| Kars Shepherd | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Origin | Turkey | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Notes | registered with theTurkish Standards Institution in 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dog (domestic dog) | |||||||||||||||||||||
TheKars Shepherd,Turkish:Kars Çoban Köpeği, is a Turkishbreed oflivestock guardian dog. It is one of three breeds of flock guardian dog in Turkey, the others being theAkbash and theKangal.[1]
It takes its name from the town ofKars inKars Province, and is also found throughout theprovinces ofArdahan,Artvin,Erzurum andIğdır in eastern Turkey.[2][3][4]
The Kars Shepherd is a traditional breed of Eastern Anatolia, and is distributed widely in theprovinces ofAğrı,Ardahan,Artvin,Erzurum,Iğdır,Kars andVan.[4]: 101 The first scientific description was that of David Nelson, presented at the International Symposium on Turkish Shepherd Dogs inKonya in 1996.[4]: 101 [5]
The Kars Shepherd was registered with theTurkish Standards Institution in 2002,[4]: 101 but by 2012 had not been registered with the formerMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.[3] TheKöpek Irkları ve Kinoloji Federasyonu lists it among the indigenous breeds that it has a duty to protect.[6]
In appearance, the Kars closely resembles theCaucasian Shepherd Dog which is native to the Caucasus countries over Turkey's north-eastern border.[2][3][4] It has a long, heavy double coat (short-coated examples are known) that can be found in a number of colours including black, white, grey, red, yellow and brown, they frequently have white markings on their chest, necks and forelegs; slightly smaller than livestock guardian breeds from central and western Turkey such as theAkbash and theKangal, the Kars has a mean weight of 44.6 kilograms (98 lb) and mean height of 72.4 centimetres (28.5 in).[3]
The Kars is used by local shepherds to protect their flocks from predation from various predators found in the region, anecdotes exist of several dogs repulsing and even killingbears.[3]
Dogs originating inTurkey | ||
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