The Australian Shepherd is a dog breed from the USA recognized by the FCI since 1996 (FCI group 1, section 1, standard no. 342). The leading breed association for the Australian Shepherd is theAustralian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA), which opened the first studbook for the breed in 1957.
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Origin and history
The breeding origin of the Australian Shepherd, despite its name, is in North America, due to its association with Basque shepherds, which in 19. The first immigrants from Australia to the Americas in the nineteenth century. [1] [2] These brought merino sheep, which had previously been exported to Australia and therefore received the name "Australian Sheep" in North America.
The first stud book was published by the Arizona-basedAustralian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA) opened. In 1966 the International Australian Shepherd Association (IASA) founded. ASCA and IASA merged into one club in 1980 and have since become the largest breed club in North America.
The current breed standard of the ASCA came into force in 1977. Since the early 1990s, the American Kennel Club (AKC) has also maintained a studbook for Australian Shepherds and has also developed its own breed standard, which became effective in January 1993. Only since 1996 the Australian Shepherd is a breed recognized by the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI). The current breed standard is from 5. June 2009. In Europe Australian Shepherds can be found only since the 1970s, but since then more and more often.
Description
The Australian Shepherd has a balanced build of medium size and bone strength. According to the FCI standard, males should be between 50.8 and 58.5 cm, females between 45.7 and 53.4 cm, but quality should never be sacrificed for size. The coat is semi-long, weather resistant and has a dense undercoat, with the outer coat being smooth to slightly wavy. The coat is short and straight on the head, on the outside of the ears, the front of the forelegs and below the hocks.
A distinction is made between the following basic colors:
– black – red – blue-merle (marbled black with gray ground color) – red-merle (marbled red/brown with light red/beige ground color)
Each of these basic colors can stand alone or be combined with white and/or copper markings. This results in 16 possible color variations – 4 basic colors times 4 possible markings combinations (without/white/copper/copper and white). In all colors the areas around the eyes are. Ears predominantly dominated by colors other than white. White spots on the body or completely unpigmented noses (Dudley Nose) are disqualifying defects .