In 2015, the Miniature American Shepherd became the newest member of the AKC’s Herding Group, but it wasn’t all that new of a breed.

During the late 1960s in California, small, unregistered dogs thought to be Australian Shepherds were bred with the intention of keeping their high intelligence, strong work ethic and inquisitive nature –  but with their small size. They were originally called the Miniature Australian Shepherd and were registered with the National Stock Dog Registry. By the 1990’s, they were popular across the country.

In 1993, the original Miniature American Shepherd club was asked by ARBA, the American Rare Breed Association, to change the name because, they said, they didn’t allow breeds that had an AKC breed in the name (later, it was pointed out, ARBA was allowing Toy Fox Terriers to show despite have the name of an AKC breed in their name, so that rule was changed). The Miniature Australian Shepherd became the North American Shepherd. In time, the name changed again, this time to the Miniature American Shepherd, a name chosen by the club membership as a whole. In 2010, the AKC approved the split of the Australian Shepherd by phenotype, namely by size. It should be noted that there are still clubs in existence promoting the miniature Australian Shepherd as a size variety of Aussie because they don’t want to separate the gene pool. There are, of course, many benefits to AKC recognition, but there are also benefits to having access to the large ASCA/AKC gene pool of Aussies.

The MAS is a terrific breed with the heart to herd large stock, but it is typically used for smaller critters such as goats and sheep. The dogs are particularly favored among the “horsey set” traveling to horse shows. And just in case you were thinking the breed is tiny because of the word, “miniature” in its name, know that males can start at 14 inches, but be as tall as 18 inches.  While the breed resembles the Australian Shepherd, is should never be compared to the Aussie. That said, this breed is athletic and should have the Aussie’s effortless, energy-saving gait. After that, everything about the MAS is moderate – and yes, this dog can have two different eye colors. The breed standard indicates one or both eyes may be brown, blue, hazel, amber or any color combination thereof, including flecks and marbling.

Image: Miniature American Shepherd created from 10 to 20 individually hand cut pieces of paper, in a variety of colors and patterns, then combined in layers and mounted on color stock by Patricia Peters – CanineCutUpsiah
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CanineCutUps