Minitures???

corgi_lover

Whats up with all the minis now? I dont understand how they are even made! I was at a horse show last weekend and there were quite a few miniture Australian Sheperds...WHAT??? There were two for sale and and got they were ADORABLE my friend almost got one...but i was a little skeptical...there was a mini which is sopose to grow to be 20-30 pounds and then there was a TOY...what? it was sopose to get only 10 pounds. and you wont believe the price---$2000 OMG i was like why? can you even register them. he was like no a toy aussie is not a reconized breed but it will be one day and the reason it is so expensive is because it is a new breed that everyone will get.

animalcraker

Mini/toy/teacup all tend to be terms used by BYB to help sell thier dogs. Small dogs are very popular now days, people seem to have the stigma that small dogs are easier to take care of, less food, less poop, less training, etc. Also alot of people can't have a large dog because of housing restrictions. Typically these dogs are created by breeding "runts to runts", but that is still a crapshoot that you'll get smaller dogs. You may also notice that you only see puppies being sold, usually that's because those teacup/toy/mini pups didnt grow up to be quite so small afterall.

There are true mini/toy versions of certain breeds though it's hottly debated how true they are depending on the breed. Mini Aussies in particular are one of those breeds. Some will say they been around since the breed was created others will say it's a marketing scheme from BYBs. I'm not sure which is true since I don't know much about the breed, but I'm sure if you investgate you'll probly hear both stories depending on the sources you go to.

Nargle

http://www.namascusa.com/about.htm#history
Here's a little history on the breed.

I do believe that mini aussies are more then just a BYB tactic, as most people seem to believe. There are a lot of good mini aussie breeders out there, there are mini aussie conformation shows, and a LOT of mini aussies used in herding, agility, obedience, etc. There is even a breed standard and code of ethics.

BYBs seem to have pounced on the breed, however. Kind of like how they pounced on toy poodles and such. They're NOT a new breed, but they are a new craze, as people suddenly want small, fluffy dogs. Toy aussies are definitely a product of BYBs. The point of a mini aussie is to be a herder and a working dog, and usually have a MUCH higher drive then the bigger Aussies. If someone is trying to sell a 10 lb toy aussie that resembles a fluffy merle chihuahua, then it's obviously a mutt, or it's been bred extremely far away from the breed standard.

Mini aussies aren't a designer breed, nor are they sickly regular aussies. BYBs have just given them a bad name, just like how people think Chihuahuas are all yappy ankle biters that shake and pee on carpet. And unfortunately, you'll have to do some extreme digging and wading through all the BYBs if you want to find a responsible breeder.

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