kangal - Page 1

these are the biggest dogs in the world which can attend 1 meter hight and 100 kg weight in many tips of them . all of them are from turkey but their father hood was sarabi from iran that is very similar to it . they are for shepherding .

Do you know why the desire for such size as a herding dog? As flock guardians I could understand maybe; but what natural animal enemies are in that area that warranted the need for such large dog?

I imagine a bear might have a sweet tooth for mutton and the dog would be outmatched.

They are breed to protect the flock from mountain lions. The breed is from Sivas Turkey. They are very loyal to the family, and the family only. Not the kind of dog you would take to the dog park, but it will pull your truck out of the mud for you. Your Avatar has a nice ​Iranian mountain dog Hamid.  Random Photo off the net 
 

I have owned Great Pyrenees which are great dogs.  They stay with their flock or livestock day and night in all weather.  Does the Kangal bond with the livestock and vice versa (sheep will form up around the Great Pyrenees when threatened)??  Also the Great Pyrenees is low metabolism and eats surprisingly little for their size.  Does the Kangal have rear dew claws like the Great Pyrenees?? 

For their size, they have a great deal of  stamina, and do bound well with the flocks. I was very impressed with their speed, and agility as well. It is kind of a far fetched dream of mine to try one in IPO. For one reason just to see the look in the decoys eyes when one is flying down for a full field catch. The ones I have seen do have their dew claws.

The Great Pyrenees is a soft mouthed dog like a lab .. not really big teeth or hard mouthed for biting.  Mine were fond of dragging things around and they tended to use their weight to beat down other dogs or animals.  I had an unlucky muskrat that ventured into my Great Pyrenees little field and it looked like it had been run over by a truck.  The Great Pyrenees is quite fond of opening gates and doing walk arounds if they have no animals to guard.  Very smart and sweet but tough enough to take all kinds of weather.  Mine had a good nose and loved to track animals.  They have a dense undercoat that requires a lot of combing out in a warmer climate but they eventually shed out .. mats are a big problem.

The herd guardians in Spain are the Spanish Mastiff.  Also able to hit and exceed the 200 pound mark.

Good for the urban owner as they are very protective, they're not known to bite without barking first and convert well to city (appartment) living.   A relative of mine was the object of several kidnapping attempts in Madrid.  Got a trained Spanish Mastiff.  No more attempts.



Like mother, like son...