Miniature Australian Shepherd? Discussions

Just been looking on the net and stumbled upon a Miniature Australian Shepherd breeder in Shropshire.

I've not seen this breed before (are they an actual breed?) anyone know anything about them?

Oh no not making something else miniature surely.

Thanks for the link. I do not understand why they feel they have to miniaturise the breed they are not overly large dogs to begin with. Bigger than collies granted but no bigger than a Goldie.

They have tea cup aussies too.

The dogs in your link are lovely ;-) I take Ted to be groomed by the breeder

Are they the same as standard Aussies, just smaller?

The faces look slightly different to full sized Aussies, and look to have a little less coat (or possibly just well groomed?)

Not sure I have owned an Aussie cross but he didn't have the Aussie coat but I do know if I was to look for a pedigree Aussie I would want the full size one.

I think I would for a full size one as well if I were to go for an Aussie.
These minis seem to be doing well at Agility though, I've not heard of them before, just interesting as they are in my county

Miniature Aussies are not recognised by the breed clubs.

Here is the statement by ASCUK:

"The Australian Shepherd Club of the UK does not support the recent influx of 'Miniature Australian Shepherds' or certain individuals attempts to register 'Miniature Australian Shepherds' with the Kennel Club as Australian Shepherds.

The Australian Shepherd does not have breed 'varieties' and therefore does not recognise the Miniature Australian Shepherd or any other variety.

Since these dogs are not recognised in their country of origin USA by the American Kennel Club, then they cannot be verified as purebred dogs and should NOT be sold or purchased as such."

They have existed in the USA for a long time though and are popular in Europe.

I saw some over 10 years ago when I visited a friend's aunt in the USA who happened to breed them. She had about 7 of them and I thought they were lovely. One or two of her dogs are at the back of the pedigree of the UK imports.

I have no problem with them as they are more Sheltie sized ideally, and if you didn't want a Sheltie (too much coat, perhaps) then these are ideal.

Yup there are mini aussies and mini collies

I hate to see it, selfish people just wanting to create their own new breed - usually for agility or flyball purposes

I hate to see it

I don't like this miniaturization of any breed, soon we will have teacup Aussies & to add insult to injury, they are coming up with mini cattle dogs too! Arrrrgh!!

funnily enough I was joking to a friend yesterday who has Schipperkees that we could create mini Groenendaels by crossing the two breeds - now THERE's a plan ! ;-) - they'd be great mini agility dogs !!

I haven't looked at the website yet, but can't say I am keen on miniaturising breeds for no good reason ... flyball and agility aren't good enough reasons imo.

hmmm...could argue that a sheltie is a mini Rough Collie is a Long haired Smooth Collie

if you catch my drift.

If the dogs are health tested, and are home correctly, then cant really see a problem

Yes but these breeds are already created
I am totaly against creating new breeds for no good reason

also its more than just health testing - are these people making mini dogs going to be breeding quality dogs? Pretty much guarantee NO - because what decent ethical breeder in the breed would agree to having any of their dogs used

They are either crossing to another breed (have heard of people crossing paps and collies to make mini collies) Which I strongly disagree with as you cannot know what you are actully going to get out of each litter so there will be a whole lot of waste

OR
you are just breeding small to small then picking the smallest from that litter

So if you are breeding for size then you are not breeding the best to the best, not breeding for health or temprament or working ability

To spend all that time and waste all that life just to produce a dog who MAY make your jumps lower for your flyball team
especially when there are so many amazing crosses in rescue

Google Carlin pincher

I know of several mini aussies... they're deaf and belong to the yahoo group for deaf dogs. They're quite popular in the US, though I've never seen one here.

I highly dislike this "breed" They are mutts, often with poor temperaments and bad knees. They look nothing like Aussies and due to structural problems, don't do as well as proper Aussies in Agility.

The Aussie Shepherd Club of America says this.

of course they also oppose anti tail docking legislation...when there is NO reason why an Aussie can't have the tail it was born with....