The Aussie Shepherd

Aussies have a joyful and bouncy persona. However they take their work seriously and are large on defending their "flock" They make loyal relatives pets and love nothing over to curl up withtheir master of an evening after a long day working in the fields.

Australian shepherds have a medium length furry coat, with outer coarse "guard hairs" and a soft and woolly undercoat which insulates them and protects them from the weather. An "Aussie" ought to not have a thick luxuriant "silky" coat as this will naturally collect more burdocks and grit than a more natural less heavy coat, thus ought to not expect to see a "heavy" coat on an Australian shepherd but  a medium length coat (usually not longer than inches in length at the most) and often less feathered than the heavily groomed "show" shepherds.

As historicallyin the past said, they love to chase and won't stay willingly in a yard without a fence.

Australian shepherds come from a mixed parentage, with a "little small bit of this" and "a small little bit of that" in their pedigree. Thus they often can be a bit under-sized or over-sized from the standard as outlined by the Australian shepherd club.

Colors of the Aussie may be Blue merle, black, red merle, or red...all of these may have white markings including white "collar" , socks, facial blaze but can not include white splashes on the body between the withers and the tail.

The American Kennel club states that the preferred size for males ought to be 20-23 inches at the shoulders and the females 18-21 inches. Tails ought to be naturally bobbed or docked.