Barrett Karz

Kirk Hutchison wrote:Wow! That one must not have been trained quite right. Mine (110 lbs and going steady) is an absolute sweetheart who loves everyone! He has a very fearsome sounding bark, but in truth is a big baby - he treats my cat as his master ever since she taught him a hard lesson about not being too friendly.

It has nothing to do with training. It's bred into them. Anatolians are VERY sweet dogs to their masters, family, and anyone who has been "okayed"... but they can turn in a second on anyone (or anything) they perceive as a threat. You're not going to overcome 6000 years of breeding with training. You have to remember these dogs were bred to fight off bears, jackals, and packs of wolves.

gary gregory wrote:

A woman who owns a great pyranees told me that they have a tendency to roam if they don't have clearly defined (fenced) boundaries.  Another way to let them know their home turf, she told me, is to take the puppy on a daily walk around the perimeter of the area they are protecting.  I'm assuming anatolians could be similar?  They like having a herd to protect, they aren't going to take off on some mission in the bush and leave their responsibilities at home. 

A fence is certainly important.  I wouldn't say pyrs and anatolians roam, but rather are expanding their territory.  Mollison's "the map is not the territory" fits them well.

Not true. Anatolians do roam. They head out into the bush to hunt down predators before the predators have a chance to get to their charge.