Quick Links: Table of Contents
- Anatolian Shepherd Dog Breed Overview
- History of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog Breed. Where Anatolian Shepherd Dogs came from
- What the Anatolian Shepherd Dog Looks Like
- How Much is the Anatolian Shepherd Dog Puppy?
- Best Anatolian Shepherd Dog Breeders
- Adopting or Rescuing the Anatolian Shepherd Dog
- Anatolian Shepherd Dog Growth
- How Fast Anatolian Shepherd Dogs Can Run
- Good Names for Anatolian Shepherd Dogs
- How Popular are Anatolian Shepherd Dogs with New Dog Owners?
- Health Problems in Anatolian Shepherd Dogs and How to Prevent Them
- How to Take Care of Anatolian Shepherd Dog
- Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Anatolian Shepherd Dogs
- Other Things to Know About Anatolian Shepherd Dogs
Anatolian Shepherd Dog Breed Overview
The Anatolian Shepherd Dog is a giant-sized dog.
The adult Anatolian Shepherd Dog stands 2 feet, 3 inches to 2 feet, 5 inches tall at the s.
The Anatolian Shepherd Dog belongs to the Working Dogs group.
Dogs in the Working Dogs group, like the Anatolian Shepherd Dog, were developed to assist humans in some capacity – including pulling sleds and carts, guarding flocks, guarding homes, and protecting their families.
Breeds in the Working Group are known for their imposing stature, strength, intelligence, and fearless.
Because of their size and strength, working dogs require a structured home life and firm, fair, consistent training by someone who can provide leadership without resorting to anger or physical force.
The fact that Anatolian Shepherd Dogs belong to the Working Dogs group is one of the reasons why Anatolian Shepherd Dogs have the personality and temperament that they have.
The temperament of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog is generally described as:
- Bold
- Confident
- Independent
- Intelligent
- Proud
- Steady
History of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog Breed. Where Anatolian Shepherd Dogs came from
The Anatolian Shepherd Dog is an older breed that originates near Turkey from around 2,000 B.
C.
and was bred for the purpose of being a large and protective guard dog of flocks.
This breed was introduced to America in the 1930s as a gift from Turkey.
Shepherds had needed to find solutions to be able to rest or walk away from their herds for short times, so the Anatolian Shepherd Dog was chosen to do the job.
This breed would be dropped off with its flock and left to guard them overnight or sometimes for days and weeks.
Anatolian Shepherds would be given spiked collars to keep them safe from predators bigger or more feisty than them.
This breed is incredibly gentle and loyal to its owners and families and makes for good guard dogs.
It is important to socialize the Anatolian Shepherd early on and introduce different people and animals to it as a puppy to have a well-rounded dog.
Anatolian Shepherds don’t go out of their way to be mean to outsiders, but they will act suspicious and aloof.
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What the Anatolian Shepherd Dog Looks Like
The Anatolian Shepherd Dog is a large dog breed that stands fairly tall.
Most Anatolian Shepherds are a lighter color with a dark mask around their eyes.
Coat colors include blue, fawn, brindle, grey, liver, red fawn, and white.
Anatolian Shepherds have thick coats to help protect them from the elements.
They are protective guard dogs, initially bred for guarding flocks of sheep from predators for long periods of time on their own.
Anatolian Shepherds like to roam and have very protective attitudes about their flocks or their families and will act suspicious of strangers.
It is important that this breed has space to run frequently as they are large dogs and a small yard will not do it justice.
Make sure to give this breed something to do as Anatolian Shepherds do better and adjust better to changes and strangers if given socialization and other activities.
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How Much is the Anatolian Shepherd Dog Puppy?
The average price of a Anatolian Shepherd Dog puppy is $990. The price of a Anatolian Shepherd Dog puppy ranges from $750 to $1150.
A lot of factors determine the price of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog. These factors include what health records the Anatolian Shepherd Dog puppy has, the lineage of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog puppy, the US state the breeder is located in, etc.
To estimate how much you can expect to pay for a puppy Anatolian Shepherd Dog based on the many factors that determine the price of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog puppy, check out our calculator that lets you estimate how much you should expect to pay for the Anatolian Shepherd Dog puppy based on what you want in the puppy.
When looking to buy a puppy, look at buying a puppy only from well-established breeders that breed puppies primarily for the love of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog breed, and secondarily for profit. Do not buy a puppy from a puppy mill. Puppy mills mass-produce puppies in bad living conditions for maximum profit.
You may also consider adopting instead of buying a puppy. Adoption costs are very low compared to the price of a puppy.
Best Anatolian Shepherd Dog Breeders
We have researched reputable Anatolian Shepherd Dog breeders that you can buy a puppy.
Go to this page for our complete list of reputable Anatolian Shepherd Dog breeders in various states in the United States.
On this page, you will see how much these breeders sell their puppies for, and how many puppies they have available.
A few of these breeders are listed below.
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Matanah Meadows
Puppy Price: $800
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Full Circle Farm
Puppy Price: $1200.00
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Rising Phoenix Farm
Puppy Price: $1000
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Guardian Acres Anatolian Shepards
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
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Heaven Can Wait Alpacas and Anatolians ~ Cindy Hager
Puppy Price: $850
Adopting or Rescuing the Anatolian Shepherd Dog
You may consider adopting a dog instead of buying a puppy. Many dogs, Anatolian Shepherd Dogs included, are currently available for adoption in your local dog shelters.
