Coban Köpegi – Anatolian Shepherd Dog

The Anatolian Shepherd Dog or “the Kangal” as he is affectionately known, is the national heritage of Turkey. According to estimation, the country has over 40 million sheep, and a wide number is reared on vast open plains. Yearly migration to summer pastures on the mountainside is often the practice followed. All over the Anatolian plateau large, strong and tough dogs are being used to protect the sheep from a number of predators that may include jackals, wolves, eagles, wildcats or even bears. A well trained Anatolian often escorts the flocks to and from water and pastures without the assistance of humans.

“Coben Kopegi”-“shepherd dog” is the name which is given to herding breed of any size and shape in Turkey. Under this heading there are a number of specific types of herding dogs which may fall but at the same time it is seen because of the vastness of the plains, there are herding dogs of mixed or no particular type. The study of Turkish herding breeds is rather difficult because there have no records or written ancestry as there was not any official club or body until recent times that kept the records.

History:
Archaeological researchers have torched light on the beginnings of the present day Mastiff breeds and Kangal has received a fair share out of it. The most important factor that we should bear in mind is the close proximity of Turkey to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamian Basin namely the Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonia. There is sure evidence that Turkish dogs were influenced by some neighbouring regions. From Turcoman Dynasty to Genghis Khan’s adventure and towards Seljuk Turks, Turkey has always been influence by invaders. The 17th century Turk writer Evliya Celebi writes in his “Seyahatname” –meaning Book of Travels- he narrates that “large dogs, like lions” were displayed as a show of might from their handlers.

Essentials of the Breed:

The Anatolian Shepherd Dog is a big and powerfully built Mastiff family breed with colours that may range from creamish gold towards fawn and reddish-gold. The Kangal has black mask and ears. An adult male stands at least 30inch at shoulders and weigh in the range of 60-70kgs but specimen around 32 inch are quite abundant. Female Kangals are somewhat lesser in stature and build. It has a double coat perfectly molded for all the rigorous situations he comes across while working with flocks. The coat insulates the inner layer that provides enough warmth in the Anatolian plateau where the temperature may drop -30 Celsius.

A working Kangal has his ears cropped at a young age for various reasons. Firstly for appearance, as the cropped look give a very bold and fearsome appearance and secondly if encountered with a wolf, the ears are always grippe and bitten. As a protection working Kangals are always provided with a “spiked collar” that saves the jugular from wolf bites.

The Kangal enjoys human companionship and offers his services as a peerless protector for his territory and beloveds. These are strong minded dogs with an inclination towards wandering off boundaries, so close human supervision or reliable fencing is of paramount importance. They have natural guarding and herding instincts and are not sub ordinate species so do bear in mind that a clash may occur inside a home if they are met with an opponent of similar strength and character.

Establishment of breed outside Turkey :
In the decade of 60s a woman named Charmian Steele encountered the Anatolian Shepherd Dog while traveling in Turkey. She as a student of Middle Eastern archaeology had profound interest in the herding breeds and returned to England in 1965 with a pair of Anatolian Shepherd Dogs that were registered and popularly called “Karabash” meaning Black head.

Anatolian Shepherd Dogs have successfully established themselves as working dogs in the USA, Australia and New Zealand through the works and efforts of livestock keepers. The Livestock Guard Dog Association in USA has carried out extensive working trials of the Anatolian in contrast with other herding breeds.

Choosing an Anatolian Puppy:

1. Puppies of Anatolian like other Molossian breeds have loose limbs and some time look awkward in the rapid stage of growing. A good sized puppy will nearly weigh 800 grams at birth and around 10kgs at 7-8 weeks. It’s always hard to predict the outcome, especially the colour as the puppies are dark grey at birth and gradually change their coat colour to shades of fawn.
2. Pay attention to the hindquarters and watch for any visible difficulty in getting up to all four paws. Slightly turned feet improve as the dog grows older and the ligaments and tendons supporting his skeleton develop in strength. A small white on paws and chest is acceptable in the standard but there should never be white on face or anywhere else on the body. A black mask with black ears is required but a black muzzle and shaded ears are also acceptable.
3. A rare occurrence is the long coat which is a near disqualification and hence it is not suitable for showing or breeding. In puppies long coat is detectable by wavy and thicker coat and fluffy ears.

Anatolian Shepherd Dogs are the most long lived breeds in the Mastiff family and their average age tends to be in between 12-14 years.

Tags: Anatolian Shepherd Dog, Coben Kopegi, dog breed, dog breeds, Kangal, Mastiff, mastiff breeds, mastiff family, sheepdog, sheepdogs, shepherd dog, turkish dogs, types of herding dogs