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...

There is one of these for rehoming on one of the big rescue websites. They do warn that a potential adopter should do a lot of research.

I accidentally own a flock guardian breed although not a Kangal. We got him from a U.K. rescue and did not know what breed but it has become clear he is probably a Mioritic shepherd cross. To be honest, whilst we love him to pieces and are committed to him he is not an ideal suburban pet.

He is gorgeous looking and very sweet and cuddly with his family but there are some things in his flock guarding nature that are really not ideal

• flock guardians are bred to be independent so whilst he does know commands he does not reliably obey them unless he figures it's worth his while. He will do pretty much anything for sausages

• his whole innate purpose is to guard so he is mega territorial and will warn off anything/ anyone he thinks is invading our territory. He has a huge loud scary bark which he will deploy and will lunge in a scary fashion. Whilst we have tried to train him the guarding is innate in him and we have not had much success

He has quite an amusing behaviour where he will find the high ground whenever we are in a new place and just lie down and scan the horizon for a while. If you sit down eg on a bench when you are out and about he won't sit right next to you but will take up a position a few meters away looking out.

The consequence is he is not an entirely easy dog to own:

• I cannot take him to pubs/ cafes/ shops at all
• I cannot ask most people to walk him or house sit
• I am anxious about noise complaints a lot (haven't had one yet but very aware of it)
• I have to keep him shut away or on a lead when people visit at least initially
• I had to get an outdoor parcel box and be careful to shut him away from the front door.

On a positive he has zero separation anxiety!

And he is very good looking

Thanks everyone. We will need a reliable guard dog. The house is in the middle of nowhere with no neighbours for a few miles.

Dh goes away for work occasionally and after speaking to him last night he was thinking about us being on our own when away and that was behind his (silly) thoughts.

I have told him we need to look for a dog that has the protective instinct but so he is a deterrent and not something that is going to land us in prison!!

So he's agreed and I think I will be the one who will be doing the research and asking etc

Thank you all for your help.

In that case, can’t really beat a good even tempered GSD (not a nervy neurotic one!)

If you want a scary looking guard type, that can work a farm but is also even tempered and obedient, I’d start with looking at a working line Rottweiler

I got bitten by a kangal living on the streets in Turkey, I was jogging past and it leapt up and bit me. I still have the scar a year later.

So sad and totally not the dog's fault. He was doing what he was genetically programmed to do

I LOVE Caucasian shepherds/Russian Ovcharkas/whatever their correct name is. I've met a few of them. I'd still NEVER get one unless I lived in the outback and was surrounded by threats (Which I never would choose to even if I was a zillionaire)-because they're not pets, and I'd want a pet.
I think Joss Stone got one after she'd had an abduction attempt? Fair enough?

I have a large mongrel-mix of original working breeds (including wolf). She was hand-reared (by me) after I took her from a backstreet breeder who was going to let her die. I still feel a bit guilty owning her-as she should be 'working'. She's not polite to having her personal space invaded, but if someone wants to stroke her and lets her go to them FIRST, she's fine.

I need her to have a bit of an edge to her however as I live alone and have been a previous sexual assault victim in my own home-I would be on edge constantly without her= and also despite being in a very low crime area, I have been followed at night twice, at least-I suspect it happened a third time too-someone appeared to be approaching me, spotted the dog who was offlead nearby, and scarpered. I do need a dog who will protect me-but I'd still never own a Kangal or Ovcharka.

I'm not going to call you stupid.

But you'd have to be fucking insane to get a kangal in the UK.

They are used as working field dogs to fend off packs of coyotes/wolves/bears. As far as I'm aware you wouldn't need an animal to fulfil that particular task in the UK, so what would it use it's aggression and joy of fighting on instead?

They are NOT pets.

Do either of you have the knowledge to train a guard dog?

If it is your first guard dog, I would opt for a doberman instead of a GSD to be honest. There are very nervous GSD out there and you cannot always know at puppy age. Overall, I find Dobermann more stable and also very loyal. We have had a mix Dobermann once and he was such a cudly dog.

I don't know much about this breed so had a quick look on tiktok (obviously not the most authoritive source) but.....one of the first ones was of a kangal literally demolishing a car which had driven onto the yard by accident.

As in, removing integral pieces of the car within seconds - not sure the local postie's van would last long!

Wowser, I’d never heard of them but how can anyone watch this and think they are a suitable dog for a family, let alone a novice dog owning one?

Why do you specifically need a guard dog? I know lots of people who live rurally and just have normal pets.

My friend has one that came from the rspca.
She lives in a terraced house on an estate.
She is very good at training dogs that are not necessarily known for their ease of being trained, but the behaviourists are out in force for this one.
I think, being sensible, that they are best doing the job they were bred for.
Genetics override training strongly in this instance.

Honestly in the U.K. unless you’re hugely experienced you don’t want a guard dog, you just want a dog that’ll bark, which is most dogs.

The issue with a dog that’ll actually guard is thst the laws covering dangerous dogs apply inside your property and dogs do not know the difference between burglars and delivery people or hikers

What @tabulahrasa said.
We lived in the boonies when I was a kid. We had neighbours (100 or 200 yards away) but a great deal of bugger all between us and the nearest police station.

We had a very small but extremely vocal dog who stopped us being burgled twice. Quite literally, burglars forcing entry heard her and ran.

I'm steering more to the idea of a German Shepherd. We bumped into one today. He was a soppy thing. He was lovely. Not planning to get a dog any time soon. But just thinking and looking and asking right now.

I love these threads because I get to google loads of dog breeds I’ve never heard of.

What strikes me as odd though is you feeling you need a guard dog? Have you been a victim of crime? I just can’t imagine my first thought when planning my rural move being I must get a guard dog.

@Looolaaa it was recommended by the landlord and current tenant

Oh

Reading your updates OP, maybe 2 large dogs instead of 1 giant dog might be more suitable.

Perhaps as an way for noticing intruders, geese are traditionally held for that and they can be quite persistent as well.

Furthermore, do not underestimate a small pack of small dogs, pekinese dogs are very notorious where I live 😊

I would strongly, strongly recommend you do a lot more research as you seem to be flip flopping all over the place in terms of what you're looking for.

An actual guard dog is not a pet - and you need a lot of knowledge in terms of training to be able to keep one safely. You can't just pick a guarding breed and be done with it.

You don't sound very experienced with dogs so actually, any kind of guarding breed is actually the last thing I would suggest - simply because they need so much input and training and it's too easy to get it wrong and end up with a dog who is aggressive and reactive, rather than one who actually guards properly.

I'm not flip flopping. I'm not just using MN but wanted a point of view from mother's and women in general too.
As I said we aren't planning to buy ir do anything for some time. I'm just starting my research now. But thank you.

You really need to think about what you actually want - a proper guard dog? A working sheep dog? A multi purpose dog? A pet who can bark loudly enough to warn off intruders?

Proper working dogs can be hard work and if you don't have the knowledge or ability to train them, they can very quickly turn from "guard dog" to "aggressive and reactive dog", and believe me, you don't want the latter.

I agree with @fieldsofbutterflies tbh. I’d also add it takes a particular person to have a guard breed (GSDs, Dobermans etc) and train them well. There’s a reason that even though my parents owned GSds my entire childhood that I don’t have one. I’m not suited to owning one - despite being capable of managing it.