Miniature American Shepherd

History

Originating in the United States around the mid 1900s, the Miniature American Shepherd comes from the same bloodlines as the Australian Shepherd. The Miniature American Shepherd was bred for herding, agility and fly-ball. Today they are still used for the same competitive activities as well as being companions and wonderful farm dogs.

Appearance

There is no doubt that the Miniature American Shepherd is absolutely stunning when it comes to its appearance. Both males and females measuring 14-18 inches in height and weighing in on average between 20-40 pounds in weight, this breed is a medium sized breed full of color and personality. Typically, this breed has a tail that is docked, as their ears are triangular and positioned upright with a fold 3 quarters of the way down. The Miniature American Shepherd can have eyes of almost any color, unlike most breeds, and these colors can include, blue, amber, brown, hazel or black, as well as any color combination of these or shade. Their coat is medium length and is two layers and very soft to the touch, available in red, red merle, black, or blue merle color combinations.

Temperament

The Miniature American Shepherd is a very smart, active and loyal breed. Due to their high herding instincts they are best suited for homes with older children and no other pets. This breed requires a daily walk along with other physical and mental activity afterward. Training this breed is very important and will benefit the breed mentally making them easier to have indoors for longer periods of time. It is important to socialize this breed young to ensure the acceptance of strangers as it grows into an adult. This breed will always be reserved when guests come into their home but typically will not display anger. The Miniature American Shepherd requires a firm, sometimes repetitive and confident owner who is active and only uses positive reinforcement training methods. This breed loves its owner and being on the go along side of him or her. Make sure to give your Miniature American Shepherd enough time and attention to bond with him or her and create a wonderful relationship.

Grooming

This breed requires daily combing and bathing when needed. Pay special attention to their coat to make sure certain spots do not start to mat or form knots, these spots are typically in areas not easily visible such as their stomach or under their legs. Regular tips to a professional groomer are recommended.

Special Notes

It is highly recommended that you have a properly safe fenced in area for your Miniature American Shepherd to roman freely within due to the risk of this breed wandering or chasing things while outdoors. Please fully educate yourself about this breed prior to adding one to your family to ensure a life long commitment to your new companion. Do not add a new dog to your household unless you are able to provide both physically and financially for the life of your new pet. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.