Kangal Shepherd Dog

The Kangal is the national dog of Turkey, where the fawn-colored and black-masked breed originated in the district of Kangal in the Sivas province. These canines are bred for protective abilities that make them valuable for livestock managers and security forces. ‘In fact, the dogs can protect herds, properties, and people from humans, jackals, and wolves, which are common in Turkey. In some African countries, Kangals have been used to protect livestock from predators such as cheetahs and lions.

Often called “Anatolian lions,” the breed is thousands of years old. Kangal Shepherd Dogs are considered smart, swift, agile, and quick, and they’re also known for having one of the strongest bite forces of all dogs.

The Kangal, also called the Anatolian shepherd, is highly protective and loyal, often being used for security or protective purposes. But owners must take great care in the training of their smart, defensive, and independent Kangal. When properly trained and under the care of an experienced owner, the shepherd is friendly and good with children.

Different Types of Kangal

Some American-bred Kangals are descended from the first two dogs brought to the United States in the late 1960s. The story is that a United States Navy lieutenant who had been stationed in Turkey brought dogs Zorba and Peki home with him. They had their first litter in 1970. Shortly thereafter, a breed club was formed. But since the 1980s, buyers seeking Kangals more often import the breed from Turkey, where the dog has lived since the 12th century.

Kangal breeders from multiple nations have long fought each other over who truly has purebred lines. Much of this infighting comes from Americans breeding the dogs without a clear understanding of the dog’s storied history or regional Turkish shepherd dog varieties.

For example, American dogs called Kangals sometimes have long hair, different coat colors, and color patterns. But Turkish breeders stand by the dog’s thousands of years of history as a short-haired breed with a specific coat appearance. In fact, many American importers have diluted the U.S.-based Kangal bloodline by importing dogs mixed with the Akbash shepherd from a nearby region of Turkey.

In America, the Kangal is also called the Anatolian shepherd. But this is a name not used in Turkey. To make things even more confusing, the Anatolian shepherd can be both its own breed or a Kangal, depending upon who is breeding and marketing the puppies.

3 Pros and Cons of Ownership

There are some pros and cons to owning a Kangal. These include:

Temperament and Behavior

The Kangal’s temperament, personality, and behavior are some of its most distinct characteristics. In fact, these are features that typically lead owners to choose Kangals.

Kangals are loyal, well-adjusted, and even-tempered, yet highly protective. It is their protective personality that makes them great security dogs, K9s, and livestock protection dogs. When raised in a domestic setting and properly trained, an Anatolian has extremely patient behavior around kids. However, if the dog detects the owner’s personality as submissive or weak, the Kangal assumes the position of pack leader or the “alpha.” This leads to difficulties in managing the dog’s behavior because of their free-thinking intelligence. For the dogs to readily accept visitors and be around strangers, it is important to socialize them around people and other animals from a young age.

Guardian of the Flock

The Kangal is known as the “guardian of the flock” because it proves highly effective in protecting flocks of sheep, goat flocks, and cattle herds from wild predators. They have an innate loyalty, bravery, and protective streak rare among dogs.

Size and Weight

The Kangal is a large dog distantly related to the Mastiff. Males typically measure up to 32 inches tall, and females grow up to 30 inches. When fully grown, males weigh up to 145lbs and females weigh up to 120lbs.

Common Health Issues

The Kangal is not known to have many health issues. In fact, they are considered among the healthiest breeds of dogs and live about 15 years. But some of the most common concerns they face are entropion, hip dysplasia, and lipoma.

Entropion is an eyelid deformity causing the eyelid to turn inward. This enables the hairs of the face to rub against the eye, leading to discomfort and inflammation. Two of the most common signs of this condition are excessive eye tearing and squinting. Surgery can correct the problem.

Hip dysplasia is common in large-breed dogs. This condition causes abnormal growth of the hip joints, starting in puppyhood. As the dog grows and ages, the condition worsens, eventually leading to lameness. Anti-inflammatory medications and surgery are two options for correcting hip dysplasia.

