As many in the MAS community are aware, we are attempting to extend the studbook for AKC MAS. Yesterday, we received information that states that AKC has already made it clear that IF the studbook stays open, they will not allow any new dogs with Standard Aussies in the first 3 generations. This has led to a lot of feelings and debate within the community and while I see where many people are coming from, here are my thoughts on the issue. I like it.
The people who don't seem to kind of fall into 2 camps.
Camp 1: Conformation show folks who are wanting to bring in MORE size, MORE bone and MORE coat. Well sorry, I'm glad this is being thwarted actually. We don't need that.
Camp 2: Working/herding folks who want to bring in more working ability/drive. This one I can understand and appreciate. That said, even if they have those things, standards come with standard genetics and even if those dogs are within size range, they aren't going to consistently PRODUCE within size. Size is an issue for us; we need to stop bringing in larger size alleles.
BOTH groups seem to be losing sight of one important thing. There are TONS of amazing dogs in the mini and toy aussie gene pool. TONS! Being limited to minis and toys doesn't mean you're sacrificing anything. There's a huge assumption here that cutting out standard aussies is "limiting the quality we have access to" and that's just blatantly false in every way.
A lot of people seem to be hung up on "toy dogs brought into bring size down will ruin us". Why??? There are amazing toys out there! I've watched ASDR herding instinct tests full of amazing toys.
My own boy Nago, my dog with the best herding instinct, is from mostly toy lines.
At the end of the day, we need to remember that MAS are no longer "aussies". We are "aussie-adjacent". We share common ancestry. We have dogs with a LOT of aussie DNA. But AKC was adamant that we are not aussies. We don't need to bring in any more aussies. We need to use this open studbook time to bring in as many TRUE minis and toys as possible. People are worried we will lose "aussie type". I'm going to go out on a limb and say I hope we do to some extent! We. Are. Not. Aussies. Type is what allows you to look at a dog and immediately be able to identify the breed. If I look at a dog and have to ask "is that a MAS or an aussie", does it really have type?
What's the point of even being a different breed if we are going to have DNA identical to aussies and type identical to aussies? If a DNA test can't tell an aussie from a MAS, are we a breed at all? It's time to fish or cut bait and decide if we are or are not a BREED.
If we are to be viewed as a different breed, to show up differently on a DNA test, etc we need DIVERSITY from what we see in standard aussies. That means as much of the ASDR mini and toy lines as possible. Toy lines in particular are really not pure aussie and add a lot of diversity to the mix that helps separate us from standard aussies. They will also help keep us in size, The founders of the breed, Sandy Travis and Doris Cordova, had a vision for small,light boned dogs. We need to get back to that. We were NEVER meant to be "slightly smaller aussies". Sandy in particular is very open about wanting the breed to have stayed under 13 inches. We were meant to be a SMALL breed.
AKC is sending a message that we are not aussies. I feel that they are making a point: “we will leave these books open for you to bring in ASDR minis and toys because they have reciprocal open studbooks with AKC MAS and we are going to give you a little longer to transfer those papers over to us.” This is especially important because a lot of ASDR people avoided doing this in the past because ASDR used to pull your papers over it. They decided 3yrs ago to change that rule. People have only had 3yrs to get papers transferred over at this point.
I used to really, really hate the name “mini American”. I thought it was stupid. And I still think it’s somewhat stupid because there is no “standard American shepherd”. We should have been North American Shepherds or American Shepherds. I used to be adamant we were mini aussies. I’ve since changed my mind on that. I think we are CURRENTLY the same thing as a mini aussie due to open studbooks, but after those studbooks close, we will no longer be the same thing.
AKC made a CLEAR decision that we are not a “variety of aussie”. We are a distinct and separate breed according to them.If you want to be a part of an association that considers aussies size variable, ASDR is an excellent option. If you want “mini aussies”, they are the go to registry for them. They also allow breeding between all sizes.
Mini Americans are a distinct AKC breed that CURRENTLY has huge overlap with aussies and mini aussies because it’s a breed in development.
While I will almost certainly always refer to my dogs casually as “aussies” out of habit, I have come to embrace AKC’s decision.
What makes a breed a breed?
For one, showing up separately on a DNA test. Right now, you could test a dozen MAS and get a dozen results ranging from 100 % aussie to 100% MAS and everything in between. Secondly, a breed is visually distinct from other breeds. If I can’t tell to look at a dog whether he’s a MAS or a small Aussie, are we really a separate breed?
I think the Genesis of this whole debate was a bunch of people about 12-13yrs ago sitting around a figurative table with AKC, and not clearly HEARING what AKC was trying to say. AKC said, "you can't be mini aussies; aussies aren't size variable; you have to be a different breed". Now those people are surprised that AKC is, omg, not allowing us to bring in AUSSIES. You can still bring in MINI AUSSIES and TOY AUSSIES but you cannot bring in STANDARD aussies because there is already a breed for that with it's own rules and studbook.
Standard aussies are part of our foundation,, but it's time to diversify. Frankly, I'd be glad to see an out cross project with totally different breeds brought in (I'd recommend sheltie, smaller BC and maybe even larger paps). I'm sure that will make me some enemies but I feel that way.
Comments