There is disagreement regarding the exact history of the breed prior to its arrival in the United States, and thus no official consensus on the origin of its name or association with Australia.They are similar in appearance to the popular English Shepherd and Border Collie breeds, and research has found that Australian Shepherds and Border Collies are closely related to each other; both the Border Collie and Australian Shepherd are slightly more distantly related to other kinds of Collies from the Basque regions of Europe. However, the Border Collie was not used to create the Australian Shepherd. The Australian Shepherd most likely is the descendant of Carea Leonés, Pyrenean Shepherd and Old German herding dogs that were brought over by shepherds. Audio impairment or deafness usually develops after the birth of a puppy with their ear canal still closed. The white color of double merles is produced due to the lack of melanocytes which provide high potassium levels in the endolymph surrounding the cochlea's hair cells. There is no surgery or treatment that can reduce the damage.