Page 21 - Aussie Magazine no1, 2023

Highlights

from history

1957

The Australian Shepherd Club of
America (ASCA) is established as the
parent club for the breed
1977

The present ASCA Breed Standard is
adopted
1992
The Australian Shepherd is accepted
to The Canadian Kennel Club (CKC)

1993
The Australian Shepherd is accepted
to the AKC

1996
In June acceptance on a provisional
basis by the FCI

2007
It’s interesting that a merle, wall-eyed Australian In May acceptance on a definitive
breed known as the Koolie is sometimes called basis by the FCI (Aussies can make
the German Coolie, or “German Collie,” though international champion since this date)
some authorities say it is a misnomer. Given that
herding dogs are often imported alongside the 26.3.2009
sheep they tend, is it? Date of publication of the
official valid standard
If that doesn’t complicate things enough, enter by the FCI
the Basques. For a solid century, from the 1870s
to the 1970s, these immigrants from northern
Spain found work out west as sheepherders, left Spain for Argentina, Chile and Paraguay,
arriving in large numbers during the Gold Rush. eventually heading north to California in the
Breed authorities argue – quite vehemently hopes of striking it rich as miners. Whether they
– over their role in the Australian Shepherd’s would have brought dogs with them is an open
development: Did the Basques simply herd question.
with the mostly British-derived dogs that were
already in the West when they arrived, creating Like many Americans whose ancestors arrived
an oft-misunderstood association with the in previous centuries, the Australian Shepherd
Australian Shepherd? Or did they bring their is a confounding mix of many different cultures,
own herding dogs with them? And if they did, influences, and national identities. Sorting them
where were they coming from? While popular out is likely impossible, but in the end, it doesn’t
accounts say the American West’s Basque matter much: The American idiom has never been
sheepherders came by way of Australia, the bulk about looking in the rear-view mirror.

A Worldwide Magazine for the Aussie • Issue 1/2023 | 21