Australian
Shepherd History
The
entire history of the Australian Shepherd is yet to be
determined. The early formation of today's Aussie is
credited to a people known as the Basques. They were
some of the earliest people to domesticate animals and
during the nineteenth century, they began to immigrate
to Australia and to the United States with their sheep
and dogs. Basques sheep herders also immigrated from
Australia to the western United State as Australian wool
became more in demand. Americans imported boatloads of
Australian sheep in the late 1800s and early
1900s, accompanied by their Basque shepherds and their dogs. It was at
that time that the "little blue dogs" began to be noticed.
The Basque dog adapted to the ruggedness of the western ranges. Over
time, Basques' dogs were bred to other good working dogs of Australia
and the United States, and they continued to reproduce true to their
type. Because the dogs accompanied their Basque herdsmen from Australia,
they came to be known as Australian Shepherds, even though they were
bred in America.
In the ranges, he became a dependable herding dog of superior intelligence
and a loyal family companion. Any historian knows that these dogs
show up quite frequently in photographs taken during the 1800's and
early 1900's. As Aussies moved across the States, it became suited
to its own region. Legend has it that the Indians held a reverence
for these dogs because of their unusual and often blue eyes. Indians
left these "sacred dogs" and tier owners unharmed. Aussies
first became known in the public eye with the help of the late Jay
Sisler, who introduced Aussies with trick-dog acts preformed at rodeos
throughout the United States and Canada during the 1950's and 1960's.
Because
of his popularity, some of today's Aussies still have
Sisler lines in their pedigrees. Two other foundation
lines include Jaunita Ely's breeding, a major foundation
for today's herding dogs and Nick Smedra, who's dog was
out of Fletcher Wood's stock, went on to produce the
famous Heard/Flintridge lines, which appear in most of
today's conformation stock pedigrees.
In
1957, a small group of fanciers started the Australian
Shepherd Club of America (ASCA), and the National Stock
Dog Registry became the official Aussie registry. In
1971, ASCA's registry became the official registry for
Aussies. At this time, ASCA offered a show and obedience
program for members could gain conformation championships,
obedience and tracking titles. In 1974, they introduced
a stock dog program. The breed standard was written and
approved in January 1977.
In
1985, a few ASCA members petitioned ASCA to seek American
Kennel Club (AKC) recognition. It was turned down by
the fear that the Aussie would divide and have two types,
working, and show. The United States Australian Shepherd
Association (USASA) was formed by a few people and they
modified the ASCA standard and AKC adopted the Australian
Shepherd in 1991. In 1993, the Aussie became eligible
for full competition privileges and admitted into the
AKC Herding Group.
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