Hi I just bought a Sheltie Puppy. I will bring her home next weekend. She will be 8 weeks old at that time. I am planning to spend then entire weekend with her and my husband is taking off work the following week to spend with her. I was wondering how confusing it would be if I took her with me to a family gathering for 1 1\2 or 2 hours with her crate to hide in and "get away" if she needs to. I just lost my sheltie of 14 years and it has been a LONG time since I have had a puppy around the house.

She should be fine. I would suggest putting her in another room and if you want to show her to your friends do it one at a time.
After this you could introduce her to the group of people but if she shows any signs of being scared then put her back in the room on her own (with lots of toys and water)

I had a housewarming party a week after we moved in to our new house.
My little girl prada used to be so timid and my bot Brody was very outgoing.
When all the people came around Brody was all over them while prada tended to hide. She started copying Brody after a few hours and ever since then she has been no-where near as timid.
Not overly relevant but I was just amazed that she had such a turn around in one night :)