Checkmate Farm

Anatolian Shepherd Guard Dogs

Why did we select the Anatolian Shepherd?

1. Our mountain farm is not the best place to raise sheep! We have black bears, coyotes and mountain lions as neighbors.
2. We are accustomed to large breed dogs. We owned a Greater Swiss Mountain dog who won “Best Opposite Sex” at the Westminster Dog Show 1997. We have no experience with llamas or donkeys.
3. We loved the “short hair” of the Anatolian Shepherd. Zero hair care!
4. Our Extension Agent owned two Anatolians with his flock and loved them. Great reference!
5. When we purchased our starter flock, we purchased two female anatolian pups so they would grow up together. This worked well for us. The two small pups enjoyed daily playtime and each other’s company at night in a horse stall. The ewe lambs grew accustomed to the dogs.

The book “Livestock Protection Dogs” by Orysia Dawydiak & David Sims was our guide for raising working dog pups. The authors suggested that the best working dog combination on the farm is a spayed male and female. Therefore we moved one female to the shepherd who introduced us to the Anatolian breed. We eventually raised a male pup and had one litter. We love our dogs. We work as a team. We could not raise sheep, goats or chickens with out them!