Page 100 - Aussie Magazine - 2023 Issue 2

History

“The Australian Shepherd

was developed as a blue
merle, natural bob tail

working stock dog.” English Shepherd 1847

enamored with the eye-catching “little blue dogs”
they met accompanying livestock from a variety
of source. Photographic evidence shows Aussie
look-alikes throughout the 1800s, especially
after the 1840s arriving on boats from Australia
and many shepherd-like dogs driving cattle
and sheep west from the East Coast. Ranchers
mated superior working animals with other Merled Collie 1898
superior working specimens, creating offspring
and generations that worked, but had no official
registry or saved pedigrees. Oftentimes these
breedings resulted in crossing different breeds or
even cross-bred dogs being used on each other
to produce superior working dogs specifically
designed for the stock itself and the working
conditions (weather, terrain, etc.). The concept of
a “purebred” registered dog with a pedigree was
never a topic of discussion at this time. The focus
was on an improved working dog, and there was
a huge preference on “Australian Shepherds” that Smithfield Sheepdog circa 1800
were blue merle and had no tail.

In any discussion about adding tails to this breed
is it crucial to understand the difference between
the Australian Shepherd and other breeds that are
docked and do not have the natural bob tail (NBT)
gene. There are over 34 dog breeds who carry the
natural bob tail gene including the Polish Lowland
Sheepdog, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Mudi. These
dogs differ greatly from tailed dogs that are docked
such as Rottweillers, German Shorthair Pointers,
Early photo of blue merle, natural bob tail sheepdogs that Weimeraners.
closely resemble the Australian Shepherd

This distinction becomes important in the discu-
According to herding breeds historian Linda Rorem, ssion of the Australian Shepherd, a breed deve-
the blue merle gene and the natural bob tail gene loped as a natural bob tail breed. An Aussie tail
have existed in herding breeds for centuries. that is anything less than full carries the NBT gene
These traits are not mutations or defects that have and that gene can express itself as very short and
become fads or breeder whims. Documentation almost completely full and any length in between.
from the earliest attempt at breed identification The reason for docking for uniformity of tail length
in the 1500s in England described a bob-tail becomes quite clear when one observes the varied
shepherd dog. tail lengths of the undocked NBT dogs.

100 | A Worldwide Magazine for the Aussie • Issue 2/2023