Understanding The Origins Of Australian Shepherds

Australian Shepherd dogs have a very geographically confusing name as they don’t originate from Australia at all. These dogs are in fact one of the few dog breeds to have originated in the United States. They are more also more affectionately known as �Aussies�.

This is a relatively new breed as dog breeds go and was only recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1993. However, this late recognition was partly due to the fact that original breeders of Aussies were focussed on performance rather than on a specific look or type and weren’t determined to create a breed standard based on specific height and conformation, but rather on herding ability and intelligence.

A settler from Europe

There are many different speculations of where Aussies came from originally. However, most agree that the Australian Shepherd emerged as a distinctive type of dog during the great land rushes in the American West during the latter part of the nineteenth century.
At that time, settlers from all parts of Europe as well as Latin America and
Australia emigrated to North America in search of new hope and new land.
Many were livestock farmers and brought with them their favourite herding dogs to help shepherd the large flocks of sheep and cattle. Many of the sheep came from Australia and undoubtedly herding dogs accompanied them and some have guessed that this is where the �Australian� name came from.

However, it seems that the actual ancestry of these dogs was European, not Australian, possibly from the Basque region of the Pyrenees. It’s likely that the small, lean Pyrenean dogs that the Basque shepherds used are an important part of the bloodline of the Australian Shepherd. Basque shepherds emigrated to the United States with the early land rushes, but also as recently as the 1940s many Basques were brought across as shepherds in the western part of the States. Many of these shepherds brought their dogs with them, dogs that had the distinctive blue colouration that is now fairly common in Aussie dogs. There is also speculation that herding dogs originally from Germany and known as Koolies that occurred in Australia at the time contributed to the bloodline. However, like all of us who are descended from settlers, the bloodline of the Australian Shepherd is mixed with many contributions and is a melting pot with many origins.

Australian Shepherds are truly American Dogs

As the western part of the United States was increasingly settled by stockmen, a working dog with great intelligence, loyalty, courage and an excellent herding ability became a prized possession. At the same time, the dog had to cope with greater extremes of climatic conditions than in the east. Farmers needed a dog that could cope with the harsh, freezing winters of the north west as well as the hot, arid deserts of the south west. Over time, dogs were favoured who displayed all the necessary herding instinct and intelligence and the practical ability to cope with different terrains.

Ultimately, the dog we know and love as the Australian Shepherd came about � a working dog for the American West.