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 Australian Shepherd Breed Standard

General Appearance
The Australian Shepherd is an intelligent working dog of strong herding and guarding instincts. He is a loyal companion and has the stamina to work all day. He is well balanced, slightly longer than tall, of medium size and bone, with coloring that offers variety and individuality. He is attentive and animated, lithe and agile, solid and muscular without cloddiness. He has a coat of moderate length and coarseness. He has a docked or natural bobbed tail.

SIZE —
STANDARD: Preferred height for both male and female is 18 inches up to 23 inches at the top of the withers.
MINIATURE: Preferred height for both male and female is 14 inches up to 18 inches at the top of withers.
TOY: Preferred height for both male and female is 10 inches up to 14 inches at the top of the withers.


Coat
Hair is of medium texture, straight to wavy, weather resistant and of medium length. The undercoat varies in quantity with variations in climate. Hair is short and smooth on the head, ears, front of forelegs and below the hocks. Backs of forelegs and britches are moderately feathered. There is a moderate mane and frill, more pronounced in dogs than in bitches. Non-typical coats are severe faults.

Colors
Blue merle, black, red merle, red-all with or without white markings and/or tan (copper) points, with no order of preference.

The hairline of a white collar does not exceed the point of the withers at the skin. White is acceptable on the neck (either in part or as a full collar), chest, legs, muzzle under parts, blaze on head and white extension from under part up to four inches, measuring from a horizontal line at the elbow. White on the head should not predominate, and the eyes must be fully surrounded by color and pigment. Merles characteristically become darker with increasing age. Disqualifications White body splashes, which means white on body between withers and tail, on sides between elbows and back of hindquarters in all colors.

Temperament
The Australian Shepherd is an intelligent, active dog with an even disposition; he is good natured, seldom quarrelsome. He may be somewhat reserved in initial meetings. Faults any display of shyness, fear or aggression is to be severely penalized.

Disqualifications
Undershot. Overshot bite greater than 1/8 inch.
White body splashes, which means white on body between withers and tail, on sides between elbows and back of hindquarters in all colors.
Info fromGrizzly Run 

Eyes

Sometimes Australian Shepherds which are not merle will have blue eyes. These eyes (sometimes one, sometimes both) are completely blue, or perhaps half blue/half pigmented. They are never flecked or marbled.
This kind of blue eye has nothing to do with the merle gene, white trim
genes or the albino gene (which probably does not exist in dogs). These eyes are completely sound, though perhaps slightly light sensitive just as blue-eyed people are slightly more light-sensitive than those with brown eyes. Siberian Huskies are an example of another breed with this type of blue eye.
The mode of inheritance is unknown, but since the blue eyes can be single or a pair and an individual eye may be half-and-half, there is probably more than one gene involved.
Blue-eyed non-merle Aussies are sound and are correct as per the breed standards.
The following information is taken from an article by the Australian Shepherd Health & Genetic Institute. 

The Australian Shepherd Club of America ASCA was founded in 1957 to promote the breed. The National Stock Dog Registry became its official breed registry, which continued until ASCA took over in 1972.^[15]

In 1975, ASCA created a breed standard, describing exactly how an Australian Shepherd should look and be constructed (its conformation to the Standard). It developed more uniformity in the breed and standardized the type.

In the United States, the American Kennel Club is the primary registry for purebred dogs. However, many Aussie breeders felt that AKC put too much emphasis on breed conformity and not enough on performance, so ASCA declined to join the AKC. Those breeders who felt that AKC membership had its advantages split off from ASCA to form their own Australian Shepherd club, the United States Australian Shepherd Association, created their own breed standard, and joined the AKC in 1993. The decision about affiliation with the AKC remains controversial, as it does with many performance breeds.

The Fédération Cynologique Internationale recognized the Australian Shepherd for international competition in 2007, in Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs as breed number 342. An Australian Shepherd Dog from Latvia competed in the Fédération Cynologique Internationale Agility World Championships in Helsinki, Finland in 2008.^[16]

In addition to the Miniature Australian Shepherd, the western United States are now seeing the emergence of an even smaller version, referred to as the Toy Australian Shepherd, with adult males tipping the scales at a mere 12 to 15 pounds (5.5 to 7 kg). The genetic consequences of breeding the standard Australian Shepherd down to one-quarter size remain to be seen. Many breeders and owners of Australian Shepherds consider the Mini and Toy to be separate breeds; others consider them to be downsized versions of the same breed. ASCA and AKC considers all such variants to be separate breeds.^[17]

This is from Wikipedia