Cairn Australian Shepterrier

The Cairn Australian Shepterrier is a hybrid mix of the Cairn Terrier and the Australian Shepherd.  The hybrid is a modern breed and does not have a history outside of its parent breeds.  The purpose of breeding the two parents is to produce a miniature Australian Shepherd-like looking dog.  Currently, there is little information on the mix and owners should review the histories and character traits of the parent breeds to better understand the on the possible dispositions and traits of the Cairn Australian Shepterrier. The Cairn is an old and ancient breed of Scotch Terriers that was only developed a separate breed in the 19th century and distinguished from its other Scotch Terrier brothers by coat color.  The ancestor of the Cairn Terrier, the Scotch Terrier, was first described in 55 BC by the Romans who identified the small dogs as agile hunters that went to the ground after their quarry.  The Romans named these dogs Terrarii, which is Latin for workers of the earth.  Over several centuries, the Terrier group lived and thrived as earth dogs in Scotland and England, making their way to France and parts of Germany as well.  By the 1900s, the Cairn Terrier was firmly established as a wire-haired small Terrier of the Skye group in various colors, accepting white, which was designated for its cousin breed, the West Highland Terrier.  The Cairn is often confused for the Scottish Terrier, but the Scottie has a more diverse genetic makeup, having a large gene pool history whereas the Cairn Terrier was limited to the Isle of Skye.  The Cairn acquired its name from the stone monuments of the same name the little Terrier was known to hunt. The Australian Shepherd, despite its name, was not developed in Australia but California in the 1900s for cattle herding in the American West.  Records of the Australian Shepherd were not well kept, and many assume the dogs were developed from Collies and other herding dogs that arrived with Sheep from Australia during the 1840s; hence the name, Australian Shepherd.  However, the Australian Shepherd was developed in the 1900s and recognized in the United States by the American Kennel Club in 1991, making it an American breed.