Livestock and Predators
Can a young Anatolian Shepherd be left alone with livestock?
No. Until about two years old, a young Anatolian needs supervision, training and an owner who sets the rules. Most guardian dogs that fail, fail here.
A guardian puppy is not a finished guardian. Texas A&M’s livestock guardian dog program says it takes 18 to 24 months for a puppy to become an effective guardian, and that dogs between 6 and 18 months old may chase the animals they are supposed to protect. In a producer survey published in 1988, 14 percent of Anatolians were rated aggressive to sheep. The same Texas A&M program lists culling for bad behavior as the second leading cause of guardian dog losses.
An adolescent Anatolian is big, fast and full of energy before it has judgment. Left alone with small animals, play turns into chasing, chasing turns into grabbing, and a habit forms. That is a failure of management, not a bad dog, and it is preventable.
What a young dog needs:
- Supervision. Until a young dog has earned trust, it needs someone watching whenever it is with stock or small animals.
- A leader. The national breed club says this dog needs a strong, consistent, positive leader. Here our puppies learn from their parents. At your place, you are the example.
- Training. Our contract requires an obedience class.
- Call us early. We would much rather hear about the first problem than the tenth.
If you want a dog you can put in the pasture and forget, this is not the dog and we are not the breeder.
The information on this page is general information about the breed, drawn from the sources listed and from our own experience. Individual dogs vary. Nothing here is a guarantee about the health, size, temperament or working ability of any particular puppy. The terms of any sale are those in our written contract.