The Australian Terrier Club of America, Inc.

The Australian Terrier (or “Aussie”) – not to be confused with the Australian Shepherd, the Australian Cattle Dog, or the Australian Silky (known as the Silky Terrier in the United States) – was the first Australian-bred dog ever to be recognized and shown in Australia. Persistent efforts over the years produced an ideal terrier to suit Australian conditions and resulted in a rugged, hard-bitten, fearless dog that was equally at home, indoors or out.

Beginning in Tasmania, the earliest efforts at breeding a native rough-coated terrier soon spread to Victoria on the mainland, and then on to the other Australian states. When the Australians needed help controlling rodents on the waterfront, in the gold mines, and on the sheep stations – or to herd sheep and to serve as watchdogs, they began breeding these small terriers from the rough-coated, short-legged dogs from Britain that originally came with the first sailing ships to the Land Down Under.