Sheprador

The Sheprador is a new designer hybrid and it does not have a history so it is best to look at the backgrounds of the Australian Shepherd and Labrador Retriever. The Australian Shepherd originated in America in the 1800s from the Basque Shepherd, to be a herding dog. They are thought to have gotten their name because they were bred from dogs that came from Australia with the Basque people. They were immediately well-known for their amazing ability to get cattle and sheep to do whatever they wanted them to. They are also used for search and rescue, therapy, drug detecting, and guiding. During the 1950s, they became even more popular after being used in movies and rodeos as a trick dog. Seven years later, the Australian Shepherd Club of America was developed and soon became the largest registry of Australian Shepherds in America. However, it took another 36 years before the breed was accepted by the American Kennel Club. The Labrador Retriever began as what was then called the Saint John’s Water Dog in Newfoundland, Canada in the 18th century. They were popular with fishermen who used them to help pull in their nets and retrieve the ones that got away. They were named after the Labrador Sea, which is where they were developed. They were exported to England in the 1820s by the Earl of Malmesbury. The breed all but disappeared in Newfoundland because a strict law made it illegal to have a female Labrador Retriever. However, the breed kept growing in England and were noticed in the 1900s in America where they have been the number one dog breed since 1917.