Anatolian Shepherd Dog
A livestock guardian from Turkey that works with no shepherd nearby and decides for itself. It bonds to the flock rather than to a handler.
Photo by www.ralfsteinberger.com, CC BY 2.0
Overview
The Anatolian Shepherd is a livestock guardian from Turkey, and the crucial thing about it is that it was bred to work without a shepherd present. Its job is to live with the flock, assess threats itself, and act, which means independent decision making is not a training failure, it is the design.
At eighty to a hundred and fifty pounds it is a serious dog, and it is still used in working programmes, including in Namibia where Anatolians protect livestock from cheetahs and reduce the retaliatory killing of the cheetahs.
Temperament
Calm, watchful and profoundly independent. An Anatolian is not a companion dog that also guards, it is a guardian that tolerates companionship.
It will bark at night, which is the job. It will patrol a boundary. It will make its own judgement about a visitor, and it does not defer readily. This is not a dog for a suburban garden or for an owner who wants obedience, and it is an excellent dog on the acreage it was made for.
Care and grooming
A weekly brush for the short to rough double coat, and daily during the two heavy moults.
They are generally hardy. Hip dysplasia occurs, as does hypothyroidism and entropion. Like many large guardian breeds they are sensitive to anaesthesia and often need lower doses than weight alone would suggest.
Living and exercise
Space rather than exercise sessions. An Anatolian needs territory to patrol, and a long walk on a lead does not substitute for it.
Fencing has to be serious, because they roam to extend a boundary they consider theirs. They are best suited to a smallholding with stock, which is the only setting where the breed's instincts and the owner's needs actually align.
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