Originally posted by vinjashira
USA
This is a very controversial subject.

Although no one can prove it, America is where most people think that is where the Aussie originated from. After all the Aussie did not look like an Aussie until after they were brought to the Americas.

There is a very good chance that they may have come from Spain & France. The Basque Shepherds brought over their "sheepdog" which was either an Aussie or a very close relative, they had a very similar resemblence. the breeds structure changed SLIGHTLY after brought to north america, they are not sure if the breed changed slightly due to breeding or the environment change though.

Another possibility is that they came from a dog called the English Shepherd (which still exists in the British Isles) Which was also immigrated to the Americas in the early 1700's (thats about the same time the Basque Shepherds got here too). But in this case most really do think the change in breed structure was caused by breeding the English with other breeds to form the aussie. They really doubt it was just the environment change that caused the Aussie to be the Aussie.
BUT in this case the English resembles the Aussie more so than the shppeddog that the Basque brought over.