Anatolian Shepards - information needed? General Chat

Can any one point me in the right direction for info on these dogs....

Are they good with kids and other dogs?

What health tests should I be looking for?

Lines to avoid ......etc.

Thanks in advance.

Hey,

I can give some information about that breed, since it is from my native country (Turkey).

In its native country, they are being called "Kangal" or "Karabaş", so if you go Turkey and people don't recognize the name "anatolian shephard", don't be suprised. "Kangal" is the name of the province where breed was originated, and "Karabaş" literally means "Blackhead", which you know anatolian shephards have. Actually they are so common in rural areas that, "Karabaş" is also a very generic dog name people give to their dogs in villages.

First of all, they are difficult dogs. Their temper is not very stable, and since they are very big & strong, they can create dangerous situations if owned by a person who doesn't know how to deal with them. Also they are not successful with obience trainings due to their independent natures.

They are naturally very protective of their owners/property/land etc., and since they are also very intimidating looking, people using them in Turkey for protection, especially for business buildings, construction sites and houses with gardens.
In rural areas, they are still being used as farm dogs, to guard the animals, to protect people&farm animals from wild animals (especially from other canines like wolves.)

Their grooming is easy, because of their short & dense coat, but they shed twice a year and needs grooming. They are originated in a geography with a weather tempatures in winter is minus degrees -30 celcius, so they are good with cold.

They NEED plenty of space to run around and exercise daily.

Hi, would be great to see any pictures you have of dogs in Turkey.

Kangal have just been recognised as a separate breed in the UK, up until now they were all 'Anatolian Shepherd Dogs', now we have the 'Turkish Kangal' - it has just been shown separately at Crufts for the first time.

The dog in my avatar is a Kangal (the boat behind is HMS Ocean being built), his Grand parents were from Turkey, one of his Great Grand Mothers is simply called Karabash, the others are named after the villages they came from.

They are definitely very independent and very intelligent, you cannot boss them around. My boy was very friendly with people - as long as they were not a threat to him or his family. I used to tell people that if they ever went to Turkey and saw this breed DO NOT go over and stroke them like they would with my boy, they would get a very different reaction!!!

I found with my boy that he was very deceptive - he did not give out warnings (did not bark when the door knocked), he just dealt with the danger/attack when it happened. Because of this people often thought he was a 'big softie' as they never saw the protective side of him, but when he dealt with a problem he dealt with it!

Thankfully they are not a common breed in the UK and the breeders are very careful where they go to.

Sue