The Akbash Dog is considered to be the Turkish version of the all-white livestock guardian dog tradition. Compared to the heavier-boned dogs of Eastern Turkey Akbash Dogs possess a lighter and more agile physique. According to the observations made by some western travellers in the past, moderately sized agile white dogs protected the flocks aggressively in western Turkey. As mentioned before, I also believe that this is the dog that Evliya Çelebi refers to as the Angora Goat Dog in his travel books. When the breed caught the attention of an American couple named David and Judith Nelson in the early 1970s they named these dogs “Akbaş” (white head) picking one of the traditional names used for them. Today these remaining white dogs are still traditionally known as Akku (white bird) by the villagers in western Turkey.
The Akbaş Dog’s popularity seems to be increasing in Turkey. Although the immense popularity of the Kangal Dog replaced a lot of working Akbaş Dogs in the regions where they had been bred for centuries, the breed tends to be preferred over larger and heavier-boned Kangal Dogs today as a vigilant estate guardian. The newly founded Akbash Dog Club of Turkey is developing projects to save the remaining working Akbas Dogs. The breed seems to have strong followers at home and abroad. According to the Department of Agriculture of America Akbas Dogs were one of the three most successful livestock guardian breeds in North America, along with Maremma Dogs of Italy and Pyrenean Mountain Dogs of France. One of the strongest characteristics of the breed is the wide range of types accepted by its parent clubs both in North America and Turkey.
This both keeps the gene pool healthy and ensures that for every working condition there is an Akbaş Dog to function to the fullest. The Akbash Dogh breed comes in one colour with three different coat types: short, moderate and long. The physical characteristics seen in the breed also call for three different types in the breed: sight hound, moderate and mastiff. The first suggests a sleeker dog with a sight hound-like light bones and a strong tuck-up while the latter ones suggest dogs with heavier bone and larger sizes. A male of average build is between 70 and 75 cm at the withers whereas the average size for a female is between 68 and 70 cm. Akbash Dogs are not as large as Kangal Dogs and should not be bred in extreme sizes.
0 comments:
Post a Comment