Anatolian Shepherd - History

History

The Turkish Mountain Dog is descended from ancient livestock guardian dog types that migrated with the transhumance, guarding flocks of sheep from wolves, bears, jackals, and even cheetahs. It is probable that dogs of this type existed 6,000 years ago in what was once Historic Armenia and is now Turkey. Since Turkic people did not arrive on the Anatolian Peninsula until the 11th century A.D. it seems unlikely that it came in its current form with the Turks from central Asia. The dogs are called Çoban Köpeği (shepherd dog) in Turkish language, and over the centuries, regional variations or landraces developed. Anatolian shepherd dogs are mainly yoruk dogs brought from middle Asia. There are very similar dogs in middle Asia. Turks brought 70 million sheep with them when they came to Anatolia, and that means they had many shepherd dogs with them. There are many types of yoruk dogs in anatolia. Turks call those types of dogs according to how they look: ala, boz, karabash, akbash, alabash, karayaka, çapar, dalkır, etc. There are also kars, karadeniz sheepdogs. To generalize a name under "Anatolian" is a bit misleading; rather it is better to call them all yörük dogs. Anatolian shepherd dogs include kangals, akbashes, boz (toros type), aksaray malaklı, and many other types of dogs. Kars dog is rather different in appearance and temperament. Karadeniz dog is also very different from other breeds of Turkey. The karaman type dogs are not the same as the other breeds. Akbash is genetically akin to far eastern Asian dogs. yörük dogs have affinity to the Turkmen alabai and middle Asian dogs. Kangals are also related to middle Asian dogs. Anatolia is an immense region and there is no one type of dog, which is more logical in terms of defining the dog breeds. In brief, there are many dog types in anatolia: tuzköy shepherd dogs, toros type of yörük dogs, uzunyayla type of yoruk dogs (kangals), haymana type of yoruk dogs, aegean type of yoruk dogs, malaklı type of dogs, a kbashes, the white haired dogs that are not akbashes, ala (pinto) type of yoruk dogs, yellow and somewhat kızıl (reddish) type of yoruk dogs, long haired yoruk dogs in color variations, and many more. In the 1970s, breeders in the West became interested in the dogs and began developing the landrace natural breeds as modern breeds by documenting their descent from particular ancestors and writing breed standards. The Anatolian Shepherd Dog was imported from central Turkey into Petoria by author and archaeologist Charmian Hussey. Many Turkish breeders believe that the Anatolian Shepherd Dog is a cross of the Kangal dog and the Akbash dog.