Many roads have been traveled in the quest
for AKC/UKC recognition of a dog some refer to as the Miniature
Australian Shepherd. Different fanciers have different opinions
of this breed. Some believe it is a size variation of the
Australian Shepherd, but based upon the breed's documented 100
year presence in this country that would be impossible since the
Australian Shepherd wasn't named at that time. The Australian
Shepherd was still being referred to by several of the following
names; Spanish Shepherd, Pastor Dog, Blue, Bobtail, New Mexican
Shepherd, as well as, California Shepherd, however, many believe
the opposite to be the case, which is that the Australian
Shepherd is a size variation of the "Little Blue Dog" that was
bred up in size by infusing Rough Collie ancestry, as well as,
Bernese Mountain Dog into them. This belief
stems from the fact that nearly all early historical accountings
of this dog referred to them as "Little"; i.e. "Little
Bobtails", "Little Blue Saddle Dog" and "Little Blue Dogs". The
position our club takes is that we don't accept that either was
a size variation of the other, but instead that all sizes
coexisted together until the day ASCA set the standard of their
preferred size. At about the same time a group of fanciers
preferring the smaller size organized a group to establish their
preferred size also. The dogs that fell within the size that
ASCA set became "Australian Shepherds" and the small blue dogs
that "always were" soon were referred to as Miniature Australian
Shepherds NOT because they were a size variety but because they
looked the same only smaller. However, the little ones existed
long before the Australian Shepherd earned its official name vs
being called all the many names we listed above. It was only
natural that the small ones were referred
to in a similar fashion. However, a
beloved horsewoman named Doris Cordova knew time would pass the
smaller size by if someone did not likewise recognize the
smaller "Bobtailed Shepherds" or "Little Saddle Dogs". So about
the same time ASCA (Australian Shepherd Club of America)
organized she likewise organized her group in support of the
smaller aussies. At that time approximately 46 years ago she
began her work to give the smaller dogs their own breed status.
Twenty years after her breeding program began, her group of
fanciers officially registered their first Miniature Australian
Shepherd with National Stock Dog Registry in 1981. A year later
her letter to the editor was published in the National Stock Dog
Registry magazine, stating her desire for this dog to be it's
own breed. She never once described it as a size variation of
any other breed. She even went on to speak of a size she bred
for which was 13 to 15 inches. She was
very clear in her writings that the new breed would be similar
to the status of the Miniature Schnauzer. The Miniature
Schnauzer is its own breed and not a size variety of the larger
dog. She did not compare her breed to the toy poodle that is a
size variation of the larger dog. but instead the "Miniature
Schnauzer" which is not a size variation of any breed. Her
published statement about her new breed came one year after NSDR
officially registered her first Miniature Australian Shepherd,
Cordova's Spike. She had been working towards recognition for 20
years prior to that time. Pictures of Spike in 1981 clearly
showed that he was his own
breed, as he shared few resemblance's to
the ASCA Australian Shepherd of that time. Mrs. Cordova did say
that she would like to see more bone on Spike but those were her
only comments that she would change about him. Therefore, she
clearly was not trying to duplicate the ASCA Australian Shepherd
and her culling for the smaller dogs was at the exact same time
ASCA was culling for the larger ones. Therefore, one breed is
not older than the other one but as the Fathers of this breed
like the beloved Mr. E. Hartnagle who owns LasRocosa tell
us...."both sizes always were" and his wife Elaine remembers
well the Little Blue Dogs that "ran the desert". Something
interesting about Spike was that he looked much more like a
Pyrenean Shepherd than an Australian Shepherd of his time. The
Pyrenean Shepherd was a dog the Basque shepherds used in their
livelihood, and since we know the Basque Shepherds brought
these little dogs over it would only make sense they were
Pyrenean Shepherds originally that bred with other breeds in
this Country and also often had no tails as that is a trait of
the Pyrenean Shepherd. This would also explain why the dogs in
our breed are of smaller stature. The Pyrenean Shepherd has a
similar size standard as the (TO BE ANNOUNCED).
