Meet the Miniature American Shepherd

​​​​​​​​​​We Miniature American Shepherds are a new breed and are very closely related to our cousin, the Australian Shepherd. In fact, we used to be called Miniature Australian Shepherds, and even today some people call us Mini Australian Shepherds or Mini Aussies! My Australian Shepherd cousins were first bred in the American West by farmers and ranchers who used them as sheepdogs and cattle herders. By the mid-20th century, smaller Aussies were working on the rodeo circuit in the American West. In the 1960s, a group of Aussie lovers in California decided they wanted to create a small dog with Aussie traits and they used only these small Australian Shepherds (who were below the AKC breed standard size) to create my breed!

​​​​​​​​​​We were originally called Miniature Australian Shepherds but the Aussie breeders didn’t like that too much, so our name was changed first to North American Shepherd and finally to Miniature American Shepherd. We became super popular with equestrians in the U.S. since our compact size made us great travel buddies! Just like our breeders wanted, we had all the skills of an Aussie in a size that was more manageable for humans who lived in smaller spaces. The Miniature American Shepherd Club of the USA (MASCUSA) was formed in 1990 to promote and maintain my breed, and they worked hard to get us recognized by the American Kennel Club. Within a few years, they succeeded – we were accepted into AKC’s Foundation Stock Service in 2011 and were officially recognized as a member of the herding group in 2015!