Australian Shepherd

Available Pets

Australian Shepherd


Weight: 40–65 pounds

Height: 18–23 inches

A Look Back


Right Breed for You?

An energetic breed with strong herding and guarding instincts, the Aussie requires daily vigorous exercise. Although sometimes reserved with strangers, they are .people. dogs that want to always be near their families. Their thick coats require weekly brushing.


The Australian Shepherd is descended from a line of Europe’s finest herders.The Aussie’s world tour began in Europe, near the Pyrenees Mountains. It was here, in the borderlands between France and Spain, where the indigenous people known as the Basques built their centuries-old reputation as world-class shepherds. Their herding dog of choice was called the Pyrenean Shepherd, progenitor of our modern Aussie. In the early 1800s, Australia’s Anglo émigrés began a push into the continent’s vast interior in search of rich pastureland for cattle ranching. Eventually, many Basques, with their faithful shepherd dogs in tow, sailed east to try their luck on the virgin Australian continent, a wide-open paradise for sheep herders. During their long sojourn in Australia, the Basque shepherd refined their dogs with judicious crosses to Australia’s British imports, Collies and Border Collies, among them. After building up their flocks, the intrepid Basques left Australia for greener pastures—literally—and set sail to California. California ranchers admired the Basques’ herding dogs and assumed they were an Australian breed—thus the misleading name Australian Shepherd. Aussies, further refined and perfected in America, have been an iconic part of cowboy culture ever since. Many are still happily herding in the American West, others earn their feed as rodeo performers, and still others of this exuberantly versatile breed work as therapy dogs, drug detectors, service dogs, and search-and-rescue dogs. The Australian Shepherd entered the AKC Herding Group in 1993.

General Appearance


Size, Proportion, Substance




Neck, Topline, Body











Smart, Work-Oriented, Exuberant




Undershot. Overshot greater than 1/8 inch.White body splashes, which means white on body between withers and tail, on sides between elbows and back of hindquarters in all colors.

Did you know?

The Australian Shepherd is AKC's 135th breed.The Aussie as we know it today developed in the US.The Aussie probably originated in the Basque region of the Pyrenees Mountains, but it was dubbed the Australian Shepherd because of its association with Basque shepherds who arrived in the United States from Australia in the 1800's.Previous names of the Aussie include Spanish Shepherd, Pastor Dog, Bob-Tail, Blue Heeler, New Mexican Shepherd, and California Shepherd.The Aussie's popularity boomed with Western culture and horse-riding after WWII and was often featured in rodeos, horse shows, movies, and TV.TheAussie is a favorite of ranchers, who use the breed for its inherent trainability and herding ability. It is a loose- to medium-eyed dog ("eye" being a general term referring to the way a dog controls stock via gaze).The Australian Shepherd is not registered in Australia as a native breed, although it has been registered by other registries since the 1950's.