Turkish Dogs - particularly Anatolian Shepherd Dogs

Blogrolling is still not quite ready to roll. I know it's been frustrating for many that were using the rolling updater. A few of the blogs that were on the Anatolian Blogroll have changed or discontinued, and some need to be added.

According to Blogrolling which currently still redirects to their status page - they are still broken (it's been a couple years now due to massive overload of auto-pings by spam sites). There's hope. See a recent post dated mid January...

Hardware was installed and tested the week of January 5th as promised, now we’re just waiting on delivery of the final code. We ran into some UI issues and made a decision earlier this week to simply go with the old UI rather than try to jazz things up and protract the outage.

Our developers are working on the migration tools now to get your old data into the new system. With some luck, I’ll have a concrete relaunch date Friday coming, or possibly Monday at the latest.

Keep your fingers crossed with me, I will post more as soon as I get word back from the team.

On to other network related things, I started logging onto my neglected Facebook account. Daily. Simple enough. Whenever my browser is up, one browser tab is usually active on FB even if I'm ignoring it, lol.

Like other networks, I initially joined Facebook just to have access to some material which this or that member invited me to see.

Since revisiting it mid January, and actually poking around within, instead of logging in and zipping out as soon as "mission accomplished" -- I have found the interface more immediately interactive, integrated, simple and appealing to me than the interfaces found on places like MySpace, LiveJournal, Multiply, MSN, Dogster, 360Yahoo, -- places where I never really 'hang out'. For grins, I recently found what seems to be an application that allows pets and human babies to have their own Facebook networks. Amusing. :)


My main computer is pretty well behaved these days, now that I've got tons of diskspace again. Yay. I'm still stalling on putting in a new graphics card due to some upgrade I think I'd rather have. And, oh bother... my Vista notebook has turned into a slug and is driving me batty. Bleah. Anyway, that's all for now.

Labels: ASD_Pics, blogging, compu-internet

Click above pic to enlarge. Credit for these pics go to Susan.
Anatolians at the beach! How blue the sky and the water!
The dogs from left to right: Khazu (6 years), Helmut (2 years) who are both half brothers, and their auntie Dylan (almost 11 years), who is their mother's sister.
The people in the pics are Geno and Dom.

Susan (pic further below) and Geno, both live in different towns down near the beaches in southern California. They had a beautiful Anatolian get-together at the beach. This is the first synchronized beach get together they had with their Anatolians; the first time these dogs met as a trio. These dogs are well socialized and are regular visitors to off leash beaches there.

Many dogs, both purebred and mixed breeds play there. (I wonder how cold that water is at this time of the year?!)
A few of the pics had assorted dogs zipping into the pictures.
Here comes one now!

And look!
WHO can resist this shot (a detail I took from one of several shots.)
Yep, that's him! You know him. That's the guy. That's Dom giving his Anatolian, Helmut, the ol' rabbit ears?
I can't help it, he always makes me laugh out loud! :D
Just look at all the smiles! :)

Here's a great pic of Susan posing with the three related Semavi dogs.
L-R: Helmut, Susan, Khazu, and Dylan.

Susan, thanks so much for bringing the camera along. Thanks to both Geno and Susan for sharing pictures from their day at the beach!

Labels: ASD_Pics, Dylan, Helmut, Khazu

I just got my beautiful Anatolian Calendar for 2009. Leydi above, is the cover girl. You can see more pics of her and her beautiful kids, over at Zaltana's Anatolian blog. It's a fun blog to visit because it is a picture web log and the pictures give a lot of clues about canine pack behavior. I think Marlene does a great job on her blog. :) (Plus, I just like to harass her! )

Kadim, Leydi and Alex are among the featured Anatolians in the 2009 calendar. 100% of all proceeds benefit purebred Anatolians. There might be some calendars left for those who forgot about preordering - they do not last long because the number that are printed is based largely on preorders. For more info on if any can be had, or info on how much is raised for rescue, and if you have a great Anatolian you'd like to see in next year's calendar, go here.

NASRN has an assortment of items for fund raisers. Alex is also featured on an Anatolian holiday card over at the new NASRN (rescue) blog, check it out! :) What a gorgeous headshot!

