A Glance at History – Then and Now
“Once a breed of dogs has been approved by a kennel club and a standard issued, the process of breeders “improving” a breed sets in. We might ask what the breed is being improved for? In theory, breeders should be improving the breed’s original function, whatever it was. At dog shows the original function is almost never tested, and a new objective comes into being: to win at a dog show. What is needed to win at a dog show may have no relationship to what the dog’s original function was.” – Curtis Brown, author of Dog Locomotion and Gait Analysis.
1957 – Hart’s Panda (female), ASCA’s first registered Australian Shepherd.
1958 – ASCA’s First Show –Himmel Park in Tucson Arizona with Judge Eloise Hart.
1969 – Aussies shown in Arizona, California, Colorado and in the Pacific Northwest.
1972 – Colorado
1975 –- CH Windermere’s Sunshine of Bonnie-Blu, CDX, (The Match and Show News states: Ch Bright Future of Windermere, but it was actually Sunny.
Ch Windermere’s Sunshine of Bonnie-Blu.
1979 – Aussies still the preferred breed in western ranch country.
Champion Colorado’s Sizzlin Sioux (DOB December 25, 1977), a top winning female of the era. She was moderate and balanced in every way. Sizzlin Sioux represented three major foundation bloodlines of the day – Flintridge, Las Rocosa, and Copper Canyon.
New Millennium – Popular type found in the show ring today.
Please see The Breed’s Changing Structure: