The Australian Shepherd, often known simply as the 'Aussie', is a medium-sized breed of dog that was, despite its name, developed on ranches in the United States during the 19th century. The Australian Shepherd is a high-spirited dog, that requires much attention and work. Because of this, they are. The median lifespans for breeds similar in size to Australian Shepherds are mostly between 11 and 13 years, so, assuming the results of the UK study are not representative of the population there, Aussies appear to have a typical lifespan for a breed their size. Double merle or homozygous merle occurs when the offspring of two merled parents inherit two copies of the dominant merle gene. The odds of this are 25% for each pup born from such a litter. Double merles often have excessive light or white areas and can have hearing and vision problems as a result of having two copies of the merle gene.
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