Who hurt you? There is a contrived breed called the North American Shepherd, made out of smaller Aussie stock with even smaller mix-ins. The only people who can identify it are those pushing the gimmick. The Aussie name is as legitimate as that of a Quarter or Morgan Horse.
Please don't take this personally 🙂 As someone who grew up in Australia and worked with sheep dogs on sheep stations (sort of the Australian name for ranch) I do not like the misleading name.
I now live in retirement in Italy and I often have people tell me that they have, or know, and "Australian" Shepherd. I have to tell them that it is an American breed, and not an Australian breed.
Well then, you have something interesting to talk about. It is personal to me as an American and Australian Shepherd rescuer and former breeder. There are much better things to pick at, especially where it involves people under seige.