Turkish kangal

[Adviceneeeeded]

Hello all!

Looking for some dog advice please!

We are moving to a farm house (potentially) so won't actually be looking to get a dog for at least 6 months. But looking for advice now before even considering it

I have done my research, but would like some personal opinions and experience please.

There are about 8 acres of land so space isn't an issue. And there is a room that he would have to him/herself. I'm going to revert to him as ideally we would like a male.

There is potential for him to be a working dog, as in sheep. But we are still in talks with the land owner etc.

My husband is adamant he wants a kangal. I don't mind as I love all animals etc.

But looking for those who have or had them the pros and cons please!

There will be horses on the property too. But they are on the neighbouring field and will sometimes have access to one of our gardens for the grass! Just wanted to check if they would best kept away from each other entirely as in out of sight.

Thank you!

Not sure if this is an unusual breed here...

No. Absolutely not.

No one in the UK needs a Turkish Kangal. As someone who has spent 5 years overseas in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, I can categorically say no one needs a bloody Kangal unless they live in the middle of the Caucasus Mountains.

Get a collie if you want a working dog. Not a livestock guardian (which aren’t herders but instead protectors - they fight wolves and bears, they don’t herd sheep). If you’re lucky, you’ll just end up with the Kangal ripping your sheep apart from bordem. If you’re unlucky, I hope you can run fast.

🤣🤣🤣 are you actually serious? Have you even seen these dogs? Unless where you're moving to has serious issues with bears or you have warehouses of cannabis or cocaine to protect, do not get a Kangal. Honestly the complete lack of critical thinking when it comes to dog ownership is actually worrying. I'd dump the dumb husband too if you haven't already procreated with him

Hard no.
Great if you have sheep on 1000 acres of range with wolves and coyotes.
Otherwise, no.

Ye gods and baby goldfish, ffs don’t.
You clearly haven’t been doing my research in the right places, try again 🙄
There’s probably an extremely good reason why no one has them in this country .

That is a very bad idea.

We have a mixed breed kangal that was a stray from Turkey. He's smaller than a average kangal at 30kg.

Pros - very loyal, good with kids, does live with other animals (dog and cats) as they are in his pack. Also good guard dog, very affectionate.

Cons - he is reactive to other dogs and people not in his pack (never kids though), is a little food possessive and will chase off the cats from his bowl, absolute nightmare at the vets because they have to touch him and they are not his pack. Huge baby who does not like getting his nails trimmed or getting wet. Molts unbelievably twice a year.

Some of his cons maybe due to being a stray though and having previously had bad experiences on the streets with dogs and people.

Just to show the soppy sod. Like I said he is a mix, looks like a kangal but is definitely too small to be pure bred

Ok thanks for that everyone. I'm not an idiot. The reason why I was asking. I won't be coming back on this board again.

Thank you @littlefox90 appreciate your kind and normal post!

@Adviceneeeeded are you in the UK?

Personally I wouldn’t consider a livestock guardian. Lots of hard work and risk. You’ll need very secure fencing. Remember UK law won’t take kindly to the dog intimidating anyone even if it’s on your land doing its job.

What do you want the dog to do ideally? Guard or herd or just be a presence? There’s lots of large breeds that make fantastic pets that are better suited to UK life.

No one said you were an idiot, we said that Kangals were not family pets and not suitable. You asked for advice and it was given. Kangals are not suitable family pets. They do not belong in family homes. They are (literally) a ticking time bomb in these situations.

The behaviour that a PP with a cross described is NOT because the dog was on the streets. It is inherent in the dogs genetics - they are aggressive to everyone except their family, they tear apart other animals with ease, they were made to live outside and roam for hundreds of miles. They are not family pets. I was not joking in my original post when I said worst case scenario you need to run fast.

Two seconds of googling would have told you why this particularly breed is not a pet.

@littlefox90 all the cons you describe are breed traits in the Kangal. They are really not pets - they're working guardian livestock dogs who can (and do) rip apart bears, wolves and coyotes.