I'm tempted to scan Alex and put him on my blog too, but that would make it too easy for you. If you really want to have it, get his holiday cards or buy a 2009 calendar! heehee :D

BTW if you have a Myspace profile, and are looking to add friends you can add NASRN as a Myspace friend.

Labels: ASD_Pics, blogging, Rescue

What a find! I was trying to clear up a mess of bookmarks while looking for a genetics link I thought I lost (found it), and ran into a bookmark which is an RSS feed to Pixdaus. I clicked it and got the photo feed. Too nice a bookmark to delete, but wow, just on the first hit (this is a very active feed so it's like winning a lottery in one hit, lol), I see this photo which the poster at Pixdaus had the grace to add with the name of the photographer included. Yay!

A quick search digs up Gary Minish who has awesome Alaskan photography online and is featured on a Valdez, Alaska site with several slide shows. Searching for info on his dogs, I found a link referring to several dogs (three). Click the pic above to go directly to Pixdaus (the link to Eli), and then click this link to meet Gary's other dogs. He's got two LGDs and one black shepherd type dog. All of them enjoy the awesome alpine scenes which seem to be within Gary's driving distance. He is apparently a supporter of Anatolian rescue as well. What a guy. :)

It's a little difficult to immediately see how to scroll through parts of the album and Gary takes the time to caption many of the photos, it's worth the tour. Once you see enlarged pics, navigate the album from near the top left and you will see a '>' (and also '<' symbols) that will short cut your scroll through the album. About four pages down currently (a guess), you see his big white LGD who is actually clipped for 'the warm weather'! (in that remote alpine pic... you can see snow in the background!). :) Now I loved 'meeting the dogs' but this pic (High Intensity Symmetry) just blows me away! (click) I would just love to have a high res desktop image of it!

Awesome pics! If it weren't for Pixdaus and a missing browser link about a potential logical red herring concerning sequencing of intestinal mitochondrial DNA of a 5,000-year-old mummy named Öetzi (an Iceman), I might never have seen Gary's awesome photography! :D

What with all the snow... it reminded me of another Pixdaus picture I found, which unfortunately did not give any photo credit.

Labels: ASD_Pics

Check out the big dens at Holly's blog.
I love the pic showing dogs looking out in every direction.
They've got that paddock completely covered, Holly!

Labels: ASD_Pics, behavior

I found this photo on Pixdaus. It is titled: You are safe now.
Click the pic to see full size at the hosting site! Lots of awesome pics there on a just about every subject. I wasn't there long so don't know if there are more of my breed there. No clue where this dog is located but based on some elements of the contents of the picture, it is very likely in North America.

Labels: ASD_Pics

Italian friends!
Nino's son in Italy with a gorgeous Anatolian female pup, Hasir. Doesn't she have a bit of mischief in those eyes? ;)
I couldn't resist posting this! To see more of Nino's stuff, visit his blog!

Alas, this is happening way too much. I have truly been totally snowed, abducted by life and all that booooring yadda yadda... I'm trying to get back to my backlog of postings so I'll make a few tonight or this morning or whenever the *$&#^ server lets these upload. (sigh)

Labels: ASD_Pics, kids, Nino

Natalka...

You are not forgotten.

(mouseover each pic to see the names of the dogs)

Labels: ASD_Pics, breed_info

Anatolian puppy meets Central Asian Ovcharka.

These photos are from when Lilli's recent litter was 3 weeks old. Ah, the epitome of cuteness! :)
You can visit her website here: http://www.takasvolkodav.com/page2.asp










All so cute!

Lilli has done a wonderful job creating a brief anthology from different sources, showing similarities and differences between some of the various fawn shepherd dogs of Turkey.

Holy Grail, Batman!
There are some dog lovers and fanciers that go on about how the Kangal Dog is pureblood, and emphasizing that the Anatolian Shepherd Dog is more generic. In fact there are several books written by laymen who love these Turkish dogs and who have a variable collection of theories. Many actually speak of purity without looking at the source of the 'kangal' dogs they are observing or merely generalizing about -- and then they argue among themselves, "What is a Kangal Dog?", in an effort to make it distinct from the Anatolian Shepherd Dog.

The Truth? Both have had the same rough start with preconceived ideas based on limited numbers of dogs observed; where dominant colors and coats suddenly produced recessives and somehow had to be explained. While one group, the Anatolian Shepherd folks simply accepted the diversity en route to achieving various kennel embraced ideal forms or others adopted an 'anything goes if the dog works' approach (wildlife conservation efforts, protection of livestock from predation), the other group (Kangal lovers) emphasized that their version is 'more pure'.

Somehow?

And they embraced a narrower standard within which they defined the color of their ideal dog.

Color is an important characteristic of the Kangal Dog. In Turkey, non-standard colors or patterns are indicators that the dog is not a purebred Kangal Dog. The true Kangal Dog color is always solid and ranges from a light dun or pale, dull gold to a steel gray, depending on the amount of black or gray in the outer guard hairs and in the soft, cashmere-like undercoat. This basic color is set off by a black mask which may completely cover the muzzle and even extend over the top of the head...

...Disqualifications: Solid black, white, or chocolate colored dogs; dogs with piebald, brindle, or other parti-colored patterns; white markings on the face other than the small white spot on the chin.
Faults: Poorly defined black mask.

A stricter standard is a useful tool in the artificial race to accomplish 'purity', to make it appear as though it has always been there. Compliance ensures removal of healthy genetic diversity via the route of eugenics/culling. A good demonstration of this loss of healthy diversity is that such strains of dogs tend to have more health problems than the more diverse group. Here are some breed stats from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.

Kangal Dog Registry	Rank	Evaluations	Percent Abnormal	Percent Normal
ELBOW	N/A	6	50.0	50.0
HIPS	N/A	26	30.8	69.2

Anatolian S.D. Registry	Rank	Evaluations	Percent Abnormal	Percent Normal
CARDIAC	N/A	2	0.0	100.0
ELBOW	49	267	4.1	95.9
HIPS	89	1401	10.3	88.8
THYROID	20	59	6.8	81.4

Most anyone will probably not consider it normal for animals to have the ball of their hip located too far outside of its socket. Some affected dogs hold it together by being muscular in their youth, while others lacking in this compensation, may never make it to their first birthday.

It has only been in recent years that some of the new age Turks (not the traditional working shepherds) have begun to embrace this Western concept of "purity". Amusing when one realizes that such a concept of purity is only about 200 years old based on the work of breed specialists and enthusiasts of the Kennel Club. The Turks didn't invent it, but some have adopted the system somehow believing that it is superior and many do not realize that many breeds have developed problems because of narrow breeding.

Certainly, historically, distant villages of the sprawling Ottoman Empire never had meetings to decide what color their dogs should be. They were probably too busy fighting each other? --or surviving somehow, until Mustafa Kemal Ataturk came around and tried to nationalize them all.... But that's another story. However, National Pride is a big thing... the concept of purity in the Kangal has become such an urban legend that national pride is associated with this, and some people no longer question it.

At least the genetics of the dogs themselves speaks volumes, as you will see below. And many old shepherds embrace the truthfulness of variety that they have always known. They did not breed to a standard, they bred what they liked, or more accurately, the dogs that they liked and kept, bred themselves. They did not register dogs and often they kept no pups or just a few in a given litter. What is really changing however, is that the population that has been so dependent on the working dogs is disappearing. It is now easier for the well-to-do, to turn to the dogs as a hobby and to embrace new ideas, and entertain national pride.

The history of the breed as told by the Ministry of Turkey makes it clear that there has been no historical documentation:

History

When we studied history of Kangal Dog, we could not find any documents about Kangal dogs. There are several rumours about Kangal dogs. According to one rumour, the dog was derived from lion and tiger during Asur and Babil periods and were petted in order to provide protection against wild animals and use in wars and were grown up with great care...

Above is a Kangal Dog imported by David Nelson as foundation stock.
Purity!?

How does the dog above, compare to these other fawn dogs also called 'Kangal Dogs' below?

Young Kangal at a show in Istanbul.

Kangal puppies at the Ulas breeding center.

A blind, unweaned, 2 week old puppy being shown at a Turkish Kangal Dog Festival.

A collection of Kangals headed to the showring at the Festival.

Another dog shown as a Kangal at the same Festival.



Well then, what kinds of dogs are these?
--- To find out, see Lilli's pages on these dogs here and here.

The latter link is a special page primarily discussing issues in Australia where what basically happened is truly astounding.

