Need Anatolian Shepherd Advice

[texashippychick]

Just wondering if anyone experienced with Anatolian Shepherds can give me some advice. We have an Anatolian (male, unneutered) who is about a year and a half and seems extremely immature. No guarding tendencies ( but he will bark at night if he hears something, and will run to the fence), but still tries to play with chickens, doesn't show *any* guarded or aloof tendencies toward people that are strangers or even to unfamiliar dogs - in fact does his best to love on every body..strangers and strange dogs! A stray dog came to the fence and he was so happy I thought he was going to wag himself in half. He is good with goats, in fact very sweet to the goats and baby chicks, but when he gets bored he will catch a full grown chicken and play with it. When we got him I did quite a bit of reading about Anatolians and learned how important it is to socialize him..could we have 'over socialized' him? Just looking for advice on whether to give up and re-home him. The chasing chickens to play with doesn't bother me so much because I know with more maturity and more supervision he will outgrow that. (He has never mauled or intentionally hurt one). But the complete lack of being territorial to other dogs or even to bark at people he doesn't know is a concern. Neighbor dogs are our biggest predator.

 

[fowl farm]

LGD's take longer to mature than most dogs. A Great Pyrenees tends to take up to a year and half to mature. Don't know about Antalonians, but keep that in mind.

 

[watchdogps]

The boys can be big goofs for a long time, up to two years, and some are more friendly than others so he may never be particularly against humans. He will start getting mad about stray dogs at some point though.

 

[donrae]

I would suggest neutering him. Not so much to help with behavior, but he does not seem to have the guarding instincts you'd want from babies. Just keep in mind, only the best should breed.

That said, I'd just give him time and see how he settles out. He's still young. If he's not where you want by age 2, consider rehoming him.

 

[cafarmgirl]

He's acting immature because he IS immature and will be until he's two or three. The instinct to guard may kick in more as he gets older.

I would, however, really suggest you discourage him from catching and playing with chickens when he is bored. That is an activity that can easily lead to worse as he gets older. Don't allow behavior's now that can get worse or that you don't want him doing when he's grown.