General Appearance
The Miniature Australian Shepherd is a well-balanced dog of medium size and bone. He is attentive and animated, showing strength and stamina combined with unusual agility. Slightly longer than tall, he has a coat of moderate length and coarseness with coloring that offers variety and individuality in each specimen. An identifying characteristic is his natural or docked bobtail. In each sex, masculinity or feminity is well-defined. Bone is moderate and clean with coarseness, heaviness or lightness being undesirable.
The recognised colours are blue merle, red (liver) merle, solid black, and solid red(liver) all with or without white markings and/or tan (copper) points.
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Character
The Miniature Australian Shepherd is a very intelligent dog which has a fun loving personality. They are versatile and easy to train but this does not make them the ideal dog for everyone as they do need stimulation and exercise. They are perfect dogs to do agility, herding or flyball being very fast and agile with endless enthusiasm. The Miniature Australian Shepherd is a very loving dog who enjoys spending time with the family. They are exceptional companions and are devoted to their owners. They have strong herding and guarding instincts so training is needed for them to use these instincts positively.
Size
The only thing that should be different between an Australian Shepherd and a Miniature Australian Shepherd is the size. The Miniature Australian Shepherd is smaller and more petite than the Australain Shepherd. When you place a Miniature Australian Shepherd next to an Australian Shepherd the size difference is very noticable.
The Australian Shepherd usually measures between 18 and 23 inches at the shoulders and usually weighs between 35 and 60 lbs. The Miniature Australian Shepherd usually measures between 14 and 18 inches at the shoulders and usually weighs between 20 and 35 lbs. Males are usually larger than the females.
This shows the comparable size difference between the two breeds.
Breed Standard
MASCA Breed Standard
To view the official MASCA (Miniature Australian Shepherd Club of America) Breed Standard for the Miniature Australian Shepherd please click on the above link.
 History of the Breed
The history of the Miniature Australian Shepherd begins with the history of the Australian Shepherd. The origins of the Aussie begin in the late 1800’s when western ranchers were importing quality sheep from Australia. Ranchers of the American west were reportedly very impressed with the working ability of these "little blue dogs" and began interbreeding them with their own shepherd dogs. The result was the Australian Shepherd.
Throughout the history of the Australian Shepherd, small (under 18") dogs can be seen in historical photographs.
Many believe that the original Aussie was selectively bred larger as sheep ranching decreased and cattle ranching increased. Cattle ranchers preferred a larger dog to work the larger stock.
During the 1960’s, Doris Cordova, a Californian Australian Shepherd enthusiast acquired several small working Aussies from the rodeo circuit. Intrigued by their compact size, she worked with a veterinarian to develop a breeding program in order to preserve the trait, which quickly resulted in litters producing both dogs only 13 to 14 inches tall as well as larger Australian Shepherds. The smaller dogs eventually became known as "miniature" Australian Shepherds. began a breeding program specifically to produce very small Australian Shepherds. Another horseman, Chas Lasater of Valhalla Kennels soon joined the ranks of mini breeders.
These Mini breeders formed a club together and the stated purpose for developing the miniatures was to produce an Australian Shepherd under 17" who had the heart, intelligence and drive to work stock, and yet be small enough to travel easily to stock shows and be a "house" dog.
Cordova’s dogs were registered through the National Stock Dog Registry (NSDR). The first registered Miniature Australian Shepherd was Cordovas Spike. The NSDR became the first registry to recognize and register the mini as a size variety of the Australian Shepherd Cordovas Spike
Originally recognized in (1989 - 1990) they were shown with the Rare Breed Kennel Club as Miniature Australian Shepherds. The miniature gained in popularity and in 1990 the Miniature Australian Shepherd Club of the USA (MASCUSA) was formed. The MASCUSA gained recognition of the miniature by the American Rare Breeds Assc. (ARBA) to provide a Nationally recognized conformation show venue.
Now with the recognition of the American Rare Breeds Association (ARBA) the Miniature Australian Shepherd showed alongside the Australian Shepherd until 1993, when the AKC officially recognised the Australian Shepherd.
 The popularity of the Miniature Australian Shepherd has grown very quickly and they are now a well known and loved breed in America and Canada. The breed has been imported into Germany where they have a loyal following of breeders and owners. The first Mini Aussies came over to the UK during the last few years and they are sure to win many hearts this side of the Atlantic!
Miniature Australian Shepherd breeders worldwide continue to strive to produce excellent dogs with well researched lines and health testing. Many breeders continue to campaign for further recognition for the breed with the hope of Miniature Australian Shepherds becoming AKC and FCI registered as a size variety of the Australian Shepherd.
More information regarding the breeds history, registrations and recognition can be found on our FAQ page
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