WHAT WE DO NOT DO
WE DO NOT BREED TO EARN BREED CLUB TITLES
We do not have the goal to obtain Breed Club Titles. Whats wrong with breed club titles? Nothing is wrong with breed club titles but it can be tempting for a breeder to shift their focus towards earning titles rather than preserving the breed. While Breed Clubs offer Titles as incentive to showcase their achievements, it can quickly become their main focus of the breeding program. That pursuit becomes addictive and as with human nature, the focus gradually moves away from the dogs themselves and more towards personal goals of status with their ego driving their decisions.
WE DO NOT BREED MORE LITTERS IN A YEAR THAN WE HAVE DEPOSITS FOR OR ARE EXPECTED
Many breeders will breed between 20-50 litters per year. It is statistically impossible for all those dogs to be exemplary specimens of the breed. With their lack of education they mistakenly breed a dog just because of a name in the pedigree or to a randomly winning dog. More times than not, those dogs don’t reproduce quality. They cannot possibly produce a dog with quality phenotype if it is not in their genes to do so. There are many breeders in the breed who have had limited success with A particular dog, but they are rarely able to reproduce that success because the dogs quality was limited, and the wins were largely the result of of a temporary trend rather than true quality. Another factor in AKC Dog Shows is the use of a Professional Handler who knows how to work the system and selectively shows only under judges likely to award them the wins.
We have several foundation dogs in our breeding program that have produced six of the number one dogs in the breed. Four of those dogs are out of Leo while the others are Sired by Pablo, Leo’s half brother. Many of these dogs have earned multiple Best In shows, Multiple Best In show specialty wins and Multiple National Specialty wins with several different handlers including myself (not a handler) and even shown and won with my Grandkids showing them.
The AKC conformation Ring is a place to evaluate and showcase breeding Stock. We are proud that we have not only been successful, but that we have achieved that success with multiple dogs who continue to produce Quality generation after generation. Our success has not been limited to a single dog. It has been shown consistently producing quality through multiple generations. For this reason, we very rarely sell to other Breeder. We maintain strict control over our lines to ensure that the good qualities we have worked so hard for are not diluted by the mediocre dogs. From time to time and usually not by ethical means, a dog slips through the cracks and ends up with another breeder. They often have high hopes for the dog, but after breeding it to their own stock, they wonder why nothing special was produced. Instead of recognizing that the phenotype was not similar enough or acknowledging their own limited understanding of genetics, they simply blame the dog they had placed such high hopes in.
Sadly, many breeders simply breed to get their name out because they have a desire for fame in some area of their life. One breeder when asked why she bred a known dysplastic dog to another dysplastic dog and then sold the puppies to a breeder said, “I am 74 years old, what do I care? I just want my name out there.” Incidentally that resulting puppy passed the OFA hip exam but the problem was, that only one dog in a litter tested for dysplasia, there could be more in the litter in pet homes that are never reported. That situation further contributed to the problem of a gene pool saturated with unhealthy dogs.
We will never repeat a cross that produces severe health problems. Several years ago I bred an outside female (not bred by me) to a dog that was related to my lines. The phenotype of the Sire was what I considered quality and the female had some traits that I wanted to incorporate into my program. The resulting litter produced one puppy who was severely dysplastic at a very young age. I sent the female back to the breeder she came from and retired the Stud (neutered and put in a loving pet home). Other breeders encouraged me to try again telling me that was just bad luck. It was not bad luck, it was genetics at work. The mindset of many breeders is to breed those types of dogs anyway relying on the numbers to produce enough unaffected dogs to justify the few affected ones. The problem with that perspective is that the Gene pool for the breed is already saturated with undesirable dogs that carry potential health problems.
WE DO NOT SELL WITH BREEDING RIGHTS AND RARELY SELL TO BREEDERS
Many Breeders sell dogs with full breeding rights because they can charge more money for them. This practice is not only irresponsible, it actively harms the gene pool and shows a complete lack of concern for the breed. The result is inexperienced people breeding dogs with no real understanding of dog breeding, let alone understanding the breed standard type or genetics.
The AKC and parent clubs encourage mentorship however, their “breed first, learn later” philosophy is a detriment to the breed. These breeders typically have 20 to 75 intact dogs in their breeding program many of them keep them in fields with basic shelter for each one or crowded into kennel barns. The result is that many of these dogs are nearly feral handlers have told stories of receiving six month old dogs from specific breeders that are old enough to show, but are completely feral and un socialized. It takes them months of work just to get them trained enough for basic confirmation shows. Another common trick these Breeders use is partnering with other Breeders who co-own the dogs. Some have as many as 10-15 dogs with each partner. They split the litters allowing them to keep fewer dogs in their own home while still producing 50 to 75 litters per year.
