Anatolian Shepherd Dog. Richard G. Beauchamp
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huge mastiff-type dogs that have existed since Babylonian times. The dogs were used to guard flocks for the shepherds, who eked out their meager existence from the Anatolian Plateau. The extremely swift and powerful dogs also were known to be capable of running down lions and assisting as war dogs by pulling men down from their horses. It is believed that these dogs were the Anatolian Shepherd Dogs’ ancient ancestors.
The flock guardian of Germany, the Leonberger.
Another of the European mountain-patrolling breeds is the Maremmani or Maremma Sheepdog of Italy.
PROTECTOR OF CHILDREN
The highly developed guarding sense of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog was put to use by Turkish women when their dogs had no flock to protect. When called upon to work in the fields, the women would sometimes tie one end of a rope around their young children’s waists and the other end to their Anatolian’s collar. The women could then go about their work in the field with no worry as to the safety of their children.
One of the flock guardian breeds from Hungary, the Kuvasz.
There are no written records to indicate what blood may have been introduced and combined with these early canine immigrants to produce the flock guardians that followed. We do know, however, that these dogs patrolled the flocks throughout the European continent’s mountain ranges, each in his own distinctive way. Among them we find the Hungarian Komondor of the Caucasus mountains, the Leonberger of Germany, the Kuvasz of Hungary, the Marem-mani of the Italian Alps, the Great Pyrenees of France’s Pyrenean range and, of course, the magnificent dogs that lived and worked along Turkey’s Anatolian Plateau, the Anatolian Shepherd Dog.
The Hungarian Komondor, with its distinctive corded coat, is a rare shepherding breed.
We also know, that such a dog has patrolled the inhospitable Anatolian Plateau of central Turkey for several thousand years. Little has changed about the dog, as can be witnessed in the first evidence of the breed depicted on bas-reliefs that can be viewed in the Assyrian Room of the British Museum. These accurate portrayals document the existence of the dog now known as the Anatolian Shepherd Dog as far back as 3,000 years.
The Anatolian Plateau extends from the Black to the Mediterranean Seas—the area the Greeks and Romans called Asia, later to become known as Asia Minor to distinguish it from the continent of Asia. The dogs that watched over the flocks there had to be tough in every aspect—physically hardy and totally impervious to every element nature inflicted upon them.
Torrid summer months brought triple-digit temperatures that plummeted to 60 degrees below 0 through the winter months. And then, above all, the dog had to be brave, strong and fierce enough to fight off any threat to the flocks, whether predators arrived singly or in packs.
COAT LENGTH
The variety of coat lengths and textures found in Anatolian Shepherd Dogs is created by the diverse climatic conditions that exist throughout Turkey. Through the ages, environment has imposed external differences on the breed, but these differences are invariably those that make the dog particularly suitable for the area in which he worked.
Thus was developed a large dog of weather-proof coat with strong feet and legs that could withstand rocky and frozen terrain as well as blistering sand. These were not pets or companions. Their value to the herdsmen was in their ability to save the stock from predators. No special care was given the dogs and they had to get by on the most Spartan of rations. Responding to any temptation to bring down one of the animals that they guarded to satisfy their need for sustenance meant instant death for the dog.
Turkish herdsmen called these dogs Coban Kopegi, which is simply translated to mean “Shepherd’s Dog.” As important as the dogs were to the safety and well-being of their herds, dogs were viewed as “unclean,” as is common in many Moslem countries, and were accorded little care beyond that which was necessary to keep them alive for guard duty.
One can only wonder at the little regard these amazingly brave and versatile dogs were afforded by their owners. In addition to their courage, the dogs had to be capable of performing the most subtle and complex duties. The dogs lived almost entirely on their own, interacting with the shepherds only for their minimum basic necessities. They worked, slept, ate and traveled with the sheep and goats and, for all intents and purposes, were accepted as members of the flock. Lacking direction, the dogs themselves were called upon to make decisions necessary to ensure the well-being of their flocks.
A fine representative of today’s Anatolian Shepherd Dog.
Today’s pet Anatolians are more likely to keep watch over the backyard than an unruly flock, but guarding instincts are still at the fore of the breed’s temperament.
When not actually sleeping among their wards, these shepherd dogs would be found on a bluff just above the flock, where not a single animal could escape their gaze. When the dogs moved about, they did so slowly and quietly to avoid exciting the flock and throwing them into panic and stampede. When a predator appeared, however, the placid demeanor of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog disappeared. The gentle flock guardian became a raging and aggressive powerhouse, strong enough to bring down the fiercest adversary.
ANATOLIAN EXPORTS
With these credentials, it comes as no surprise that eventually the dogs would capture the attention of foreign visitors. It is believed the first Anatolian Shepherd Dogs to leave Turkey went to the United States as early as the 1930s when the first dogs were given to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) by the Turkish government. During the 1950s, Dr. Rodney Young, the archeologist responsible for the digs at the ancient Turkish city of Gordium (birthplace of the King Midas and Gordian Knot legends), also exported Anatolian Shepherd Dogs to his home in the US.
No active breeding program was initiated in the United States, however, until 1970, when Lt. Robert C. Ballard, USN, who had been stationed in Ankara, Turkey, returned to the US with his imports “Zorba” and “Peki” and produced the first recorded American-bred litter of Anatolian Shepherd pups. The year 1970 also saw the founding of the national breed club, the Anatolian Shepherd Dog Club of America (ASDCA).
SOUND BY NATURE
Over the past several thousand years, the Anatolian Shepherd Dog has had absolutely no reason for existence other than to work on behalf of his flock master. Thus, no quarter has been given either by Nature or man in the area of unsoundness. Because of this ruthless culling, few hereditary defects exist in Turkish-bred Anatolians or in their direct descendants.
SPIKED COLLARS
The spiked iron collars that one sees in pictures of working and guard dogs of many breeds are entirely misunderstood by most observers. They are not an offensive aid as some believe. The purpose of the collars, and the reason that Anatolian Shepherd Dogs living in Turkey are equipped with them, is for the sole purpose of protecting the dog’s neck and throat from the attack of predators.
In 1965, Anatolian Shepherds were exported