BURSA
A facility in the northwestern city of Bursa’s Karacabey district has been preserving the genetic material of Kangal and Akbaş Turkish shepherd dogs, breeding and selling purebred dogs since 1996.
The General Directorate of Agricultural Enterprises’ (TİGEM) facility welcomes around 200 puppies annually, with over 6,000 Turkish shepherd dogs sold over the past 28 years.
Safeguarding genetic resources is the primary goal of dog breeding, according to Seydi Vakkas Karaoğlan, an animal feeding technician at the facility’s dog breeding unit.
Authorities have been enhancing these breeds through genetic improvement research since 1992, documenting the results in a pedigree. This monitoring system ensures the preservation of Turkish shepherd dogs’ purebred Anatolian gene pool.
“We continue to breed and sell. Our 206 dogs consist of 24 mature males, 67 mature females, nine young males, 12 young females, 45 male offspring, and 49 female offspring. Of these, 102 are Akbaş and 104 are Kangal,” explained Karaoğlan.
Kangal and Akbaş shepherd dogs attract significant interest from both herd owners and animal lovers, with many willing to wait months to purchase them.
According to Karaoğlan, most dog buyers are proprietors of factories, farms, villas and homes with gardens, adding that animal owners are now getting rid of harmful breeds and switching to other kinds of dog breeds.
“At the moment, there are around 200 people in queue for Akbaş and Kangal dogs. Both male and female puppies are available for 12,000 Turkish Liras,” he noted.
This tremendous interest stems from the fact that all of the dogs are purebred and not mixed, he noted.
Karaoğlan further stated that they do not train the dogs, which are sold at around 3 months old, and added that they never sell dogs before they reach 2 months of age.
“The brightest dogs in the world are Akbaş and Kangal dogs, having the ability to learn all the commands in six months. So there’s no need to send them to special training if they are treated like family.”
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