Registered Anatolian Shepherd Dogs were first microchipped and then they were lined up to be judged by persons with no expertise in Turkish dogs. After this day, they were to be here on forward as either Anatolian Shepherd Dogs or as Kangal Dogs. Dogs were split into a new registry that was formed for the Kangal in Australia.

Isn't that amazing? Appointed judges viewed each dog and arbitrarily decided on the breed each dog would be. Some dogs ended up in a different breed categorization than their parents or littermates. (Hey Vern, let's put the blonde children on this side of the bus and the brunettes on the other!) In Australia, as it continues to happen in Turkey, some of these 'pure' Kangal Dogs still produce longer coated dogs or variations that do not satisfy the purists. Rather than concede the dogs are "Anatolians" all along, they simply call these dogs 'mismarks'. The name "Anatolian Shepherd Dog" has been made into a media target of scorn and this evolves from the vendetta of some Brits, who continue to rail against a person who realized the diversity of these dogs, namely Natalka Czartoryska. Whether one embraces her opinions or not, the dogs continue to produce so called "mismarks" nevertheless, and we can safely say that most of them never knew the lady.

But record keeping and pedigrees are only as honest as the people that keep them, and large numbers of these dogs are being bred, particularly in Turkey. The FCI requires a certain quota of registered dogs before a country's application to be FCI recognized can be accepted.

The off colored dogs and the ones with rough coats are apparently initially registered as kangal, to boost the numbers in order to rapidly meet the FCI quota. No DNA testing is necessary. This sort of paper play has occurred in the United Kingdom as well. Individual dogs that are not culled immediately, can be sold with false pedigrees to hide the identity of the supposedly pure parents (and mask the dishonesty of the breeder). While some may feel that these lies do not hurt the humans, in the long run, these will hurt the dogs. We are already seeing that rough coated dogs from Turkey in Kangal enthusiast areas, are getting the rough end of the stick when they are placed.

In the USA, despite that some Kangal Club members have been on genetics lists for a few years, they still insist on this peculiar purity that is only found in Kangal Dogs. They continue to explain away their own mismarks and poor orthopedics with various arguments, avoiding the fact that the same patterns have been recorded for thousands of Anatolians, long before Turks began to document their dogs and discover the same variations.

My high school genetics teacher would probably have flung a chalk board eraser at their blank heads for this stubborn pursuit of some Holy Grail. Alas, while claiming historic purity is a cool thing, it sure isn't honest or even genetically realistic in these dogs.

Boz, another beautiful Kangal Dog. This one from 2005 Geller Turkish calendar.

Dozer, a nice solid dog for sure!
How do these dogs compare to each other? Same breed, ya think?

Go figure!
Check out Lilli's pages above! :)
She's much more succinct!

Labels: ASD_Pics, breed_info, genetics, Turkishdog

Labels: ASD_Pics, blogging, kids, Nino

L-R: Dom, Helmut in rabbit ears and Geno.

Helmut has a goofy grin in every photo so the top one really cracked me up. Everyone did a Helmut grin and Dom (the handsome young man on the bike above) gave Helmut ye ol' rabbit ears. Boys! LOL B)

Helmut left us at the end of last year and went to live his family in Huntington Beach, California. He seems to have become one of the Beach Boys. I read that he is doing quite well there and has a very active and social life!

Geno writes, "He goes to the beach [is not fazed by the surf], goes to the wildlife preserve, down bike and dirt paths, to soccer/baseball parks, all around our neighborhood."

Wherever he goes he's the belle of the ball as all sorts of folks want to know what type of dog he is and pet him. Sometimes I have to avoid eye contact w/folks so we can get to where we're going.

Big dogs seem to respect and play with him, some little dogs nip at him so I'm keeping him away from little dogs for a while now. I don't want him being nipped at by little insecure animals (jack russels are ornery and most white fluffy things too). He's not growled or barked since I've had him. His disposition has always been very happy and mellow and more than once person have commentted on his positive aura and energy.

People quite honestly seem to love him. Domenic of course loves him and he is showing very good manners and displaying very few social climbing signs. Domenic can walk him on a leash w/o issue already even at a beach filled with off-leash dogs. I take him eveywhere I can.

He seems to mostly ignore my cats and others on the block. All my neighbors think he's great. He and Dom are on the way to a very close bond. He lets Dom walk him and does not pull when Dom is holding his leash or collar. He's so even keeled. He really seems to love smelling all the flowers in my backyard.

