ABOUT AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERDS & MINI AUSSIES
Basis Aussie Facts & Information....
One Myth Concerning Australian Shepherds is that They Come from Australia....That is Completely False! Australian Shepherds are believed to originate in the are of the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France. This would explain their ability to travel and compete in Agility in high altitudes without getting altitude sickness.
Size & Characteristics...
Males Weigh 50 - 65 Pounds & Are 20 - 23 Inches Tall
Females Weigh 30 - 45 Pounds & Are 18 - 21 Inches Tall
ASCA requires Standard Aussies to stand between 18 to 23 inches at the withers.
Aussies Life Span is 12 - 18 Years.
Aussies are highly intelligent as well as highly energetic, therefore they are exceptionally easy to train.
Australian Shepherds are notorious for "Smiling". They curl there lips and show there teeth...becareful, your friends or relatives may think your dog is growling at them!!
Docked tails that create a "bobbed" tail are characteristic of the breed.
Aussies can be born with naturally bobbed tails, mid-size tails or long tails. The desired appearance calls for tails that are not naturally bobbed to be docked at two notches.
Dogs with naturally born docked tails can face health problems if the tail is too short due to a nerve that runs down the vertebra which controls bowel movements.
AKC ASCA NAMASCUSA & ASDR
Australian Shepherds are relatively new to the American Kennel Club or AKC. Aussies joined the stud books of the AKC in 1991 and became part of the herding group of the AKC in 1993.
ASCA or the Australian Shepherd Club of America is the oldest group governing the Australian Shepherd, and it works deligently to preserve the breed's standards. Only 100% pure Australian Shepherds whose lineage can be traced back to foreign registry can be registered with the ASCA.
For Australian Shepherds, ASCA is the highest form of single registry. An Aussie can have an AKC registration, however if it is NOT 100% pure in lineage it will NOT be allowed to be registered with the ASCA.
Both AKC & ASCA require DNA of both parents prior to repoduction.
The ASDR or American Stock Dog Registry was started to register proven purebred Australian Shepherds whose size did not meet the breed standard in ASCA and/or AKC. IABCA, and ICKC (NAKC), and ARBA all recognize ASDR in their show venues. With ASDR Aussie owners were able to register the Mini Aussies and ultimately the Toy Aussies. One thing to understand about the Mini and Toy Aussies is that they are 100% Aussie with all of the same traits in a smaller package. Mini and Toy Aussies can have Standard size parents and Toy Aussies can have Standard size puppies!
