The Kangal Dog of Turkey is a breed renowned for its bravery and its devotion to its owners. With its distinctive black-masked fawn coloring, mastiff-like physique, gentle disposition, and its ability to bond strongly, this rare breed is a striking one that is beginning to get greater public attention.

The breed is treasured in Turkey, where it is bred on a purebred, pedigreed basis at several government and university facilities. In addition, there are private breeders, many of whom are villagers, throughout the Sivas-Kangal region. These men take great pride in breeding the "National Dog" of Turkey, a dog valued for its fearless devotion to the flocks (and the shepherds) it guards.

In January of 1998 the United Kennel Club announced its recognition of the Turkish Kangal Dog, a livestock guarding breed that has long been respected in Turkey yet little known outside that country. Shortly before the UKC recognition, the Australian National Kennel Control had likewise recognized the Kangal Dog and opened a studbook for the registration of pure Kangal Dogs. While the existence of the magnificent Kangal Dog and photos of classic examples of the breed were reported in English literature in 1983 and again in 1988 by David and Judy Nelson, the leading Western authorities on the indigenous breeds of Turkey and founders of the Kangal Dog Club of America, there has been little real understanding of the breed.

This situation has been due to several factors. The first is the breed's rarity outside of Turkey, for the breed is on a list of "endangered" native species whose export is strictly limited. That list also includes species such as the "Ankara" (angora) goat and the Van cat. Also, the information that exists has seldom been translated from the original Turkish. However, the greatest factor has probably been the reluctance of Western dog "fanciers" to travel to the relatively remote home region of the Kangal Dog in east central Turkey, an area whose residents are themselves sometimes victims of political terrorism.

While information concerning the Turkish Kangal Dog first appeared in the U.S. in 1983 in national publications such as the AKC Gazette, there continued to be confusion concerning the Turkish dog breeds. They were often "lumped" together as Anatolian Shepherds, an error which was pointed out by USDA biologists working with various livestock guarding breeds and observing not only conformation differences but also behavioral differences (Green and Woodruff, 1993) between breeds. However, in 1996 the International Symposium on the Turkish Shepherd Dogs held at Selçuk University in Konya, Turkey, and sponsored by the Veterinary School, did much to educate the public concerning the native breeds of Turkey.

The Kangal Dog was very nearly a victim of the ignorance and ethnocentricity that often accompanies foreign breeds that are imported and "developed" by Western dog fanciers, sometimes with little regard for the expertise of dog breeders in the native land and, in the case of the Kangal Dog, with virtually no regard for the fact that the Turkish government itself maintains kennels for the purpose of breeding Kangal Dogs. The Kangal Dog -- as it is exists in its homeland -- was first recognized, bred, and registered outside of Turkey by the Kangal Dog Club of America and its members.