Dog Day Saturday 2023-01-14
Owning and interacting with pets, according to studies, can be a form of therapy for many. We have dedicated Saturday to dogs and Wednesday to cats, when we will post an article on each of those days. We will also post articles on occasion about other animals people may have as pets. – Editorial Team
Akbash
| Akbash | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Other names | Akbaş Çoban Köpeği | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | Turkey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Notes | recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairsof Turkey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dog (domestic dog) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Guarding sheep in California
The Akbash (Turkish: Akbaş), is a traditional Turkish breed or type of flock guardian dog from western Anatolia.[3] The word akbaş means ‘white head’, and thus distinguishes this dog from the Karabaş, or ‘black head’.[4]: 33 [5] It was recognised by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2006; it is under the tutelage of the Köpek Irkları ve Kinoloji Federasyonu, the Turkish dog breed society, but is not recognised by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale.[3][6]
History
The Akbash is a traditional breed of livestock guardian dog, used to protect flocks from predators in the rugged terrain of western Anatolia.[2]: 90 It is distributed mainly in the provinces of Afyon, Ankara, Eskişehir and Manisa; some are present in the provinces of Ağrı, Konya, Sivas and Tunceli.[1]: 7 [7]: 5
A standard was published by the Turkish Standards Institution in 2002, and in 2006 the Akbash was recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; it was added to the list of recognised native breeds and types, and the breed standard was published in the Resmi Gazete, the official government gazette.[7]: 5 [8][9]: 8 [10]
Characteristics
The Akbash is a flock guardian dog, providing protection from predators to shepherds and to their sheep; it does not have any herding ability.[1]: 7 It is large and powerful dog:[11]: 406 mean body weight is approximately 45 kg, and mean height at the withers just over 75 cm.[1]: 6
The coat may be either long or of medium length; it is always double, and is usually white, though there may be some shading towards a biscuit colour.[12]: 70 [11]: 406 As with other white-coated flock guardian dogs, the white coat makes it easy for the shepherd to distinguish between the dog and a predator, even in the dark.[11]: 406 There is considerable feathering behind the legs, and the tail is heavily feathered.[12]: 70
Source: Wikipedia under Creative Commons License.