Skip to content
ShareYourPets

Anatolian shepherd dog

The Anatolian is a Turkish livestock guardian, bred over millennia to live with flocks on the Anatolian plateau and defend them from wolves and bears without human direction.

It is a working animal first, and it is still used in that role — including in Namibia, where Anatolians placed with farmers have measurably reduced cheetah killings.

It stands 71 to 81 centimetres and weighs 40 to 68 kilograms, with a short dense double coat, and lives eleven to thirteen years. Its defining trait is independence: a guardian bred to make its own decisions at three in the morning is not a dog that looks to a handler for instructions, and judging it by retriever standards of obedience misunderstands it entirely.

Origin
Anatolia, Turkey; an ancient livestock guardian
Size
71–81 cm; 40–68 kg
Lifespan
11–13 years
Coat
Short dense double coat; heavy seasonal moult
Temperament
Independent and territorial; not biddable in the usual sense
Health
Hip dysplasia, entropion, anaesthesia sensitivity

Related: German shepherd · Australian shepherd · Bohemian shepherd · Bucovina shepherd dog · Caucasian shepherd dog

2 anatolian shepherd dog photos, newest first

  • Flint, a anatolian shepherd dog

    Flint

    Flint was promoted to overwhelmed airport baggage manager; unfortunately, a domino line stops one piece before the finish.

    FrostyOtter · 1 week ago

  • Flint, a anatolian shepherd dog

    Flint

    Flint after approximately four seconds of exercise.

    SunnyHeron · 2 weeks ago

Living with a anatolian shepherd dog

Understand what independence means. An Anatolian evaluates a situation and acts, and it will not perform obedience for its own sake. Training works through relationship and consistency, never through repetition drills, and a handler expecting a German Shepherd's responsiveness will be frustrated.

They bark at night. That is the job — a guardian announces itself — and it is a common reason for neighbour complaints in suburban placements.

Fencing must be serious. They patrol a territory and will extend it if they can.

They are sensitive to anaesthesia and to some drugs; tell your vet the breed.

Ask for hip scores. Grow puppies slowly on a large-breed diet, and expect a heavy twice-yearly moult.

Deep-chested and at risk of bloat — gastric dilatation-volvulus, where the stomach fills and twists. Unproductive retching, a swollen abdomen and restlessness are an emergency measured in hours, not days.

General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual dogs vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.

Worth reading alongside this

More dogs by breed

Every dog breed somebody has posted a photo of.