Do you know if there are breeders of Mini Aussie that is working them? Do they have a breed club that is legit with shows and a Nationals or Specility etc?
Or are the majority breeding and selling for pet homes?
Personally I wouldn't care whether they were in AKC or not, because for my breed (Jrts the REAL Working Parson), we oppose them being in kennel club. Therefore I don't believe that AKC is the only or best game in town.
I actually considered "Mini Aussies" for a short while... because there happens to be several REPUTABLE breeders in my area, who have really, truly amazing working dogs. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing many Aussies work, to be honest, and I had trouble finding ANY actively breeding working Aussie breeders within my state. The few Aussies I have seen work were from byb/agility breeding and were less than impressive; I love seeing working Aussies, and I know how amazing a well-bred Aussie is on livestock, but unfortunately it seems that the working side is all but dying out. However, the "Minis" that I had classes with were very agile, focused, and controlled. Really nice, balanced dogs that were of perfect stature to work anything from ducks to cattle.
The first "Minis" I met, and the first breeders I spoke to, were all very focused on producing skilled, versatile working dogs; so I admit that I was partial to them mostly due to those first experiences. But, after researching the breed more, and talking to working Aussie people, I realized that the best alternative is finding a working Aussie breeder who bred on the smaller end of the standard. I wanted a lithe, compact working dog, not a 70 lb fluffy goof (as cute as they are). I decided to get into another breed (Cardis), just due to all of the controversy and the lack of working Aussie breeders anywhere nearby, and the lack of mentors. There is also the fact that, even if it started as a novel idea, "Mini Aussies" have indeed become a hot designer dog much more than a compact working dog... bred to Poms and Chis and whatnot to create fluffy blue merle purse accessories. Simply by owning a "Mini", well bred or not, I would become associated with
those dogs and breeders. The vast majority of Mini Aussies I now see frequenting the dog park and dog fairs are of the domed-headed, barely-even-resembling-Aussies-especially-in-the-brains-department type.
I still have no problem with breeding Aussies who are under standard, as long as they excel at the work they were bred to do... I mean, a 12" 15 lb toy Aussie is not going to be able to handle livestock... but if a dog 2" under the standard can work, as far as I'm concerned that dog is just as great an example of the breed as a dog in standard who can work. However, because of the split and the disapproval of many Aussie enthusiasts, I intend to steer clear of "Mini Aussies".
It will be interesting to see what's up with the "Mini" breeder you might be working for, SP. It would be really nice if they actually proved their dogs, and bred responsibly, but I won't get my hopes up considering the statistics of the breed.