Of course, he's been a little naughty. I read that he did some experiments on Christmas ornaments, and made a few mistakes (probably on purpose) to see if the rules were changing. But we're ready for this stuff and we're all hoping for the best.

Helmut provides dog power for skateboarding. Please note the grin on the silly dog's face! I like the play of light on his feathered tail.

More skateboarding. You can't see it, but I'm sure Helmut is grinning!

Now, here's Helmut grinning in front of Dom and his mom, Lisa.
Wave back, Dom is waving!

Okay here is Helmut and Dom, looking pretty natural together. Of course, you notice I didn't even mention a goofy grin here.

Now here are three boys, all of them looking so handsome! That's Dom, Helmut and Dom's friend, Paolo.

Now here's the grinning California Beach Boy himself.

Helmut has always been such a goofy, sweet, and happy boy. He is 15 months now, getting into his 'teen' period, so we'll be keeping tabs and watching out for him and reminding him to be good! Some of the last pics I have of him, from just before he left, are here.

Meanwhile, his sister Coco and older half sister Ruya, have been helping with our visitor Molly.
Wonderful to see such great temperaments!

BTW, I have pics of Helmut's brother Marlow in Idaho and still haven't gotten around to posting them yet! Hang in there!

Labels: ASD_Pics, Helmut, kids

I can't help it. I just have to ooooh and awwwwwww and squeeeeeeal happily over how cute these babies are.

These are pups from Kim Gray's recent litter at Lost Armadillo Ranch in California. These pups are all spoken for and are starting to go to their new homes now. Their pedigree represents a blend of Turkish, Australian, English and domestic working bloodlines in just four generations.

So cute!

Pups in the snow. Gangway! :)

Labels: ASD_Pics

In response to a recent blog posting showing pups with expressive eyes, I got a comment, "Eyes you say?" from Kath Coniglio at Gypsy Anatolians with some photos of her girls. I just have to show them off here. :)



Taddy (Full Circle's Sihirli Tatlilik) helping some hidden fingers, I think, do quality control on a sweater. Either that or there's a cookie involved and I didn't get one! :p

Brinks (Briar Patch Brinks v Gypsy) pondering Anatolians of the past and future. :D

Aslan's Defne (Minnos) v Gypsy expressing her boundless enthusiasm for yet another photo :)

Labels: ASD_Pics, humor

Turk, aka Roadblock's Turkish Silver, in a cute picture sent by Tiffany of Roadblock Anatolians. He is now working and training as a livestock dog.

Seeing the eyes above, it reminded me of how expressive our doggies can be.

Above is a favorite of mine. The two pups are Coco and Helmut, giving Dave Koerner their rapt attention. I still wonder what he did to get that expression!


At fourteen months, Coco and Helmut above, giving my camera a quick look when I tried to get their attention by making odd noises -- and they do appear to be somewhat concerned. ;)

Now this is cool...
Here's a chance to add your doggie pics to a huge mosaic by Pedigree. I added Ruya and got an email response. Supposedly "RUYA1" will show up in the mosaic in another day or two. Pedigree says it will make a $1 donation* to The PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive for every dog photo that's uploaded to the mosaic. (up to $10,000)

Labels: ASD_Pics, Coco, Helmut, humor

Carolyn Domecq of Gentle Giants Ranch sent me these cute pics of Ivan (also known as Giant Dog Ranch Ivan).

He is nearly a year old (Feb. 11, 2007), a cousin to my own chocolate Anatolian girl, Coco. :)

Isn't he nice?!

Burrowing in the snow...


What a head for a yearling boy!

Looks like I'm not the only one who loves him :)

Edit: Added 23 Jan, 2008 -
Here's pics of Ivan with the stock on hotter days.

Isn't he handsome?!


Spot Ivan hard at work? :)

Ivan's mother is Ruya's sister, so half of his bloodline is mine. Ivan's sire, Polar, has some Australian bloodlines on his mother's side. Ivan is currently UKC registered.

Labels: ASD_Pics

Sokar (standing male) and Varlik (sitting female) in snow.
These beautiful Anatolian Shepherd Dogs are owned by Sophie Licari in France.

Here is her young male, Coban.