These helpless but adorable dogs are waiting in dog shelters hoping that someday someone will rescue them. Dog adoption costs are lesser than the cost of a new puppy. Dog adoption costs are usually around $300 or even less.
In addition to your local dog shelter, another good place to find dogs that are available for adoption is petfinder.com.
Below is an adorable Male Anatolian Shepherd Dog named Green Day that is currently available for adoption on Petfinder.com. You can find other lovely Anatolian Shepherd Dogs like Green Day on pefinder.com.
Sawyer is the name of another Anatolian Shepherd Dog (Male) on petfinder.com that is looking for a new forever home.
You can find more Anatolian Shepherd Dogs that are available for adoption on petfinder.
Anatolian Shepherd Dog Growth
New Anatolian Shepherd Dog owners need to know about the growth of their Anatolian Shepherd Dogs. This will help them plan their living spaces accordingly.
Also, knowing the typical growth pattern of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog will help new owners catch the abnormal growth of their Anatolian Shepherd Dog early.
See our calculator for predicting how big your Anatolian Shepherd Dog puppy will get. You will also learn about the typical weight of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog at different ages and how to catch abnormal growth in your Anatolian Shepherd Dog
How Fast Anatolian Shepherd Dogs Can Run
How fast a dog breed can run is a good measure of how athletic the dog breed is.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) regularly conducts dog running competitions. The AKC records the running speed of competing dogs in these competitions. These competitions are open to all dog breeds.
Based on our analysis of the speeds of 8 different Anatolian Shepherd Dogs, the average speed of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog is 22.3 mph (35.8 kmph).
The fastest speed on AKC record that the Anatolian Shepherd Dog ran in a race is 25.96 mph (41.8 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Anatolian Shepherd Dog is 11.84 mph (19.1 kmph).
Click here to see how the speed of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.
Good Names for Anatolian Shepherd Dogs
Here are some really good names that are typical for the Anatolian Shepherd Dog ranked by popularity:
- Ivan
- Griffin
- Bear
- Budweiser
- Miller
- Tonka
- Guinness
- Laurent
- Pauly
- Al
How Popular are Anatolian Shepherd Dogs with New Dog Owners?
Every year, the American Kennel Club (AKC) publishes information on how popular a dog breed is in that particular year. The AKC gets the popularity information of a breed from how many dogs of that breed the owners register with the AKC every year. The AKC collects this data for about 200 dog breeds.
The graph below shows the popularity trend of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog.
The popularity of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog averaged over the years is Number 89 out of about 200 dog breeds.
Do not get a dog breed just because it is a popular dog breed. And do not reject a dog breed just because it is an unpopular breed.
Health Problems in Anatolian Shepherd Dogs and How to Prevent Them
Every dog breed has its own set of health problems that it tends to develop. There is nothing like a perfect dog breed.
The Anatolian Shepherd Dog is prone to certain genetic health conditions. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is an organization that keeps track of genetic health problems in dog breeds.
From the extensive records that the OFA keeps, the OFA knows what health problems each dog breed is naturally prone to develop.
Hence, the OFA recommends which health screening breeders should perform on a dog breed to make sure that the breeders won`t breed `defective` dog parents that can pass down defective genes to their puppy offspring.
If you want a Anatolian Shepherd Dog puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Anatolian Shepherd Dog breeder screens your puppy or your puppy`s parents for the health problems that the OFA recommends for your puppy`s breed. This will increase the chances that your puppy is free from genetic defects.
The following are the health tests that Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends that breeders should screen Anatolian Shepherd Dogs for:
You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for Anatolian Shepherd Dogs here.
How to Take Care of Anatolian Shepherd Dog
To take good care of your Anatolian Shepherd Dog, you need to make sure that you groom your Anatolian Shepherd Dog regularly.
Secondly, you need to find a veterinarian in your area that will routinely check the health status of your Anatolian Shepherd Dog regularly, and give you appropriate recommendations on your Anatolian Shepherd Dog`s preventative care.
Thirdly, you need to commit some time to exercise your Anatolian Shepherd Dog daily. Regular exercise helps improve the health and quality of life of your Anatolian Shepherd Dog.
Also, you need to feed your Anatolian Shepherd Dog high-quality dog food, and the food should be of the right amount to prevent your Anatolian Shepherd Dog from getting overweight or underweight.
See our recommendations on what to feed the Anatolian Shepherd Dog and how much food to feed the Anatolian Shepherd Dog at different life stages.
Finally, you need to make sure that your Anatolian Shepherd Dog has access to clean water all the time. See our recommendations on how much water your Anatolian Shepherd Dog needs to drink at different ages.
Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Anatolian Shepherd Dogs
If you have not made up your mind on which dog breed to get, you may also want to consider some other dogs similar to the Anatolian Shepherd Dog.
We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the Anatolian Shepherd Dog:
- Boerboel (74 percent match with Anatolian Shepherd Dog). Learn more about the Boerboel here.
- Spanish Mastiff (75 percent match with Anatolian Shepherd Dog). Learn more about the Spanish Mastiff here.
Other Things to Know About Anatolian Shepherd Dogs
Here are some of the very important characteristics of the Anatolian Shepherd Dog that you need to know about the Anatolian Shepherd Dog breed: