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The Australian Shepherd is a working dog that was developed in the United States in the 19th century, rather than Australia a misnomer. The dog, commonly known as an Aussie, is popular in its native California and is growing in popularity in countries across the world, Like many working breeds, the Aussie has considerable energy and drive and usually needs a job to do. It often excels at dog sports such as frisbee and dog agility.
Appearance: The coat comes in several colors blue
merle, red merle, solid red, or solid black; all can occur
with or without white markings, tan (called
"copper") points, or both. Dogs with tan and white
along with the primary color are called tricolor. Dogs with
white only along with the primary color are called bicolor.
Too much white on any Aussie is a serious flaw, because it is
frequently accompanied by deafness and/or blindness, which can
occur when two merles are bred together (the double merle).
There is also great variety in the Aussie's eye color. An
early nickname for the breed was "ghost-eye dog".
Aussie eyes may be green, hazel, amber, brown, or blue; they
may have two different colored eyes, or even have bicolored or
"split eyes" (for example, a half-brown, half-blue
eye). Any combination of eye color is acceptable in the breed
standard, so long as the eyes are healthy. In general,
however, black Aussies tend to have brown eyes, while red
Aussies tend to have amber eyes, frequently with one eye
totally or partially unpigmented (that is, blue).
The breed's general appearance also varies greatly
depending on the particular line's emphasis. As with many
working breeds that are also shown in the ring, there are
differences of opinion among breeders over what makes an ideal
Australian Shepherd.
Reflecting the great variation that still exists in the
breed, an Aussie can stand between 18 and 23 inches (46 to 58
cm) at the withers and weigh between 35 and 70 pounds (16 to
32 kg). For show dogs, females should fall in the lower
heights and males in the higher ranges.
A hallmark of the breed is a short bobbed or docked tail in
countries where docking is permitted. Some Aussies are born
with naturally short bobbed tails, others with full long
tails, and others with natural partial bobs, where the tail is
midlength and appears stubby. Most breeders dock the tails
when the puppies are born.
Temperament: Because of the dog's origins, this
breed is not for everyone. It is an energetic dog that
requires exercise and needs a job to do, whether it is
learning and practicing tricks, competing in dog agility, or
any other physically and mentally involving activity. It needs
to run, full out, regularly. It is usually a sweet and
affectionate dog who is faithful to its owners and is good
with children, although its overwhelming instinct to work may
subvert its ability to function as a family dog, including
chasing and nipping at running children to herd them if not
properly trained.
Its protective instinct and behaviors can be frightening to
children, strangers, and small animals. It was bred to guard
stock and can be sometimes annoying with its inclination to
bark warnings about neighborhood activity, but it is not
generally an obsessively barking dog. It is intelligent,
learns quickly, and loves to play. This means that a bored,
neglected, unexercised Aussie will invent its own games,
activities, and jobs, which to a busy owner might appear to be
hyperactivity in the house around fragile furnishings or
involve the destruction of yard and property.
The Australian Shepherd has a reputation as a highly
intelligent and versatile stock dog with a relatively
easygoing working style and a "soft mouth" (compared
with more intense breeds like the Border Collie or Australian
Cattle Dog). For this reason the Aussie is often chosen to
work unusual livestock such as ducks (e.g., Indian Runners),
geese and commercially raised rabbits.
History: The Australian Shepherd's history is vague,
as is the origin of its misleading name. Most of the breed's
antecedents most likely originated in the Basque region near
the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France.
Early European settlers took many of their herding dogs
with them as they emigrated to the eastern United States in
the 19th century. Breeds included some that are now extinct or
that have merged into other breeds. These probably included
the English Shepherd, Dorset Blue Shag, Cumberland Sheepdog,
Scottish Collie, Glenwherry Collie, and Bouvier des Flandres,
as well as dogs from Germany and Spain.
For many centuries, shepherds had more interest in dogs who
performed well when helping to manage flocks of sheep than
they had in the specific appearance of the dogs. As a result,
over time, shepherds interbred dogs that they believed would
produce better workers for the given climate and landscape.
Terrain and weather conditions in the eastern U.S. were
similar to that of Europe, however, so the existing imported
breeds and their offspring worked well there.
In the western states, conditions were quite different. In
the primarily arid and semiarid areas inhabited sparsely by
early Spanish settlers, temperatures reached extremes of hot
and cold, and fields varied in altitude from sea level into
the higher, rougher Sierra Nevada and similar mountain ranges.
A few Spanish and Basque shepherds, their flocks, and their
herding dogs came to California with the Spanish missionaries
and other settlers in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
With the 1849 California gold rush, a massive migration
occurred from the east coast to the west coast, and along with
the people came flocks of sheep and the eastern herding dogs.
But it was just as effective to bring sheep in by ship, and in
they came, including flocks from Latin America and other
regions. Shepherds came along with the flocks and also
independently, from Latin America, Europe, and Australia,
along with their own herding breeds.
Dogs from Australia had already begun to be selected and
bred for climates and terrains that were often similar to
California.
As shepherds worked to develop dogs who could handle stock
in harsh storms, high arid heat, and chilling cold, and who
could think on their own in challenging terrain, reacting
instantly to the movement of sheep and to their handlers'
commands, the type that became the Australian Shepherd was
born.
The name remains somewhat of a mystery, however; the
largest influx of shepherds from Australia arrived in the
early 20th century, well after the breed had been established
as a distinct type. It is possible that many of the imported
Australian herding dogs had merle coloring, which was also
common in the American Australian Shepherd breed, and so all
merle herding dogs were simply referred to as Australian. This
remains conjecture.
Recent history: Selective breeding for many
generations focused on aspects of the dog that enabled it to
function as an effective stockdog in the American west. It had
to handle severe weather; have plenty of speed, athleticism,
energy, and endurance; and be intelligent, flexible, and
independent while remaining obedient. The Australian Shepherd
remained more of a type than a breed until the 1950s, when
they became popular as performing dogs in rodeos. Their stunts
and skills earned them places in several Disney films,
including Run Appaloosa Run and Stub: The Greatest Cowdog in
the West.
The Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA) was founded
in 1957 to promote the breed, and the National Stock Dog
Registry became its official breed registry the same year,
which it continued until ASCA took over in the 1970s. In the
late 1970s, ASCA created a breed standard, which described
exactly how a dog should look and be constructed (its
conformation). This was the first step in becoming a breed
rather than a type.
In the United States, the AKC is the primary breed registry
for purebred dogs. However, many Aussie breeders felt that AKC
put too much emphasis on conformation and not enough on
performance, so ASCA declined to join the AKC. Those breeders
who felt that AKC membership had its advantages split off from
ASCA to form their own Australian Shepherd club, the United
States Australian Shepherd Association, created their own
breed standard, and joined the AKC in 1993. The decision about
affiliation with the AKC remains controversial, as it does
with many performance breeds. These dogs excel at many dog
sports, especially herding, dog agility, frisbee, and flyball.
Miscellaneous: In addition to the Miniature
Australian Shepherd, the western United States is now seeing
the emergence of an even smaller Aussie, referred to as the
Toy Australian Shepherd, with adult males tipping the scales
at a mere 12 to 15 pounds (5.5 to 6.8 kg.). The genetic
consequences of breeding the standard Australian Shepherd down
to one-quarter size remain to be seen.
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