Miniature American Shepherd Breed Magazine - Showsight

THE BACK STORY

MINIATURE AMERICAN SHEPHERDS

BY KAREN KELLER-ROSS PRESIDENT, MINIATURE AMERICAN SHEPHERD CLUB OF THE USA; TIMELESS MINIATURE AMERICAN SHEPHERDS

A KC approved the split of the Austra- lian Shepherd by phenotype into two breeds in May of 2011, now known as the Australian Shepherd and the Miniature American Shepherd. The phenotype being size. In May of 2011, the American Kennel Club also approved MASCUSA as the parent breed club to represent the Miniature American Shepherd. The model that was used to split the Austra- lian Shepherd breed was the Norfolk and Nor- wich Terrier. The phenotype that split these Ter- riers into two breeds was their ear set. Initially, AKC recognized these two breeds as one breed, the Norwich Terrier, until 1979, when division by ear carriage became official. The drop ears are now recognized as the Norfolk, while the prick ears remain Norwich in AKC. Prior to AKC recognition, the Miniature American Shepherds were known as Miniature Australian Shepherds, North American Shep- herds, or Mini Aussies. MASCUSA, the AKC parent breed club, has been around since 1990 with the sole purpose to promote and advance the Australian Shepherds smaller than the preferred height of 18 inches. MASCUSA was originally formed in 1990 and incorporated in 1993. Per Article II of our first bylaws, MASCUSA’s objectives and purpose was to aid and encourage the breeding and raising of pure- bred Miniature Australian Shepherds as a small mirror-image of the Australian Shepherd dog, more specifically defined in our breed standard. OFFICIAL AKC HISTORY OF THE MINIATURE AMERICAN SHEPHERD The Miniature American Shepherd was developed in California during the late 1960s with the breeding of small, unregistered dogs that were thought to be Australian Shepherds. These dogs were bred with a goal of maintaining their small size, active character and intelligence. The breed was first registered with the National Stock Dog Registry in 1980 and was originally called the Miniature Australian Shep- herd. By the early 1990s, they had attained nationwide popularity. Several clubs pro- moted these small dogs, as they were registered

Left: Australian Shepherd, Right: Miniature American Shephard

“PRIOR TO AKC RECOGNITION, THE MINIATURE AMERICAN SHEPHERDS WERE KNOWN AS MINIATURE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERDS, NORTH AMERICAN SHEPHERDS, OR MINI AUSSIES.”

224 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MAY 2022

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