The reactivity, guarding and aggressive behaviour is all part of their genetic make-up.

That's the thing though a quick Google initially came up with how they are good loyal and friendly working dogs. Hence why I asked on here as I know there is a large pet community.

It was the way people write their posts which makes you feel stupid. I'm asking so I don't make a mistake.

But yes, thank you for your advice. I'm not ignoring it.

Op, just to point out that they’re livestock guardians, but they guard against humans (sheep/cattle rustlers) as well as wolves/other predators, so they will be human aggressive to anyone that they don’t know who approaches their property and livestock. I know of someone who had an Asian shepherd in the uk, which is a very similar breed with the same breed traits as a kangal. If anything, while they’re even bigger, they are actually probably slightly less dangerous than the kangal. It was kept secure on its property and was brought up to be lovely with the family. Until one day it got off the property and attacked everyone it came across until it was caught. I remember the thousands of comments that you normally get in cases like these where people were defending the dog and blaming the owners for the temperament, but that dog did exactly what it was bred to do. At most all you could blame the owners for was their stupid fucking idea of getting a livestock guardian and sticking it in a house in a residential area

Friendly to their owners, yes, but not to anyone else. They're bred to kill intruders - both human and animal.

As PP said, if you want a working farm dog then what's wrong with a border collie? Why would your DH think that owning a dog that can rip apart a cheetah or a bear would be a good idea? 🙈

I know the owner of simba! He lived a few streets away. He was a Caucasian shepherd. A bit stockier and far more friendly than a kangal, he was spoilt rotten and was exercised non stop. They never saw any aggression from him until he got loose and mauled 5 people! He had to get destroyed :/ I’ve just found an article about him. They’re amazing dogs at what they do, but they belong in the bloody mountains! Not someone’s house with a little farm!

This. People only want these kinds of dogs to show off. They’re not hugely bred or available in the uk, and used for guarding and fighting in the counties they originate from, so any kangal you get will be from guarding (against bears and wolves) and dog fighting stock. Why on earth are you wanting one of these to put on your land presumably in the uk? If you want to work sheep then get a sheepdog. If you want a livestock guardian then get a llama or something, not a 3ft tall at the withers, 150lb killing machine

Ok. Thank you everyone. This is the info I needed. I will speak to dh.

He grew up with them (he's from turkey) but obviously being in the UK is different. Hence why I am asking on here.

As owner of another livestock guardian breed and owner of a mixed fila/kangal, note that Kangals are directly independent in making their decisions. I find fila brasileiro's actually easier to handle as they are more obedient to their owners. I have a pack of 12 of these dogs and we have put in a lot of training, so we can visit the vet etc without issues. They are intimidating sizewise.They are bred by us to be less agressieve than the standard of their breed. However, a Kangal or any other big livestock guardian breed needs a different type of handling. You need to have secure fencing, you need to ensure that nobody can enter your property without your permission and if they do enter with permission, either ensure that the dog is fully properly trained or have a safe place to go, as many people can be afraid of them. Also when you want to go on holiday etc, not everyone can take care of your dog then. There are more limitations in having such a dog than fe a labrador. Also please note that the Vet is very expensive as due to its size the amount of medicine is sometimes ridiculous.

@Filamumof9 thank you. This is what I needed to know.

Owning a livestock guardian in Turkey is absolutely nothing like owning one here.

@fieldsofbutterflies exactly that's why I'm asking. Thank you for your help

You're welcome. We have experience with this type of dogs for almost 13 years now. I love them dearly, but you really need to make sacrifices. Sometimes about matters you could not contemplate beforehand.

I had suggested to him a border collie. And will continue to do so. But I needed to find the reasons not to get a kangal and put them to him. Hence the thread

Appreciate the help and advice. Thank you again

My friend has one. It went to her at about 5 months old.
Total nightmare.
Guards everything and has done nothing to improve the life of the dog they already had.
Behaviourists have been needed.
There are definitely better choices op and it sounds like you can give a wonderful life to the right dog.