Lipoma is a condition involving the growth of fatty lumps on the chest and abdomen, just under the skin. Although most of these lumps are painless and benign, they can grow quite large. A veterinarian can remove lipomas if necessary.

Care

Kangals are a large breed of dogs with a range of considerations and factors for owners, from puppy age to adulthood. They make great pets but have many needs specific to the breed. These unique factors include their large size and weight, appetite, exercise requirements, and tendency toward having hip dysplasia. They are also free-thinkers needing proper training.

Best Dog Food

U.S.-born Kangal dogs frequently start their lives as puppies on an Americanized diet of their mother’s milk, followed by puppy kibble during weaning and thereafter. Adult dogs are also generally fed kibble formulated specifically for growing and mature pets. But in Turkey, where many of these dogs originate, they eat a very different diet.

In Turkey, a Kangal eats yal. Yal is a barley flour and hot water mix made into dough. This mix sometimes includes yogurt or other nutritional supplements. They are also fed 25 grams of meat each day. Three times weekly, Kangals in their native land are provided with boiled bones to help their oral structures properly develop.

Fortunately, Kangal owners don’t have to worry too much about addressing health problems through diet. So you may want to go for a large breed dog food with similar ingredients to Kangal’s traditional diet.

Owners of Kangals can choose to feed their dogs traditional diets or those bought off the shelf in grocery stores. But the best diet for a puppy and adult of this breed includes food high in calcium, along with a good balance of carbohydrates with proteins, and fats.

Maintenance and Grooming

True Kangals have short hair. This makes grooming easier for owners than for large breeds with longer coats. It is important to brush the dog’s coat at least once a week. Bathing two to four times per year is good enough to keep their coat healthy. But these dogs can get quite dirty and may require more frequent bathing if they live indoors. When grooming a Kangal, it is important to check its eyes for signs of eyelid inversion or related inflammation.

Training

This breed is known for its intelligent yet free-thinking nature. It can assume the alpha dog position in a household easily if the owner does not act as the alpha. This can lead to willful behavior with the dog taking over the household.

Because of this tendency toward willfulness and the breed’s natural defensiveness, it is critical that owners seek to properly train their dogs. This training and socialization should start in the puppy weeks and continue into adulthood.

The breed is smart, so they learn well. But owners or other trainers have to perform as the leader of the pack without submissive behavior in the eyes of the dog.

Exercise

Kangals are large dogs. This makes taking them outdoors and letting them stretch their legs very important, particularly since the breed has a tendency toward hip dysplasia. Owners need to exercise their pets for two hours each day, allowing them room to break into full stride and play at top speed. Playing fetch is a great activity. The breed also makes great companions for runners or hikers.

Puppies

In the puppy stage, it is important to start the dog’s obedience training. Doing so early will help owners avoid any undesirable behaviors like chewing, general misbehaving, or aggression. Because the breed tends toward free-thinking, free-wheeling behavior, early training can curb this streak. It is also important to have the dog around other pets, neighborhood dogs, and people from a young age for healthy socialization.

Children

Kangals make loving companions and patient playmates for children when they are raised around kids or socialized from a young age. With obedience training, this breed can play with children for hours while remaining loyal and protective of the kids’ safety.

Similar Dogs

Dogs similar to Kangals include German shepherds, Mastiffs, and Akbash.

• German shepherds are highly protective and intelligent large dogs, much like the Kangal. The German shepherd features a “black mask” on the face like a Kangal and also shares some health issues with the Kangal, like hip dysplasia. Both of these breeds are also frequently used as security dogs and K9s.
• Mastiffs are a large breed from which the Kangal is a descendant. These dogs share large size, the “black mask” color markings on fawn or sable short hair, and loyalty. But the Mastiff is more affectionate and family-oriented.
• Akbash shepherd dogs come from a region very close to the Kangal’s region in Turkey. The two dogs share many traits and behavioral attributes, such as size, loyalty, and defensive nature. While breeders in that country work to keep the two breeds’ bloodlines pure, some people from the area between these two regions cross-breed Akbash with Kangals, then sell the dogs as pure Kangals or pure Akbash. This causes many conflicts in the province from which they all come.