ASCA Timeline

Circa 1945 Sisler's Keno whelped

Circa 1946 Sisler's Blue (Starr) whelped

Circa 1948 Sisler's Shorty and Stub whelped out of Keno and Blue. 
These two brought the Australian Shepherd to the public, through
their amazing rodeo performances, and gave us a permanent visual
record of the foundation Aussie's typical working style, in Walt
Disney's 1956 featurette, "Stub, the Greatest Cowdog in the West".

1957

• June 9 - First organized meeting of Aussie fanciers calling
  themselves The Australian Shepherd Club of America

1958

• March 22 - First registered Australian Shepherd, Hart's Panda

• April - First ASCA Show is held in Arizona

• First ASCA affiliate club formed

1961

• May -  First Australian Shepherd Breed Standard approved

1963

• November - Breed Standard revised

1968

• First issue of the club newsletter, Aussie Times, published

1969

• ASCA Stock Dog Committee formed

1971

• March - ASCA opened breed registry

• August - Show Program began

1973

• August -  Stock Dog Committee re-formed

• December 31 - Stud Book closed

1974

• July 22 - First ASCA Stock Dog Trial (Santa Rosa, California)

1975

• Stock Dog Program revised

1976

• Aussie Style by Mari Taggart (Editor of the American Sheepdog Journal) from the Spring 1976 Aussie Times page 25

1977

• First ASCA Yearbook published

• January 15 - Adoption of the ASCA Breed Standard

• August - Stock Dog Program revised, with new score sheet

• August 1 - Registry reopened

• Working Style By Philip C. Wildhagan, ASCA Historian, History of the Australian Shepherd - (ASCA Yearbook 1957-1977, pg. 11-6)

• Quote from Jeanne Joy Hartnagle, from "Finals Competition" by Cee Hambo

• From the original Stockdog Committee Report ASCA Yearbook 1957-1977, page I-10

1978

• Trials.....and Tribulations by Mari Taggart  (Spring 1978 Aussie Times)

• The Australian Shepherd:  A Good Herding Dog by Lee Larochelle, Larochelle Bros. Cheviots and Australian Shepherds, Rochester NH, reprinted from Vol. XXXXVI, No.l, January-February 1978, of the Mid States Wool Growers News.)

1982

• Autumn - Peninsula Australian Shepherd Association Stock Dog Futurity

1983

• ASC of Texas Working Futurity

1984

• July 1 - Stud Book reopened

1985

• Membership voted not to become AKC Parent Club, but remain independent

• From All About Aussies by Jeanne Joy Hartnagle, first edition, page 45, Copyright 1985 by Jeanne Joy Hartnagle

• 1985 Futurity held at the Nationals by the ASC of Washington

1986

• Stockdog Futurity Committee formed

• Quotes from What do you want for our Stockdog Program? by Steven Winn, from Aussie Times, Nov/Dec 1986 pp. 22-23

1987

• August - Hogs would no longer be used to earn stock titles in arena trials

• Quotes from Notes from the Stock Pens--The Working Aussie, what is his Style? uncredited author, assumed to be Red Oliver, from Aussie Times, July/August 1987 pp. 91-92

1988

• January - Course B approved, first used in Riverside, CA trial

• ASCA Board considers Stock Dog Finals program

• July/Aug - Board approves Stock Dog Finals

• "Triple ATD" becomes officially designated as Working Trial Champion or WTCH

• 1988 Cen-Tex Futurity

• First ASCA Stock Dog Finals, Pasadena, TX

1989

• ASCA begins centralization process

1990

• Lone Star's Yellow Rose Futurity, Anson, TX

• North West Regional Futurity, Graham, WA

• Silver Bullet Futurity, Clements, CA

• CASA Regional Futurity in Loveland, CO

• Futurity Finals in Loveland, CO

• January 1 - Hardship Registry closed

• Questions of possible crossbreeding arise from Futurity entries

• Ringers by Kathy Hoyt-Warren, originally published in the Aussie Times Sept/Oct 1990 p. 101

• Terminology by Kathy Hoyt-Warren, originally published in the Aussie Times Jan/Feb 1991 p. 35

1991

• AKC accepts "splinter group" ASA as Parent Club of the Australian
  Shepherd

• Canadian Kennel Club recognizes the ASCA Australian Shepherd; does
  not recognize the AKC registered Aussie

• ASCA agility is introduced

• Poll of membership regarding DNA testing appears in Aussie Times

• Quote from Jeanne Joy Hartnagle, from "Finals Competition" by Cee Hambo

1992

• January 1 - Hardship Registry reopened for NSDR and UKC registered dogs only

• "Aussie Rescue Network" created (later became ARPH)

• Fall - ASCA Business Office moves to permanent building in Bryan, Texas

• Lone Star's Yellow Rose Futurity, Elgin, TX

• ASC of WA's Australian Shepherd Futurity, Graham, WA

1993

• June 1 - Ranch Dog Trial certification begins

• Working Style--Aussies vs Border Collies By Jeanne Weaver, Aussie Times, January-February 1993, page 68

• Comments from Jerry and Sharon Rowe, J Bar D Kennel, Berthoud, Colorado, 1993 Australian Shepherd Annual, from an interview in the "Australian Shepherd People" segment.

