Size
Standard Aussies:
Males mature between 20" to 23" tall at the shoulder, while females range 18 to 21" at the shoulder. Males weigh between 50 to 65 lbs. while females range between 40 to 55 lbs.
Life expectancy 12-15
Miniature Aussies:
Maturity range between 14" to 18" at the shoulder, weighing between 20 to 40 lbs. Males being larger than females. Other than size, the miniature Aussie looks and acts like the standard version.
Life expectancy 12-15
Toy Aussies:
The smallest version of the Aussie created by a similar breeding-down process. Toy's stand between 10" to 14" at the shoulder when full-grown, weighing between 12 to 17 lbs. Although small, the toy Aussies possess all the herding instincts of his larger relatives.
Life expectancy 12-15
Color
Color (Genetics)
I am only highlighting the black and red gene below.
Black is always dominant over red . Each parent provides a gene for color, and gene pairs determine color.
Black is denoted by (B).
The recessive red gene is denoted by (b)
This means that there are three possible combinations that an Aussie could inherit.
They are (BB), (Bb) or (bb)
A dog with (BB) has two genes that are dominant for black.
A dog with (Bb) has a dominant black gene and a recessive red gene.
A dog with (bb) has two recessive red genes. ( Red Merle's and Red Tri's)
You will always see the dominant gene.
The recessive gene is only seen if it is paired with another recessive.
Breakdown
For a dog to be what is called (Red Factored) he/she must have one recessive red gene (Bb)
Each parent must have at least one copy of the recessive (b) gene to get red puppies in a litter
(Red Merle's,or Red Tri's) It could be any of these pairings (Bb)x(Bb) or (Bb)x(bb)
If you have a dog that is not Red/Factored meaning they only have the double black (BB) gene even if bred to a (Bb) which carries the red gene or a double red (bb) all puppies will be black meaning (Black with any combination or Blue Merle's) because black is always dominant.
. Merle to Merle breeding is not recommended. The merling gene is not stable nor predictable, and can produce a double Merle white puppy. Double Merle white puppies are those puppies that could be deaf and/or blind, or could have a significant decrease in their hearing and/or eyesight. What this means is if a Merle is bred to a Merle 1 out of every 4 puppies (25%) could be double Merle. Not every litter will produce a double Merle puppy. The other puppies produced for these litters will be physically healthy, they will not have problems with internal organs, as is rumored.
Learn More
There are four basic recognized colors for an Aussie.
Black, Blue Merle, Red and Red Merle.
However there are 16 color combinations possible:
Black
Black
Black with White
Black with Copper
Black with copper & white
Blue
Blue Merle (Blue self Merle)
Blue Merle with Tan
Blue Merle with White
Blue Merle with Copper & White
RED
Self Red
Red and Tan
Red with White
Red with Copper & White
Red Merle (Red self Merle)
Red Merle and Tan
Red Merle with White
Red Merle with White & Copper
eye color
