Anatolian Shepherd Dog (Livestock Guardian Dog)

[carolinagirl58]

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Yeah we just got lucky. I wish we would have bought a few of them when we had the chance. I got him from a "breeder" about 2 hours away from us for $75.00 He's been an awesome dog. My next dog will probably be a purebred, though....

yeah getting a purebred would be safer. You got really lucky with yours. I can't imagine why so many people are crossing herding breeds with guardian breeds because their instinces are SO opposite! LGDs are laidback, watchful, calm, no prey drive. Herding dogs are energetic, active, hyper and have a strong desire to chase and round up whatever is handy. Total opposites! lol! Seems like a lot of people are doing these crosses though. I am glad yours worked out so well for you.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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Excellent information. Thank you for sharing.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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He's mixed with a border collie--he's basically one on steroids. He's got a strong herding instinct but he's also a coyote killer. He's very sweet unless we ask him to be otherwise. He's great with all of the animals. We started him with the goats & chickens when he was 6 weeks old. We don't have a fence at all and we have thousands of acres around our place. We've had no trouble with him wandering or leaving at all.

The night we brought him home:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/CASH002.jpg

"Guarding" the goats on his own the next day (outside of their pen, LOL)

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/cashshifty2.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/cashandwaterfowl.jpg

He's great with little puppies, too!

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/DSCN1766.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/DSCN1763.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/DSCN4725.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/DSCN5355.jpg

In response to me telling him there was a coyote!

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/Cash1.jpg

Being very tolerate with Hank, our heeler pup!

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/DSCN5199.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DOGS/DSCN5200.jpg

Here's a video my sister's boyfriend finally uploaded to Youtube almost a year after this happened.

Cash is the big black/white dog (mine), Bailey is the chocolate lab that belongs to my parents and Hank (the heeler) is mine as well. He was pretty young when this was taken....yes, he pees on Cash. Poor Cash, LOL

BEAUTIFUL PICS !!!!!! He is handsome as well as the others. I love the pic of you telling him there is a coyote.

I would be scared if I were a coyote.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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I would love to talk to you. I will PM my number. I have other questions as well.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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Yeah we just got lucky. I wish we would have bought a few of them when we had the chance. I got him from a "breeder" about 2 hours away from us for $75.00 He's been an awesome dog. My next dog will probably be a purebred, though....

yeah getting a purebred would be safer. You got really lucky with yours. I can't imagine why so many people are crossing herding breeds with guardian breeds because their instinces are SO opposite! LGDs are laidback, watchful, calm, no prey drive. Herding dogs are energetic, active, hyper and have a strong desire to chase and round up whatever is handy. Total opposites! lol! Seems like a lot of people are doing these crosses though. I am glad yours worked out so well for you.

That was one of my questions. Is a purebred better than a mixed?

 

[carolinagirl58]

each breed of guardian dog has it's own guarding style. If you mix them, there is no way to predict what guarding style they will use. For example, Great Pyrenees tends to be vocal. They are known to bark quite often, just to let any potential predators know they are there and to stay away. Anatolians don't bark as much. They tend to watch quietly and deal with predators if they DO come around. GP's have a long thick coat, Anatolians have a shorter coat. If you mix them....you won't know what guarding method your pup will use or what kind of adult coat it will have. Lots of people love the cross between Anatolians and GPs, but I prefer to know exactly what I am getting in a pup. And mixing guardian type dogs with herding type dogs can be a real disaster! Rare Feathers was really, really lucky with his cross, but not everyone is that lucky. If you can, you are much better off getting a purebred dog from a reputable breeder. A breeder that has his breeding stock x-rayed to rule out hip dysplasia is a really good idea too, since large breeds can have hip problems. It's more of a problem with GPs since they have been bred for show and by puppy mills for years, but it is found in Anatolians as well. You will pay more for a pup from a reputable breeder, but if you look at that extra amount over the life of the dog, it's not even worth talking about. Literally pennies per day!

 

[cassidy22]

We have Great Pyrenees (Anatolian and Akbash are also on our list for future possibilities)

We got our Gyps when they were 10 weeks old (they had never been handled by people, so they needed a lot of patience at first)

Part of our training was a) they slept in the barn, so they had the smell of the sheep all night, and learned to accept them as their pack. There were likely a few birds in the barn, too.

b) we took them for a perimeter walk of our property at least twice a day. We did this with our other dogs in tow, so that they could see when our dogs peed on the fence to mark the territory, that they were supposed to do that, too. If our pet dogs didn't pee on the fence, then my husband would, just to reinforce the boundary of our property, and marking it so that predators knew that territory belonged to another pack.

Our gyps had a lot of internal instincts that we could never teach them, like running flying birds off the property so that things like hawks and eagles can't dive and capture a small bird. They also work as a team, and one is the alarm bell - he manages the fenceline and barks at any predators. The other one interprets the alarm bell, and if it's serious, he first moves the flock away from danger, then he joins his brother to fight the predator. All our land is fenced, so they don't leave, and with two barking dogs, most predators don't even get the change to cross the fence.

Our boys now rest in the house, and sleep inside in the winter with us. But I think it was important for them to live with the animals in the beginning to create that bond to the flocks (sheep, chickens and turkeys)

We are, however, in a position that we can't allow friends to bring their dogs to the house to visit, because it desensitizes our working boys to outside threats. Predators arent always coyotes, since a loose dog got in and killed a sheep. My boys thought he was a "friend" because they had met him before, and they didn't stop him.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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How will I know if it is really a pure bred and not just take the seller's word for it?

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have feral cats that do not harm the chickens or other animals when they are in the chicken yard. Will the livestock dogs run my feral cats away or harm them?

 

[carolinagirl58]

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How will I know if it is really a pure bred and not just take the seller's word for it?

get a reputable breeder. If you can't find a good reputable breeder, at least make sure you can see both parents.