You can visit her informative website here. (it is in French only)

Labels: ASD_Pics

Inmates!

Long faces above... we had some work done on the property today so all the dogs had to go into the big kennel (the one that is strong enough to be Anatolian-proof!) while the gates were left open for lots of to and fro-ing for a few hours. The orange twine is for holding the kennel door open which it is most all the time.

Work done for the day, front gate closed. I go out to let them out, giving them a cheerful greeting. First, they give me happy, hopeful looks, because I'm about to let them out of the jail -- then I realized I should get the camera! -- Whee! snap snap...

After I got the camera, however, upon seeing the camera, instead of looking excitedly at me, they look resigned as I snap away... poor pups! All you peeps clamoring for pictures after my doggie picture hiatus. Look what you've done! LOL.

Close-ups of the Inmates--

This is taken from another pic, where they look to the front door, maybe accusingly at James who is just standing there watching. They are pointedly refusing to look at me. (lol) :D

Coco

Boone

Ruya

I had to move to another angle to get a better picture of Helmut. He looks happier than Ruya who is still glowering (it seems) at James in the doorway. :)

Helmut

Project isn't going to be done in one day, so they'll all have some more jail time, a few hours each day, in the next few days. sigh... Yeah, I'm not happy either but it'll be nice when the projects are finished. James laughed when he saw the photos of all the accusatory looking glances. The dogs are so expressive. After I let them out of jail, they all clustered around me for attention then each dog curled up nearby.

Boone snuggles against me as Helmut, his son, relaxes.

Labels: ASD_Pics, Boone, Coco, Helmut, Ruya

Meet Pasa! photo courtesy of Brandi's MySpace

Brandi owns Pasa and has a story on her blog about a rather serious experience that revealed Pasa's sensitive and caring nature. What a wonderful, sensitive puppy! The same site not only hosts her blog but her new website as well. See the list of links in the column at that page. Go, enjoy!

Alternatively, if you've got a MySpace account, go here to see the collection of puppy photos of Pasa and her other Anatolian pals who live over at Brandi's Mystic Anatolians. If you're not a MySpace member, you can still check out Brandi's MySpace page and see slideshows and a movie of her other ASDs without joining MySpace.

Labels: ASD_Pics, blogging

Boone, surveying his domain!

I have a heck of a time trying to edit video. I've got a few clips that Dave Koerner took during one of the visits he had here a year ago. I've been trying to edit them in Movie Maker (MS), but I really don't have talent for it and keep doing something that makes the program crash. Whenever I get it done, I'll post it here on the blog.

But the real reason for this post is that there are lots and lots and lots of Turkish dog lovers (especially overseas!) who take lots of footage of these beloved dogs! Americans seem to be a little more camera shy, or are much much pickier about opportune times for doggie videos, therefore the times never come. . . Carol Burnett has a message for us about not saving up for the best time but to enjoy it all now... don't have a link! Some of it is pretty nicely done, considering the resolution and our raw attempts at amateur movies. Some of the video captures cute moments such as these big guys getting tackled by little toy sized dogs. :) Funny! Unfortunately there are also rather unpleasant vids showing people sparring with their dogs - so if you're gonna go looking at videos, do realize that there's a fair bit of that out there. Ugh! I won't dwell on that now. I'm supposed to be de-stressing!

I liked this video and gave it a four for effort and the obvious work that's gone into it. Shows some really nice dogs, some variation in color and type, and pretty much showing just how important it is to realize there is a lot more to the story of Turkish dogs than certain Wikipedia donators are willing to admit. This appears to be compiled from various sources. A few of the human faces and dogs are recognizable from points of contact I've had around the world, but most are not. And the text, I appreciate! The closest thing I can get to captions sometimes. :) :D

Enjoy!

Labels: ASD_Pics, Turkishdog, Video

Mama and puppies.

I thought the above photo was so beautiful, had to post it here! This is Full Circle's Kutlu Kume, "Stacey", with her litter by Full Circle's Isaret, "Marky".

The website for Full Circle Farm is here. You can see the OFA scores, other info, more photos of the parents, as well as get a glimpse of Marky's handsome fawn grandfather in Turkey.

