At this point, the members faced a painful decision as most of the dogs they had were not going to be able to be entered into the AKC stud books as purebred Australian Cattle Dogs. Putting their love for the breed and their desire to do justice to its purebred heritage before their own personal investments, they took a firm stand that all dogs accepted into this initial registry must be traceable on paper to their Australian roots. The American Kennel Club took over the breed registry in 1979 and the Australian Cattle Dog was fully recognized in 1980. It should be noted that there are several other registry bodies in the United States that have registered this breed since the decision in the 1960's to use the AKC as the true keeper of the Australian Cattle Dog studbooks. Many of these dogs sprang from McNiven's dogs or other crosses and cannot be guaranteed to be truly pure Australian Cattle Dogs.
Membership is open to anyone with a love for or interest in ACDs.
The Australian Cattle Dog Today The versatility and intelligence of the Australian Cattle Dog is quite remarkable. These dogs are capable of performing many different jobs with and for their human companions. When the Australian Cattle Dog was admitted to the American Kennel Club in 1980, it became fully eligible for participating in AKC sponsored activities and competitions such as herding, obedience, agility and tracking. See the Activities page for more information about these events.