5 to 4.6 oz
Shetland Sheepdog	15 to 25 lb	1.8 to 4.6 oz
Dachshund	8 to 32 lb	1.1 to 5.5 oz
Shiba Inu	17 to 23 lb	2.0 to 4.3 oz
Scottish Terrier	18 to 22 lb	2.1 to 4.2 oz

What that means for the bag

Size is not the issue for a Shetland Sheepdog. Any bag fits. Small dogs tend toward firmer, drier stool, so pickup is usually easy. What matters day to day is a bag that opens fast with one hand and tears cleanly off the roll while the other hand holds the leash.

For your own number of bags, the bag quiz gives it to you, and how many poop bags you need shows the math.

Common questions