The breeds · working
AKC Working · UKC Guardian
Anatolian Shepherd Dog.
Livestock guardian, not a herder. AKC standard: a working guard dog without equal with a unique ability to protect livestock, developed for a purely utilitarian purpose; alert, calm and observant, instinctively protective, highly territorial, a natural guard; reserve around strangers acceptable. UKC: shepherd's guard dog of ancient lineage, original function flock guarding for sheep on the Central Anatolian Plateau; steady and bold, without aggression; independent, intelligent, tractable. RKC: nomadic flock guard from Turkey, lived outdoors all year in hot summers and freezing winters. Anatolian Shepherd Dog Club of America (AKC feature): show dogs come straight from working on farms; first defense is visual deterrence, then a throat-clearing bark that escalates; independent thinking is integral since dogs are often out of sight of shepherds. USDA bulletin: Anatolians reach behavioral maturity at about 18 to 30 months; in a yearling evaluation 38 percent of 26 Anatolians rated good against 83 percent of 59 Great Pyrenees, mainly because of a higher tendency to injure or kill sheep. Andelt 1999: producers using several breeds generally rated Anatolians more effective than Great Pyrenees, but the sample was too small for firm conclusions; Anatolians were rated faster than Great Pyrenees.
Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.
The body
What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.
Height at the shoulder
Low and high span AKC (a floor of 27) and UKC (27.5 to 31).
Weight
Low and high span AKC (80) and UKC (88 to 120).
Coat
Shedding
Heat tolerance
Derived from the coat description (3 = medium double). UKC states the breed endures extremes of heat and cold.
How long they live, and what they cost
Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.
Median lifespan
Small sample (70 dogs), hence the wide interval. UK pet population. Other bands are shown beside it, never merged: the AKC breed page gives 11-13 years and the Royal Kennel Club page a lifespan band of over 10 years.
The dog at home
What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.
Exercise need
RKC band mapped: more than 2 hours = 150.
Exercise need
The RKC band reflects a nomadic working origin; AKC scores energy mid-scale. Both stand.
Energy
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Grooming load
Center is the RKC band (3 = more than once a week); low is the AKC band.
Grooming
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
Registry and breed-club statements stand beside two producer-based studies that are less favourable on livestock injury; both shown. FCI: the Anatolian's old FCI number 331 is now the Kangal Shepherd Dog, a separate standard, and is not cited here.
How common the problems are
Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.
Hip dysplasia
Voluntary registry: affected dogs are under-reported and evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, so true prevalence is higher. Current all-data figure, undated.
Elbow dysplasia
Voluntary registry: affected dogs are under-reported and evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, so true prevalence is higher. Current all-data figure, undated.
Most common disorders
No VetCompass paper or insurer report on the breed was reachable; this row records what the parent club and the UK registry test for, not a prevalence ranking.
More
akc bands
Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.
What to ask a breeder for
The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.
- USElbow evaluation (recommended by the parent club)OFA · AKC, Working Group Health Testing Requirements (tests recommended by the national breed clubs)
- USHip evaluation (recommended by the parent club)OFA · AKC, Working Group Health Testing Requirements (tests recommended by the national breed clubs)
- UKHip testing (listed on the Royal Kennel Club breed page)BVA/KC · The Royal Kennel Club, Anatolian Shepherd Dog breed page: breed characteristics, history, health schemes
How to read this page
Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.
Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 6 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Anatolian Shepherd, Anatolian
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour anatolian shepherd dog, on the record.
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