Anatolian Shepherd Dog

Anatolian Shepherd Dog is the name used in the United States for dogs descended from Turkey’s regional livestock guardians, above all the Kangal Shepherd Dog but also the Akbash. The name is unknown in Turkey, where the Kangal is a traditional breed in its own right. Whether the two names describe the same breed is disputed. The figures on this page are those of the Kangal, the type the American dogs have increasingly come to match.

History

The Kangal is a traditional working dog of Central Anatolia, named after the town and district of Kangal in Sivas Province. Shepherds have used it for centuries to protect flocks from wolves and other predators. Its older name is Karabash, “black head”, after its dark muzzle; the name Kangal came into use after discussions at the Kennel Club in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.

The American dogs began with Robert Ballard, a US Navy lieutenant stationed in Turkey, who in 1967 acquired two working guardians, Zorba and Peki, from breeders near Ankara. Zorba was long-coated and pinto-colored, Peki short-coated and buff. Ballard took them home, and their first litter, born in 1970, became the foundation of the breed in the United States. A breed club soon formed and more dogs were imported.

Many of those early dogs came from the zone between the main breeding areas of the Akbash and the Kangal, where both types are found, so the American dogs varied in coat length, color and pattern. A long quarrel followed: American breeders held that theirs was the true Turkish shepherd’s dog, while Turkish breeders called it a mix of several Turkish breeds. Since the 1980s Americans have imported Kangals almost exclusively, and the Anatolian has moved steadily towards that type. Puppies of mixed appearance are still born, and Turkish authorities do not accept the Anatolian as a purebred Turkish breed.

The Fédération Cynologique Internationale definitively accepted the Kangal in 1989. The Kennel Club recognised the Turkish Kangal Dog from April 2013, and owners of dogs registered as Anatolian Shepherd Dogs could apply to re-register them under the new name.

Since 1994 the Cheetah Conservation Fund has given around 300 Kangals to farmers in Namibia, and later Kenya, to guard livestock from cheetahs. Stock losses fell sharply on most farms, and far fewer cheetahs are now killed by farmers.

Appearance

Kangal males usually stand 72 to 78 cm at the withers and females 65 to 73 cm, with 2 cm allowed either way. Males weigh 48 to 60 kg and females 40 to 50 kg. The double coat is fairly short, with a dense underlayer and a waterproof outer layer, and ranges from pale fawn to wolf gray, always with a black mask.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.