Page 285 - ShowSight - July 2019
P. 285

                Anatolian Shepherd Dog Q & A
 “THERE IS A RANGE OF PERSONALITIES IN THIS BREED AND RESERVE WITH STRANGERS IS NORMAL.”
Breeders are a wealth of knowledge. The AKC information sheet included with registration certificates has good information in it. This combined with the clubs ASDCA (AKC parent club) and the ASDI (Anatolian Shepherd Dogs International) has code of ethics breeders listed and good articles.
My favorite show memory is winning Sweepstakes and Best of Winners for a five point major at my first Specialty with my first Anatolian, who was still a puppy. I had only been showing for five months.
This breed is a guardian and is reserved with strangers. Reserved doesn’t mean unsocialized, it doesn’t mean the dog has been mis- treated, it doesn’t mean the dog has a bad temperament—it doesn’t mean any of those things. It means they are a discerning guardian and that individual is not as comfortable in chaotic environments. There is a range of personalities in this breed and reserve with strangers is normal. It is written in the standard, “reserve around strangers and off its territory is acceptable.”
Judges that approach in a friendly, calm manner and make eye contact with me first and speak to me are greatly appreciated. My acknowledgement of the person approaching means that for the dog—that person is “Okay” and I am at ease. Allowing the han- dler to show the bite is also preferred—not only for keeping the dogs happier, but not encouraging the spread of contagious disease, which has been a concern for the last several years with the canine flu viruses. As someone that has very old dogs and sometimes young pups at home, I am always grateful for that.
On the flip side, I have a couple of very socially confident dogs that enjoy attention from people. They know they are at a show. So a judge is going to see a range of personalities in his/her ring. The reserved dog should not be faulted for not being thrilled about being in a show environment. Many of us that show these dogs lit- erally pull them off the field, clean them up and away we go. They have a job outside of dog showing to do.
TERESA ROGOWSKI
I live in Raymond, Ohio. I have been in dog showing since childhood. My kennel names are HFO Anatolians, HFO Danes, and Tiara Rain Akitas. I also run a meat goat farm, as well as have eggs and hay under the name Green Akers Farm. I am a veterinary technician.
I live on a small farm just Northwest of central Ohio, in a town called Raymond. I operate under the farm name of
Green Akers Farm and my kennel name is HFO Anatolians. Outside of dogs, I am a veterinary technician in a large practice. I also enjoy horseback riding, hiking, and reading, when I’m not
working on the farm.
The farm consists of a menagerie of animals: boer goats, belted
galloway cattle, a christmas donkey, chickens, penkin ducks, tur- keys, cats, and my other dog breed—Great Danes. Therefore, I don’t get a lot of “down time”.
I have owned Anatolian Shepherds since 2008. I was born in to a dog show family, so showing just came naturally. My parents
bred and showed Old English Sheepdogs. My mother likes to tell the story about how she and one of the dogs were pregnant at the same time. The puppies were four weeks old when my mother gave birth to me. The Akita is the first breed I chose to own personally and started showing them in 1993. I have been showing dogs in several breeds since 1993. My personal breeds being Akita, Great Dane and Anatolian Shepherd Dog. I have bred a small number of litters. I usually only breed a litter if I am looking to keep a puppy for myself to show or work.
The secret to a successful breeding program? When I look at putting a breeding together, I look for type, temperament, confor- mation, working ability, and health. All of these things as a whole make a successful breeding program.
Is the breed’s ranking a blessing, a curse, or immaterial in my breeding decisions? The Anatolian is not for a first time dog owner, so I’m not sure I want to see an increase in popularity. There has already been a jump in popularity ranking since I started in the breed, which was not too long ago.
The two Anatolian Shepherd Dog Clubs (Anatolian Shepherd Dog Club of America and Anatolian Shepherd Dog Club Interna- tional) have done a nice job with information. I would like find a way to make this information more accessible to the public. Perhaps at some events such as 4-H, agriculture events/fairs, and meet the breeds or judges education.
My favorite dog show memory? I have many good show memo- ries, but two humorous ones stand out in particular.
The first one was quite awhile ago. I was in the ring showing my big male Great Dane (Iceman) on a brand new leather leash. The leash must have had a defect in it because on the go around it broke. Iceman didn’t bother any other dogs in the ring or attempt to jump out. However, when the judge clapped his hands and said, “Here big guy”, he promptly trotted over and buried his head in the judges groin. The judge doubled over, but managed to get ahold of his collar. I apologized profusely. The judge didn’t hold it against us as Iceman was awarded RWD that day.
The second is fairly recent. I was in the ring showing my male Anatolian (Sahmi). Sahmi is now seven years old and had been a retired champion for six years. I decided to bring him out to a cou- ple of shows to see about getting his Grand Championship. The first show weekend he was fine. The second weekend he was not really feeling like being shown again and had lagged behind the first two days. The next day I told the judge “I’ll do my best to get him to move faster, but he has just turned seven and has not been shown for a long time”. Well, Sahmi must have been offended by my state- ment, because he decided to make me look silly by acting like a six month old puppy. He jumped up, whirled and pulled my jacket all the way on the down and back. He then grabbed my jacket and presented me during the go around. When I got back to the judge he was laughing and said “Seven huh?”. Sahmi got SD that day to finish his Grand Championship.
This breed is loyal, intelligent and independent. The Anatolian is a fast learner, they’re just not going to do obedience as fast or with as much enthusiasm as other breeds. We do have several people in the breed that do other activities (rally, tracking, barn hunt, therapy dog, etc) with their dogs and have been very successful. Many of the Anatolians that are shown in these types of events, as well as conformation, are also working with live stock. The Anatolian is very versatile. They must be socialized starting at a young age.
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