Dear Members of MASCUSA,

The Miniature American Shepherd entered the AKC as the result of a proposal by USASA to the AKC Board to split the Australian Shepherd breed into two breeds - the Australian Shepherd and the Miniature American Shepherd. This proposal, which was approved by NAMASCUSA, USASA, and the AKC, states in part: "The official MAS breed history must not conflict with that of the Australian Shepherd and should be agreed upon by the two breeds..." As it turns out, the reference to the Australian Shepherd in the General Appearance section of our breed standard is considered by the AKC to be a "historical reference" and it has not been approved by both MASCUSA and USASA. We are therefore being required by the AKC to remove this historical reference from our breed standard until such time as MASCUSA and USASA have worked together to write the official breed history for the Miniature American Shepherd and have agreed upon any specific wording referencing the Australian Shepherd in the Miniature American Shepherd Breed Standard. The AKC is within their rights to do this pursuant to the bylaws of the AKC. If you are interested in the details, please see article IV, section 4 of the AKC Bylaws: http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/RCNA01.pdf.

In addition, please note that although MASCUSA is the Parent Club for the Miniature American Shepherd, we are not yet a Member Club of AKC.

In response to the change to the Miniature American Shepherd Breed Standard being mandated by the AKC, we have reluctantly taken the following action. The Board of Directors of MASCUSA has approved the modification of the beginning of the General Appearance section of the Miniature American Breed Standard from the following two sentences that were voted and approved by the MASCUSA membership:

The Miniature American Shepherd is a medium to small size herding dog that originated in the United States. He reflects the look and qualities of the Australian Shepherd in miniature form.

to the following sentence that is being required by the AKC until such time as the history of the Miniature American Shepherd has been documented in conjunction with the USASA Board:

The Miniature American Shepherd is a small size herding dog that originated in the United States.

We will be updating the breed standard and brochure on the MASCUSA website, and the judges packets being distributed by AKC for use when we enter the Miscellaneous Class on June 26, 2012 will use the latter opening sentence.

The MASCUSA Board is currently working on a first draft of the proposed breed history and will be meeting with USASA to review it, and to discuss further the possibilities for a reference to our Australian Shepherd heritage in the breed standard.

You can view and download a copy of the AKC Breed Standard for the Miniature American Shepherd here: http://mascusa.org/standard.php.

Sincerely,

MASCUSA Board of Directors

Karen Keller, President
Deborah Dulaney, Vice President
Patricia Davis, Acting Secretary
Traci Phillips, Treasurer
Jeanie McAdams, Acting Director
Judy Challinger, Director
Charles Lasater, Director
Linda Perry, Past President