European ASDs... different countries, same sad story

Sorry for those of you that have been confused by this link recently. It was set to link to a page of European Anatolian photos, but the owner apparently didn't want her photos to illustrate my point--which they do so well. Unfortunately, trying to provide links to Anatolian pages is like trying to keep track of a moving target. When I attempt to link to Anatolian sites, the response is for the page owner to break the link by removing the page, or to set up a redirect page to some phony "Kangal quiz".
So it looks like the only choice is to forego links and instead provide the photos, along with proper documentation citing when and where the photo was observed on the internet. These photos are from Kirsi Maki's web site. Last time I looked (March 24, 2001) it was available at www.dlc.fi/~djupback/ , but the photo pages keep getting moved around so you'll have to navigate for these if you want to see them.

In these dogs, as with the American ASDs (especially the early imports and crosses) you can clearly see the pariah dog influence present in Anatolian bloodlines.  In general, American bloodlines have been more crossbred than those in Europe, but there are exceptions to this general rule as seen below.

My comments below in italics; boldface captions are from the originals.

ANJA & PUCK VLASVELD'S ANATOLIANS IN HOLLAND
 
White/Cream rough coated Anatolian Shepherd Dog male
Pamück, imp. from Turkey		 Females: puppy Tuzla Zarif from England
and the adult Katil, imported from Turkey (?!)

Katil & Pamück both imported from Turkey
Katil's sire Bözz imported from Turkey at 4 years
(not sure how this is possible when it is claimed that the dog Katil above was also imported from Turkey. Unless perhaps they went back to get the sire because they were pleased with the offspring?

The early Anatolian importers had no idea that there were regional breeds; they picked up puppies from litters in which the parentage was impossible to determine, and from towns and cities in which pariah dogs bred freely with the larger livestock guardians. Despite the cry for "diversity" today and the pretense of considering "all colors and coat types equally desireable", the European and American "market" in Anatolians is still so strongly skewed toward the "Kangal type". Thus, most ASD breeders would reject such dogs as you see in this page and favor those with more Kangal blood.
 


Kirsi Maki's ASDs in Finland
 
 

Kangal-mom with Akbash - daughter...??No! 
Two Anatolian Shepherd dogs
The dam obviously has considerable Kangal bloodlines. Her puppy--who knows? Some unscrupulous Anatolian breeders are known to sell the white pups as "unpapered" Akbash Dogs, a breed which has a solid reputation in the US as effective livestock guardians. Fawn/masked puppies from the same litter are sometimes sold as "Kangal Dogs"--even to Turks who don't know better and may not have a chance to see the entire litter, the sire, or the dam.
Fawn, white, spotted, dark/spectacled, longcoated, shortcoated, all in the same litter. "Diversity" in the breed, or mongrelization?

Two ASDs of indeterminate background.
No, not an Akbash Dog. Just a white ASD...from the Hisar kennel.

The addition of increasing amounts of Kangal bloodlines into the western-created Anatolian "breed" of course causes endless confusion.  How much more honest it would be, how much more respectful of the Turkish people, how much better for the conservation of indigenous breeds,  if Anatolian breeders would simply acknowledge the Kangal Dog and help to preserve them!  Or breed Kangal-Akbash crosses if that's what they want, and give up the false claim of the ASD as an "ancient Turkish breed."  Why breed mongrels and then insist that the original breeds do not exist? The answer I get, privately, from several Anatolian breeders is that they simply cannot afford to "do the right thing."

So far 4 prominent ASD breeders have admitted privately to me that they finally understand that the Kangal breed is a genuine breed in Turkey, but because they have too much invested in  Anatolians, they feel compelled to continue breeding, showing, and selling them--and to publically claim what they do not believe in their hearts. And since they prefer Kangal Dogs, they strive to breed their Anatolians to be "as Kangal as possible." I can sympathize with the economic pressures, but it would be so much better for all concerned if these  Anatolian breeders expend their energy and devotion on the dog breed that they truly revere--the Kangal Dog!