| Alternative Name
Aussie (The Basque Shepherd Dog)
Basic Info
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.
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 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.
Behavior
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. Aussies can be friendly
and affectionate. 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.
Origin
United States
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.
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