The fact is that before size preferences
were established by the handful of club members both sizes lived
in harmony with one another. From the beginning of the
historical accountings (100 years now) the "Little Bobtail
Shepherds" (TO BE ANNOUNCED) has been a breed in this country.
Many of your well known ranchers of the 1950s/1960s still
preferred the relatively small size, per an interview with Mrs.
Ely who was one of the original breeders of the Australian
Shepherd. When you speak to the founders of the Australian
Shepherd they will tell you both sizes "always have been" as far
back as they can remember which makes the age of both sizes over
100 years old now. One indisputable fact is that our club
members do not believe the majority of these original "Little
Blue Dogs" were 60 pounds, as the Australian Shepherd of today.
They would not have been referred to in the earliest historical
accountings as "Little Bobtail Dogs", "Little Shepherds" and
"Little Blue Dogs". Our club has decided the "Little Bobtail
Dogs" dating back to the late 1800's, should finally stand on
their own merit. History has a way of repeating itself, and our
club members are repeating history. Mrs. Cordova once walked the
path our club is now treading. Forty-six years ago in her effort
to rescue the "Little Saddle Dog" from extinction her club she
established did not flourish but the breed did. How fortunate
for the dog world that our horse community saved
their "Little Saddle Dogs" or we may not have the (TO BE
ANNOUNCED) today. Thank goodness they accompanied Mrs. Cordova's
efforts to rescue the genetically smaller dogs. Their
determination to save their "Little Blue Saddle Dogs" is why we
have this breed today. Their preservation of the "Little
Bobtailed Shepherd" has proven to be a huge success with great
numbers that probably now outnumber the Australian Shepherd.
Those of us who love the "Little Bobtailed Shepherd" owe our
thanks to a fabulous horsewoman who just wouldn't let the
"Little Saddle Dog" die. Thankfully her dogs were not infused
with as many other breeds to bring their size up is why Cordova
Spike was small. Bottom line to it all, is that no one knows for
sure which dogs were infused to continue the "Little Blue Dog"
or their larger cousins. We do know the foundation dogs came to
the US over a century ago. The indisputable fact is that in many
of the pedigrees of our (TO BE ANNOUNCED) you will find Basque
Dog 3, Basque Bitch 3 and Feo ("Little Basque dog from Andorra")
who were not large dogs. Historical accountings like this lead
us to believe none of these dogs are a size variation of the
other, all sizes always were as the fathers of this breed tell
all who will listen. Time has erased many things except for one,
the fact is that our (TO BE ANNOUNCED) is a dog who will stand
on its own merit, have its own standard and warm the hearts of
many families as it has done since the 1800s. What we do know
and has been documented in official records is that the dog
referred to as the Miniature Australian Shepherd (TO BE
ANNOUNCED) cannot possibly be a "size variation" of the AKC
Australian Shepherd. National Stockdog Registry had 6000
miniatures registered with their registry by 1993 per a written
document from their office. Since that is the year the AKC
officially registered their first Australian Shepherds, it is
impossible for the Miniature Australian Shepherd to be a "size
variety" of an AKC breed that did not achieve recognition until
1993. This happened 13 years after the first miniatures were
registered with National Stockdog Registry. So therefore our
breed is twice as old as the AKC Australian Shepherd if you just
go back to the date they were first registered separate from the
Australian Shepherd with NSDR. It is also not feasible that the
(TO BE ANNOUNCED) be a size variation to the ASCA dog of the
1960s. Mrs. Cordova was organizing a group for her "Little Blue
Dogs" at that same time as ASCA was implementing their standard.
The smaller counterpart is as old and some believe older than
the Australian Shepherd by historical accountings. Due to such a
small number of fanciers at the time preserving the breed,
(ranchers preferred the larger size and far outnumbered the
rodeo folks who preferred the small aussies) they only received
recognition by a registry 27 years ago but according to the
historians of this breed the "Little Blue Dogs" (TO BE
ANNOUNCED) ran the deserts of Western America since the early
1900s.
