The ADSBS was organized in December of 1995. In October of 1996 the first event was held in Cameron, Texas with attendees from Mexico, Canada, South Africa and several regions of the United States. The first business meeting was held and a board of directors was elected. By December 1996, the organizational by-laws were formalized and the Society was incorporated.

The first Dorper judging clinic was held in May 1997, also in Cameron, Texas, with Dolf Lategan, a certified Dorper inspector, presenting a mini-course on the South African "Standards of Excellence" which are used in grading Dorpers for the stud book.

In December of 1999, a milestone was passed when an independent organization, the National Sheep Genetics Registry, was contracted to handle all Dorper/White Dorper registrations. In 2001 the ADSBS established its own office in Columbia, Missouri for the registration of all Dorpers/White Dorpers.

Also, in 1999, the ADSBS agreed to allow fullblood Dorpers registered with the Canadian Sheep Breeders' Association to be entered in the American registry.

In April 1999, Dorpers were featured in the first National Hair Sheep Symposium held in Timonium, Maryland and Dorpers made their debut at the Midwest Stud Ram Sale in June 2000 at Sedalia, MO.

As of June 2002 there were 11,183 Dorper/White Dorper sheep registered with the ADSBS. The breakdown included:

Membership in the ADSBS in 2002 had grown to over 200.

As we start this new millennium, the Dorper breed is attracting attention from all over the world and the American Dorper Sheep Breeders' Society is ready to take on the challenge of keeping pace with the rapid increase in interest. The Dorper is the breed for the 21st Century.