The History of the Australian Shepherd, An American Breed
Much has been said and postulated about the origins of the wonderful breed we know today as the Australian shepherd, but what we all are sure of is that the breed definitely doesn't have its beginnings in Australia at all. What IS known is that the dogs that the Basque shepherds brought to America in the late 1800's and early 1900's, along with the imported sheep from Australia, closely resembled the modern Aussie.The Basque shepherds had migrated to Australia from Spain when the wool industry was booming. The origins of their dogs can be traced somewhat to the Basque dogs called Pyrenean Sheepdogs or Berger de Pyrenees, which also had natural bobtails and are thought to be the ancestors of the Old Welsh Bobtail of Wales, England. Both breeds are very similar to the Aussie in appearance and character.
While in Australia, the Basque shepherds and local sheep farmers crossed these dogs with local working dogs, as was done in the American west, after the Basque's immigrated to the U.S., but the interesting thing is that these dogs tended to breed true to type. This tendency has continued into modern times, as evidenced by the numbers of crossbred Aussies I've seen in the U.S.!
Ranchers in the American West prized these tough little working dogs, for their often uncanny intelligence, eagerness to please, protectiveness, trainability and charm. But it was Jay Sisler who brought the breed into the public eye, with his trick-dog acts back in the 1950's and 1960's. The amazing things his dogs could do undoubtedly got the attention of the Walt Disney Studios, as his dogs starred in two Disney films-- "Run, Appaloosa, Run," and "Stub-- The Greatest Cowdog in the West." The Sisler dogs appear in almost all Aussie pedigrees, if one traces the line far enough, and were the foundation for several other prominent lines. Another foundation line was begun when Juanita Ely purchased Teddy, her first Aussie, in 1920 from a Basque herder. The Ely dogs are featured in the backgrounds of the Woods line and the famous Las Rocosa kennel. Another influential line was developed by Dr. Heard, whose Flintridge dogs Ch. Wildhagen's Dutchman of Flintridge and Ch. Fieldmaster of Flintridge, are the foundation dogs for many well-known kennels..
In 1957, the Australian Shepherd Club of America was founded, but the registry was The International English Shepherd Registry, also known as the National Stock Dog Registry. It wasn't until 1971 that ASCA began registering Aussies, and at that time, most Aussies were registered with both groups. At that time, ASCA initiated conformation and obedience shows for ASCA-registered Aussies to achieve titles, and in 1974, started a stockdog program. During this time, the breed standard in use was the IESR standard, but in 1975, a committee was formed to develop the ASCA breed standard.
~ Gail N. Karamalegos
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