REFERENCES
Dog World Magazine May 2005
Dog Fancy Magazine July 2004
Australian Shepherd , Dog World
Magazine, Volume 15 by Audrey Pavia
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF THE
these little dogs over it would only make sense they were Pyrenean Shepherds originally that bred with other breeds in this Country and also often had no tails as that is a trait of the Pyrenean Shepherd. This would also explain why the dogs in our breed are of smaller stature. The Pyrenean Shepherd has a similar size standard as the (TO BE ANNOUNCED). The fact is that before size preferences were established by the handful of club members both sizes lived in harmony with one another. From the beginning of the historical accountings (100 years now) the "Little Bobtail Shepherds" (TO BE ANNOUNCED) has been a breed in this country. Many of your well known ranchers of the 1950s/1960s still preferred the relatively small size, per an interview with Mrs. Ely who was one of the original breeders of the Australian Shepherd. When you speak to the founders of the Australian Shepherd they will tell you both sizes "always have been" as far back as they can remember which makes the age of both sizes over 100 years old now. One indisputable fact is that our club members do not believe the majority of these original "Little Blue Dogs" were 60 pounds, as the Australian Shepherd of today. They would not have been referred to in the earliest historical accountings as "Little Bobtail Dogs", "Little Shepherds" and "Little Blue Dogs". Our club has decided the "Little Bobtail Dogs" dating back to the late 1800's, should finally stand on their own merit. History has a way of repeating itself, and our club members are repeating history. Mrs. Cordova once walked the path our club is now treading. Forty-six years ago in her effort to rescue the "Little Saddle Dog" from extinction her club she established did not flourish but the breed did. How fortunate for the dog world that our horse community saved their "Little Saddle Dogs" or we may not have the (TO BE ANNOUNCED) today. Thank goodness they accompanied Mrs. Cordova's efforts to rescue the genetically smaller dogs. Their determination to save their "Little Blue Saddle Dogs" is why we have this breed today. Their preservation of the "Little Bobtailed Shepherd" has proven to be a huge success with great numbers that probably now outnumber the Australian Shepherd. Those of us who love the "Little Bobtailed Shepherd" owe our thanks to a fabulous horsewoman who just wouldn't let the "Little Saddle Dog" die. Thankfully her dogs were not infused with as many other breeds to bring their size up is why Cordova Spike was small. Bottom line to it all, is that no one knows for sure which dogs were infused to continue the "Little Blue Dog" or their larger cousins. We do know the foundation dogs came to the US over a century ago. The indisputable fact is that in many of the pedigrees of our (TO BE ANNOUNCED) you will find Basque Dog 3, Basque Bitch 3 and Feo ("Little Basque dog from Andorra") who were not large dogs. Historical accountings like this lead us to believe none of these dogs are a size variation of the other, all sizes always were as the fathers of this breed tell all who will listen. Time has erased many things except for one, the fact is that our (TO BE ANNOUNCED) is a dog who will stand on its own merit, have its own standard and warm the hearts of many families as it has done since the 1800s. What we do know and has been documented in official records is that the dog referred to as the Miniature Australian Shepherd (TO BE ANNOUNCED) cannot possibly be a "size variation" of the AKC Australian Shepherd. National Stockdog Registry had
6000 miniatures registered with their registry by 1993 per a written document from their office. Since that is the year the AKC officially registered their first Australian Shepherds, it is impossible for the Miniature Australian Shepherd to be a "size variety" of an AKC breed that did not achieve recognition until 1993. This happened 13 years after the first miniatures were registered with National Stockdog Registry. So therefore our breed is twice as old as the AKC Australian Shepherd if you just go back to the date they were first registered separate from the Australian Shepherd with NSDR. It is also not feasible that the (TO BE ANNOUNCED) be a size variation to the ASCA dog of the 1960s. Mrs. Cordova was organizing a group for her "Little Blue Dogs" at that same time as ASCA was implementing their standard. The smaller counterpart is as old and some believe older than the Australian Shepherd by historical accountings. Due to such a small number of fanciers at the time preserving the breed, (ranchers preferred the larger size and far outnumbered the rodeo folks who preferred the small aussies) they only received recognition by a registry 27 years ago but according to the historians of this breed the "Little Blue Dogs" (TO BE ANNOUNCED) ran the deserts of Western America since the early 1900s.
