Shepherds Rest Farm - Anatolian Shepherd Dogs - American Oberhasli Goats

Shepherds Rest Anatolians and Oberhasli Goats

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Adolescent Behavior • Aggression • Airline Kennels • ASD's with Special Needs Children
Barking • Breed Standard • Coat • Collars • Evil Eye (nazar boncuğu) • Feeding
Kepenek • NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) • Off Leash • Spike Collars • Training

ASD's with Special Needs Children

The following is an excerpt from an email sent 1-26-07 to a couple doing a home ministry in Zimbabwe, AFRICA, for traumatized, abandoned, abused, and destitute children. At the time of my writing to them, they had just brought home a little orphan with HIV, parasites, scabies, and kwashiorkor! They inquired about whether the Anatolian Shepherd would be a good fit for them in terms of protecting the children.

Yes, the ASD can be a very loyal guardian and can be very good with children. However, there are a number of issues to be aware of:

1)       These dogs are a huge breed. They need to be supervised closely around the children at all times.
2)       Not all ASDs have the same temperament. Some are more active, others are more passive. Some are more possessive or jealous. Some are more laid-back and calm.
3)       These dogs are also very independent-minded. They have been bred over thousands of years for just such work: guarding the flocks, determining what is and isn't a threat, and taking care of any threats swiftly and efficiently. If they perceive a threat, they will decide and react according to their own instincts, and may not listen to their owners/trainers. Sometimes their perceptions of a threat are not accurate. For example, if you have a troubled child and that child throws a tantrum or has a flashback to a trauma, an adult may need to contain the child so s/he doesn't cause self-injury. How will the dog perceive that? It is possible that a dog could intervene, in misperception, between a caregiver and a child. The same could be true about fights between the children. ASDs might guard one child from another child, or one group of children from another group. Furthermore, if a person is injured and needs attention, will the dog let other people attend to the injured person, or will the dog protect the injured person from all others?
4)       The children would need to be trained on how to interact with the ASD, and then supervised at all times to ensure that both they and the ASD are safe around each other at all times.
5)       It would not be a setup for success to use people who do not have experience and understanding of ASDs, to manage the ASD, to introduce the ASD to the children, or to train the children about the dog. (This was specifically speaking to people in Africa who were not able to be in close touch with the breeder in order to work together on the dog-children adjustment issues.)
6)       There would need to be appropriate containment for the dog, such as five foot high fencing and gates that are escape-proof. This would only be a temporary containment. ASDs do not do well when contained or chained.
7)       There is no guarantee of success in using an ASD as a guardian of the children. Since there is the possibility that the dog will not be successful in that setting, we cannot recommend the use of an ASD for this situation and setting. (Again this was specific to Africa and the lack of connection to the breeder who will work together with dog-owner for the life of the dog.)

With that said, the dangers to the children from outsiders (speaking to those in a war-torn country) may far outweigh the possible dangers of a dog misreading a situation between people the dog knows. There are also positives to the idea of using an ASD to guard the children. Just the presence of an ASD is likely to discourage strangers from bothering the children and staff. The children who cannot trust people might be able to make a special connection with the ASD and thus heal faster from their issues.

In regard to the Anatolian Shepherd Dog's use as a therapy dog, there is no history of the dog being used in that way in its native land, Turkey. Although some Anatolians have reportedly been used successfully in the USA in this manner, it has mainly been on leash in convalescent centers, retirement centers, or homes for the disabled. That may not be a good comparison for your situation.

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Evil Eye (nazar boncuğu)

Keeps evil away.
See a picture from our trip to Turkey in 2007.
http://www.nazarboncugu.com/

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Kepenek

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Spike Collars

Spike collars are worn by shepherd dogs in Turkey to protect their necks during fights with predators, especially wolves and stray dogs. Some shepherds use spike collars on their shepherd dogs and some do not. Some collars are worn with a felt backing (see spike collar from Urfa), and some are worn without. Spike collars are called different names in different regions. For example, people in the Zile area call a spike collar "tok," while those in the Sivas area call it "tork." People in the Kars and Erzurum area call a spike collar "hlş or hlnç." In the Giresun area, a spike collar is called "çengel."

From the Denizli area, TURKEY	Made in Kizilcahamam, in the Ankara region of TURKEY
From Urfa, TURKEY, 20 years old	From the country of Macedonia

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