The Akbash () is a traditional Turkish

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

flock guardian A livestock guardian dog (LGD) is a dog type bred for the purpose of protecting livestock from Predation, predators. Livestock guardian dogs stay with the group of animals they protect as a full-time member of the flock or herd. Their ability ...

dog from western

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. The word means 'white head', and thus distinguishes this dog from the

Karabaş The Kangal Shepherd Dog () is a traditional Turkish breed of large livestock guardian dog. The breed name derives from that of the town and district of Kangal in Sivas Province, the easternmost province of the Central Anatolia Region in central ...

, or 'black head'. It was recognised by the Turkish

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

in 2006; it is under the tutelage of the , the Turkish dog breed society, but is not recognised by the

Fédération Cynologique Internationale The (; FCI; ) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs and purebred registries. The FCI is based in Thuin, Belgium and has 98 members and contract partners (one from each country). History The FCI was founded in 1911 un ...

. Main origin and Real hometown of Akbash is Sivrihisar town near Eskişehir province of Turkiye

History

The Akbash is a traditional breed of

livestock guardian dog A livestock guardian dog (LGD) is a dog type bred for the purpose of protecting livestock from predators. Livestock guardian dogs stay with the group of animals they protect as a full-time member of the flock or herd. Their ability to guard t ...

, used to protect flocks from predators in the rugged terrain of western

. It is distributed mainly in the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

Afyon Afyonkarahisar (, 'poppy, opium', ''kara'' 'black', ''hisar'' 'fortress') is a major city in western Turkey. It is the administrative centre of Afyonkarahisar Province and Afyonkarahisar District. Its population is 251,799 (2021). Afyon is in the ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

and

Manisa Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...

; some are present in the provinces of

Ağrı Ağrı (; ) is a city in eastern Turkey, near the border with Iran. It is the seat of Ağrı Province and Ağrı District.

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

and

Tunceli Tunceli (, , ) is a municipality (belde) in Tunceli District and capital of Tunceli Province, Turkey. The city has a Zaza majority. It had a population of 35,161 in 2021. Name During Ottoman times, the settlement was called ''Kalan'' or ''Ma ...

. A

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

was published by the

Turkish Standards Institution The Turkish Standards Institution () is a public standards organization whose mission is to increase the competitiveness of Turkey, facilitating trade on national and international levels and develop society's standard of living by providing stan ...

in 2002, and in 2006 the Akbash was recognised by the

; it was added to the list of recognised native breeds and types, and the breed standard was published in the ''

Resmi Gazete ''Official Gazette of the Republic of Türkiye'' () is the national and only official journal of Turkey that publishes the new legislation and other official announcements. It is referred to as ''Resmî Gazete'' in short. It has been published ...

'', the official government gazette.

Characteristics

The Akbash is a

dog, providing protection from predators to shepherds and to their sheep; it does not have any

herding Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in ...

ability. It is a large and powerful dog: mean body weight is approximately , and mean height at the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

just over . The coat may be either long or of medium length; it is always double, and is usually white, though there may be some shading towards a biscuit colour. As with other white-coated flock guardian dogs, the white coat makes it easy for the shepherd to distinguish between the dog and a predator, even in the dark. There is considerable feathering behind the legs, and the tail is heavily feathered.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akbash Dog breeds originating in Turkey Livestock guardians