• Aussie internet "chat lists" appear

• Lone Star's Al Kinson Memorial Derby, Holliday, TX
   

1994

• January 1 - Revamped Stock Dog score sheets effective

• ASCA publicly addresses membership's questions concerning crossbreds registered as Aussies

• What is the Australian Shepherd? by Terry Martin, Slash V Working Australian Shepherds, beginning paragraphs of article printed in the Ranch Dog Trainer Magazine 1994

• Excerpt from an article by Roger Stevens called A Tale of Three Aussies, Aussie Times, January/February 1994, pp. 75-80

• May/June - ASCA implements voluntary DNA parentage verification pilot program

• July - ASCA petitions Disney to release "Stub" on video

• Chickasaw Dan Futurity, Murfreesboro, TN
   

1995

• Post Advanced Trial Course implemented

• ASCA implements "Plan B" not for breeding status; may be used at
  ASCA's discretion if registration photos show severe deviation from Aussie type

• September 27 - Affiliate Club Meeting discusses regular Altered Conformation classes

• September 29 - ASCA's "home page" presence on the burgeoning internet explained

• ASC of Rougue Valley's Harvest Fair Futurity, Central Point, OR

1996

• May - ASCA Board announces phased-in mandatory DNA registration procedures

• September - ASCA Board, acting on membership disapproval, rescinds
  phased-in DNA registration procedures

• September - ASCA Board approves creation of a Most Versatile Aussie Committee

• September - DNA Committee established

• Canadian Kennel Club added to qualified registries for Hardship

• ASCA officially designates "DNA-CP" and "DNA-VP" for inclusion at end of dog's name

• November - ASCA Board approves AKC as qualified registry for Hardship

1997

• Aussie Times begins monthly publication

• The Working Australian Shepherd:  The Aussie Outrun and Style by Terry Martin, from the Ranch Dog Trainer, Feb/Mar 1997, pp. 38-42

• April - Board, acting on membership disapproval, rescinds vote to accept AKC for Hardship registration

• June - Board of Directors publishes statement in Aussie Times, urging membership to vote to close the Hardship Registry

• July - Updated Trialing Guidelines published

• August - Affil-L, discussion list for members of ASCA affiliates, goes online

1998

• March - LEP registry rules revised to define LEP dogs as "purebred Australian Shepherds"

• March - Most Versatile Aussie Committee re-formed

• September - Aussie Time returns to bi-monthly publication

• September - Bylaws Committee formed

• November - Board of Directors drafts letter to conformation judges instructing them to ignore tail length in countries banning docking

• November - National Specialty Most Versatile Aussie Rules
  standardized

• Gulf Coast Australian Shepherd Futurity, Baton Rouge, LA

• The Australian Shepherd as a Sheep Dog by Mari Taggart Morrison, From Ranch Dog Trainer, Dec '98/Jan'99 pp. 8-11 (with quotes from Rick Pinney)

1999

• excerpt from The Stockdog Corner, a letter from Brent Johnson of California, by Terry Martin, from Aussie Times, May/June 1999, p.82-83

• ASCA records 100,000th E-registered dog

• Wildrose Futurity, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

2000

• Membership polled and approves AKC for Hardship Registry

• DNA Complaint Resolution Procedures approved

• March - ASCA Board of Directors revokes German Tail Letter

• December - ASCA Board of Directors approves ASCA Mission Statement

2001

• January 1 - Altered Championship Classes implemented on 2-year trial basis

• March - Hardship/LEP Viewing Committee formed

• April - Breed Standard Review Committee formed

• Hardship Registration amended to require DNA profiling of applicant
  dogs

• Nov/Dec 2001 issue of the Aussie Times, quote from Terry Martin in the Stockdog Corner

2002

• January - "Popular Sires" DNA requirement implemented

• Working Styles, Manners & Methods by Kyle Trumbull-Clark, from the March-April 2002 Aussie Times

• The Stockdog Corner by Terry Martin, from Aussie Times, July/August 2002 p. 61

2003

• January 1 - Stock Dog Program institutes Course "C"

• Southeast ASC's Elaine Stevens Memorial Futurity, Dothan, AL

• October - Stock Dog Committee begins work developing a Working
  Description for the Australian Shepherd

2004

• January 1 - "Popular Dams" DNA requirement implemented

• Bluebonnet Futurity, Boerne, TX

• Why I chose Aussies by Norm Andrews, Nebraska, April 2004