Labels: ASD_Pics

Turkish Dog History is still in the making. :) The list of classifications and subclassifications of dogs associated with native shepherds of Turkey continues to grow. The Kangal Dog, Akbash Dog, Kars, and Turkish Mastiff, then the Malak, plus the Yoruk and the Anatolian Shepherd Dog are among current classifications of strains and/or (in some cases) breed divisions that have evolved via different sources in the past two decades from widely scattered native landraces of shepherds' dogs or coban kopekleri of Anatolia.

Go to Malak Article

A Turkish-born researcher and traveler, Guvener Isik (website: http://yorukanatolian.com/) has published two new articles about the flock guardian dogs in Turkey. One is a recent interview with Turkish Kangal Dog enthusiast and published author, Dogan Kartay, touching on issues of FCI recognition of Turkish breeds. The second article is an exploration of the heavy boned, massive Malak which Kartay mentions during his interview and the possible influences of this dog on other subtypes all across Turkey. Isik has published the Malak article previously (in Turkish) but the article is timely so it has undergone an English translation. Isik has many other articles (much of it is in Turkish) and has used his own collection of photos taken at location in some of his work. It is wonderful that he has taken the time to try to bring more understanding of the dog situation in Turkey to both Turkish and international interests alike.

See the articles linked below. Many thanks to both Isik and to Kartay for helping to bring more light to these subjects!
Taken from his website yorukanatolian.com, Isik writes:

The History or Story Behind This Site

I have been around these dogs and the necessary life style since my childhood. It is obvious that there several views about this subject without any tangible and rational arguments. Most of the information available is time and content wise based on very limited research and is repetitive. Visiting a few villages and flocks for a few days in a limited geographical area and drawing outcomes through the collected or available data would give one a limited portion of the whole picture. This approach in the past gave two basic results: One is considering the whole shepherd dog population of Turkey as one breed "Anatolian Shepherd Dog", the other one is creating new breeds like "Akbas" without looking the meaning of the word and the extent and the content of its usage. The above second international approach affected the Turkish public and consequently manipuated city Turks and Turkish Academicians to accept a new breed. To me this is a breed inflation not a discovery. The Kangal side of the confusion started in Turkey and affected some clubs in other countries. So far there is not any clear remark in Turkey that clarifies the qualities of Kangal Shepherd Dog. Is Kangal a dog from only Kangal region? Is any dog from that region a Kangal? We can say "Yes" to the first question. We should say "No" to the second one, because there is variation of types in that area. Then it must be a type of dog, which can be mostly found in that area in its best form. There is no consensus on the subject, because we are referring to different qualities by using the same word. Recently any fawn colour dog with a black mask goes as a Kangal, and the local strains are being negatively damaged by this attitude.

I am actually concentrating on the Yoruk dogs. They are terribly ignored and even the name "stray" is used in order to elavate the importance of the major two famous strains. I am not intending to create a new breed but bring out whateverelse Anatolia offers. I am here to introduce them to you for them to be recognised.

Others involved in Yoruk dogs

We are a group of people who are trying to locate and preserve the best specimens of these dogs all over Turkey. We definitely deliberate over the traditional methods during the process of our endeavour to perpetuate these dogs. What we feed, how we choose and test are all based on conventional practices.

In Izmir: Aral Altay, Muzaffer Colakoglu
In Denizli: Halil Cokak, Ismail Kara, Ibrahim Kayis, Mehmet Kayan
In Sapanca: Vet. Murat Ilgaz
In Isparta: Mehmed Pir

To me, in order to do a good job of learning about these dogs one needs sensitivity to traditions (both current and past trends); enthusiasm about genetics and actual pedigree research; population & locale studies including formative environment; patiently reading perspectives from different peer and enthusiasts groups -- and the list goes on with other materials. A multidimensional approach!


Isik examining a Turkish dog. Puppies examining Isik.

Check out the puppy up on the dirt bank! An independent LGD in the making? :)


From Isik collection: a female Kangal with portion of her litter.

For some, it is often 'safer' to just freeze a point in time with one's assumptions and speculations and to go no further toward the truth.

Foundation stock of Turkish breeds to from Kangal Dog, Akbash & Anatolian Shepherds -- and the produce from these dogs, even if acquired from the same areas (often they were not) were not consistent and homogenous, regardless of whether one sings for Akbash, Kangal Dog or ASD.


