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NAMASCUSA Open Herding title...
Skyhoundz Microdog World Champion (Disc Dog)...
Purina Incredible Dog Team Members and Entertainers...
 
Conformation and structure striving to
improve so they can do their many jobs.
Why we love them so much...
  
   
   
AKC & USASA - These
dogs work so hard for us, we need to do everything we can to keep them
healthy. Please do not make them a separate breed. We
need to keep the gene pool of AKC/ASCA dogs open to breed out genetic
disease and keep them healthy. It's the right thing to do for the
dog's and their families.
Let's celebrate who
they are and what they are - little Aussies.
Click here and turn
your volume up!!!
For those interested, this is the letter I sent to Mari-Beth O'Neill (AKC
FSS
rep) and Stevens Parr (USASA President). Why
not write them and tell them what you think?
Dear Mari-Beth O'Neill (AVP Special Services) and Stevens Parr (USASA),
I am writing you as a breeder and enthusiast of miniature sized
Australian
Shepherds. I am a MASCA member. I am deeply concerned with
the
possibility of AKC recognizing our dogs as a separate breed via NASA or
MASANA or NAMASCUSA.
I believe that my dogs are an unrecognized size division of the
Australian
Shepherd, they are not a different breed. I never want them to be a
different
breed, in name, temperament, working ability, character or physical
attributes.
As a separate breed, the gene pool of our dogs will be dangerously
reduced. We
need the AKC Aussie gene pool to keep our dogs as healthy as possible.
Incredible new tools with DNA testing for inherited diseases are now at
our
disposal. PRA PRCD, MDR1, CEA and cataract testing are currently
available with
Hip Dysplasia and auto immune testing to be released in the near future.
Separate breed status would corner us into a small gene pool and we will
be
unable to breed to AKC Aussies to improve the health and character of
our dogs
over time.
I am a simpleton. If it looks like a duck, talks like a duck, walks like
a duck
well then, its a duck. Bill & I have worked very hard in our breeding
program to make sure that our dogs look, walk and talk like Australian
Shepherds. While our dogs are not perfect, and we are forever striving
to
improve, I believe they encompass the essence of an Australian Shepherd
in work
ethic and ability. They do everything with enthusiasm and Aussie style.
Please take just a few moments to look at the web page I posted for
you...
http://www.wigglebuttaussies.com/Versatility.htm
What do you believe? Do our dogs look, walk and talk like a separate
breed? Or
are they simply little Aussies?
I know that our clubs have made confusing decisions in the past, but I'm
sure
our board members did the best they could. I also understand why USASA
has not
accepted our dogs in the past as it is a deviation of the standard - a
standard
which must be protected.
What I do not understand is why fellow mini folks would accept separate
breed
status and risk the health and future of our dogs. I also do not
understand why
USASA would support this endeavor when they do not believe in or care to
support
and nurture this separate breed. To me, creating a new breed just to get
rid
of a problem is extreme, and not in the best interest of the dogs and
the
future families of these dogs.
In my fantasy-land, USASA would support a division of the Australian
Shepherd, where experienced AKC breeders would mentor mini-folks to make
our
dogs as sound and true to the standard as possible. At the very least,
please
do NOT support NASA/MASANA or now NAMASCUSA (separate breed), whose dogs
you do not believe in or
care for.
I believe in our changing world there is a need for a slightly smaller
Aussie.
Our Aussies of smaller size have certainly enriched our lives and stolen
our
hearts.
Angela & Bill Ogle
Wigglebutt Aussies
219.465.1624
minis@...
www.wigglebuttaussies.com
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