“... the dog catcher tried to give me a ticket”.
He was probably thinking, “just how many critters do you have?” LOL. I did know one friend that had a Sheltie who would try to “herd” snapping turtles. He would drag the dog back to the house for fear that the turtle would give him a good old snap on his snout.
I don’t think I’d recommend a Sheltie for small children, however, unless you know the dog really well. Some of them can be snappish, even though they are cute as the dickens.