Every time this subject gets brought up, a lot of very bad information gets spouted.
First of all, anytime you ask someone about this PLEASE make sure they are DIRECTLY involved in either AKC Mini Americans or ASDR mini aussies. People outside these two groups tend to either have completely wrong info or very out-of-date info.
The “mini aussie” was first developed in the 60s and 70s and started with small (possibly mixed breed) dogs of “aussie type” but unknown pedigree. The most famous of these was "Puppy" owned by Sandy Travis. It's worth noting that I've spoken with Sandy and she says Puppy was purebred, but many of us have our doubts. Puppy was line bred and many small purebred aussies were added to the founding stock.
"Mini Aussies" were first registered in 1980 with the National Stock Dog Registry. The parent club was formed in 1990. The breed entered the AKC foundation stock service in 2011. Because the standard aussie folks (primarily USASA and ASCA) were adamantly opposed to the idea of aussies being size variable, the parent club was basically FORCED to change the breed’s name. This was absolutely against the founder’s wishes and was a concession made to keep the AKC, USASA and ASCA happy.
The AKC studbook for Mini Americans is still open. Until 2015, AKC australian shepherds who were within the appropriate height parameters were allowed to switch from being registered as aussies to being registered as mini American. “Mini aussies” from several registries were, and ARE STILL allowed to get AKC mini American papers. This is an extremely common practice. The most common outside registry used for this purpose is the ASDR. Most 2nd generation ASDR mini and toy aussies are eligible for AKC FSS papers and most 3rd generations dogs are eligible for regular AKC papers (FSS in our breed means you can’t show in conformation but still have full breeding rights).
At this time, there is literally zero difference between a mini aussie and a mini American. They are genetically identical and a HUGE number of dogs are double registered as both. I have personally brought 2 ASDR dogs into the AKC registry within the last year. This will continue to occur until 2025 when the studbooks close. MASCUSA is planning to file for an extension in late 2024. AKC MAS who trace back to ASDR stock are also eligible to be dual registered as ASDR mini aussies. I've done this with one as well.
Reputable breeders within the AKC MAS community recognize that we have a VERY small gene pool within AKC at this time and are very concerned about this. There is a big movement to seek out nice ASDR dogs and bring them into the gene pool before the studbooks close as we currently anticipate there being some very serious genetic bottle-necking if we don’t.
Mini aussies and mini americans ARE the same thing. No ifs, ands, or doubts. They are genetically the same and they can be registered as both. This isn’t even up for debate at this point in time due to the open studbook.
Where things get hairy, is the question of “mini aussie” vs “aussie”. There is an argument that “mini aussies” are not “aussies”. The complicated nature of the registration process makes this a much more debatable question.
Some mini aussies are just short dogs of standard aussie lineage. I have a double registered akc mas/asdr mas that is 100% aussie by DNA from ASCA lines.
There are also a great number of AKC and ASCA REGISTERED, DNA VERIFIED australian shepherds who are double registered as ASDR mini aussie. If I buy an AKC/ASCA aussie who is under 18in tall (which occurs naturally in the breed), and I choose to double register that dog with ASDR in order to show him at ASDR shows, I will be forced to choose a size variety for him and that variety is based on height. So if that dog is 17.5 inches tall, it will be registered as an ASDR mini aussie. These dogs are absolutely 100% pure australian shepherds and have DNA verification to prove it. (Note, my understanding is that ASCA will revoke your papers if you register anywhere as a mini aussie).
There are also many mini (and toy) aussies who go back to the original founding lines from the 60s and 70s and these lines were quite possibly not purebred, but many of them have been bred back to pure aussies so much that any other breeds DNA is negligible at this point.
ASDR does have a hardship registration process. This means that if your dog appears to be an aussie, and your vet agrees that it is an aussie, you can send in pictures and get ASDR papers. This is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it adds genetic diversity which is critical to the prevention of genetic bottle-necking. On the other hand, it does allow disreputable people to sneak mixed breeds in.
It is important to note that AKC is not all that picky about what dogs it allows into the open studbook, so claims that AKC MAS are “more purebred” or “more reputable” than ASDR MAS is blatantly false. It's a decision based on pedigree and it only takes one generation of ASDR pedigree to get AKC FSS papers. There is absolutely no difference in legitimacy between AKC MAS and ASDR MAS.
I also hear a lot of people say "only backyard breeders call them mini aussies". This is completely false. Many reputable AKC show breeders still use this term and I have heard Akc/ukc carded judges use the term IN THE SHOW RING!! If you spend any amount of time around AKC MAS people, you will notice many of us only say "mini american" in very formal conversation. We call them aussies or mini aussies 90% of the time. At the end of the day, there are basically 3 types of mini/toys 1)standard bred that are short.
2)dogs which trace back to foundation mini lines created by Sandy Travis and Doris Cordova's kennels in the 60s and 70s. 3)poorly bred BYB dogs that do involve recent mixing of small toy breed dogs.
All the information I just gave you can be verified by AKC, ASDR, www.stockdogregistryservices.com (this is the partner AKC uses for the open studbook project) and from the AKC parent club at http://mascusa.org/. Look up the information for yourself and don’t take my word for it. Do not believe the word of random internet strangers who have zero affiliation with the actual AKC Mini American Shepherd community.
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