A Kangal Dog from American Kangal Dog Club founder's foundation stock


Another early foundation stock dog. American Akbash strain

At any rate, many new enthusiasts in these dogs are seeking better understanding. I'm glad that many realize there is so much more to learn! Knowledge, sharing information and being honest will help us all work together to preserve these wonderful dogs. :D B)

Links to the Articles:
Guvener Isik's Interview with Dogan Kartay
Malak and furthermore Greyhound Turca

Related from this blog:
Bozkir Canavari: The Steppe Monster
Previous Turkish dogs blog post with some genetics info

Labels: ASD_Pics, breed_info, isik, Turkishdog

What has virtually no legs, is almost a perpetual motion machine, can be worn like a necklace and generally gives an Anatolian a lot of (neck) exercise?

Three guesses, three pics. ;)


Dangling from "Auntie" Sirin's neck!


Kiz checking out the legless wonder.


Is that puppy ever completely in focus?



Can't resist! Okay, one more pic :)


Kathy calls this one: Help me, I'm being good!

Kathy adds that "Bitsy", a 9 week old mini doxie (3 pounds), who is visiting Gerlach Ranch, also chomped onto and got to be Auntie Sirin's hanging Anatolian Tail ornament!

The joys of puppy sitting? :p

Labels: ASD_Pics

Sabir's Michael, a working alpaca guardian, lets us all know what he thinks about Marit's new camera and picture taking time!


Let us mince no words!

Michael is owned by Las Flores del Altiplano. He is essentially a Semavi boy and his sire is Gerlach Beau.


Handsome guy!

Labels: ASD_Pics

Kim Gray at Lost Armadillo Ranch writes:

The coyotes come up every so often, Kori and Grace had been barking nonstop, my husband was out of town, so I grabbed the camera and headed out for a "shot". Grace turned to look at me, as if to say "don't you see it?

Coyote in the nearby fields


Grace: "Mom, don't you see the coyote?!"

Click pix to enlarge.

Labels: ASD_Pics

Kathy Gerlach over at Gerlach Ranch sent me some cute pics showing Sirin with their new dachshund (doxie) puppy, Wes.


Here's Sirin at nearly a year of age, getting to know this new doxie puppy.


Look at that expression. Doesn't she seem to be thinking, "What a strange creature you are!"


Now here's an older pic of my own girl, Ruya at 5 months (she's a cousin to Sirin). She's at a dog park, meeting her first doxie!
Her reaction is so cute and funny, "OMG, what IS that? A dog? No!?"

Labels: ASD_Pics

I couldn't resist posting this amusing and delightful picture. Kathy Gerlach at Gerlach Anatolians, took this wonderful photograph.

She wrote

I could not have timed it any better.
I said OK give them a kiss
and the dogs looked up.
Just like the dogs knew what to do...............
So sweet.
Kiz and Beau giving Katelyn and Samantha kisses.

Synchronized Kisses and Smiles!
Such a beautiful quartet!

Happy Valentines Day!

Labels: ASD_Pics

Mark Griffith of Pescadero, California sends these pictures of Gerlach Zorlu Veli who is 9 months old (Feb 2, 2006). Zor (as he is called) seems to know a thing or two about re-excavating an ag-flume!




Flume? What flume?

Isn't he sweet? Standing there obediently while evidence is collected via photography.


Um, oh... *that* flume!

Wasn't that fun?!

A lot cleaner now.

Such a handsome boy!

His lucky owners, Mark and his wife, Lynn Kenny, also breed and train Peruvian Paso horses and English Shire horses. He says, "We ride in alot of parades and are the 2004-2005 California State Horsemen's Association, High-Point matched pair."

Labels: ASD_Pics

Look at the beautiful smiles and check out the cool looking hat! :)


Photo credit to Guvener Isik

A Turkish family posing with a handsome young working shepherd's dog and their little "peanut" dog. :)

Guvener explains:

The little black and white dog is generally called "findik" means peanut. because they are so small. One can see them with the flocks sometimes and they are extremely protective.

I have a previous post on Guvener's Turkish dog studies here.

Labels: ASD_Pics, isik, kids

Thanks to Gerlach Ranch Anatolians in California, a couple photos of children socializing beautiful puppies!


Pups are about one week old above and four weeks old below.

Labels: ASD_Pics, kids