We advocate for education, licensing, kennel inspections, basic competency test and a commitment to limit the number of litters produced in a year before anyone should be allowed to breed and register litters. Implementing these requirements and limiting the number of dogs produced will not happen unless the Laws in each State and County are modified to limit breeding operations whether they are commercial or hobby. The overpopulation of dogs in the United States and worldwide is routinely ignored by the dog breeding industry. Animal hoarding cases are hidden from the public and swept onto the rug. I have seen cases where prominent club member members even club officers have been charged with animal abuse and hoarding. When the dogs are seized by the authorities, These individuals play the victim. The DOG FANCY then circles around them, raises money for their defense and sends them right back on their way to continue the same destructive practices. I know of several people in the MAS breed that have had animals seized for animal abuse, neglect, and hoarding. After a period of time, they are right back at it, some of them even earning very high club titles and are AKC Breeders of merit.
Don’t be fooled by titles or claims of health testing. Heath testing is important, but what matters even more is whether the breeder offers a lifetime health warranty on the puppies they sell. More importantly, whether they allow you to visit the home or environment, where the puppies are being raised. Proper socialization and real world exposure are essential for producing confident well adjusted puppies. If a breeder will not allow you to visit their home for an inspection. Avoid them completely. There is no valid reason for this refusal. Every Breeder goes to the grocery store, the doctors office and most attend dog shows every week, exposing the dogs and puppies in their home to the outside world. Claiming they are protecting the puppies by banning visitors is not a legitimate excuse.
WE DO NOT BREED ACCORDING TO TRENDS, WHO IS WINNING IN THE SHOW RING OR FOR ANY NEW SPORTS THAT AKC DEVELOPS FOR COMPETITION
We realize the current number of dogs being shown in the US and Worldwide is not a true representation of the breed. When the breed was accepted into AKC there was a height requirement that limited both the number and quality of entries seen in the show ring.
Before AKC recognition the majority of dogs that were winning and considered the cornerstone of the breed were 18-19 inches, which was still smaller than the ASCA breed standard. For this reason a need for a breed club for smaller Aussies was needed.
Formed in 1993, The Mini Aussie breed standard mirrored the ASCA breed standard, which stated specifically “QUALITY IS NOT TO BE SACRIFICED IN FAVOR OF SIZE.” That statement was intended to remind judges and Breeders that correct type, structure and overall quality should always take priority over simply meeting a preferred height range. Unfortunately after AKC recognition the breed attracted many new Breeders who lacked education in genetics and breeding principles, as well as a solid understanding of phenotype. Their focus often centered only on size or color and only those dogs that they could show in the AKC ring, Before AKC recognition, some Breeders took shortcuts by mixing the breed with Pomeranians or shelties to reduce the size. Those breeders even bragged about the contribution that Mr. Wiggles (Pomeranian mix) made to their program by reducing size. After AKC recognition, many of those new Breeders were aware of this and still chose to use those lines as their foundation in their AKC breeding programs of the miniature American Shepherd. Those genetic traits remain in the makeup of those specific lines and you can see those traits in dogs that you see in the show ring today Additionally, many AKC Breeders focus their programs on a single sport such as Agility. The Miniature American Shepherd excels in all events and is often considered the Quarter Horse of the dog world because of its versatility. The focus of a breeding program should not be limited to any one sport. The original purpose of the breed was to work livestock on a ranch, not to perform the specific tasks required in the Agility Ring.
🇺🇸 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT MINI AUSSIES AND MINIATURE AMERICAN SHEPHERDS 🇺🇸
The Mini Aussie is not a new breed. The original club was incorporated in 1993 with a focus on developing a smaller Aussie with
the same type, temperament and biddability as the ASCA Aussies. The breed standard for the Mini Aussie mirrored that of the ASCA standard. Some of the differences that you see in AKC Australian shepherds that deviate from the original ASCA Standard include allowing for underbites, excessive amount of white on the body, including patches of white up to 4 inches.
The difference between the AKC Australian Shepherd, and the AKC Miniature American Shepherd are: Height, bite, allowed white, pink on the nose, head planes, and tail length. As an AKC approved judges education presenter, I often give seminars to Licensed and prospective Judges on the breed standard for the Miniature American Shepherd. I have conducted MAS breed seminars in conjunction with the Austrian Shepherd seminars and the differences in the breed often comes up as a topic of discussion. There are more similarities in the two breeds than there are differences. The differences are a direct result of the AKC Australian Shepherd standard deviating from the original ASCA standard, including changes to the bite, allowed white, pink on the nose, head planes and tails.
BREED STANDARD SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE AKC AUSSIE AND MAS
PROPORTIONS, SUBSTANCE, EXPRESSION, EYES, EARS, SKULL, MUZZLE, NECK, TOP LINE, TAIL SET, HINDQUARTERS, FOREQUARTERS, COAT, COLOR, GATE AND TEMPERAMENT.
BREED STANDARD DIFFERENCES
HEIGHT, BITE, ALLOWED WHITE, PINK ON NOSE, HEAD PLANES AND TAIL LENGTH
See below a quick comparison of Aussies and MAS. I have included images of Mismark dogs with excessive white. Mismarks are not always the result of Merle to Merle breedings. This can happen from breeding a TRI to another TRI or a TRI to a Merle. Typically, both parents contribute to the mismark/ piebald phenotype. Responsible breeders will not breed these dogs due to the probability of inheritance to their offspring. Mismark puppies make amazing pets. Since they will not be spending excessive time in direct sun working on a ranch they are not at risk for eye related health issues.
Images of amazing pets that happen to be mismarked
