The Akbash Dog

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The Akbash Dog Comes to the New World

The Akbash Dog is one of the dog breeds known as the white livestock. Others are the French Great Pyrenees, the Czechkoslavakian Chuvatch, the Polish Tatra, the Hungarian Kuvasz, and the Italian Maremma. Although the Akbash Dog has a long history in its nativeland, the first Akbash Dog was only imported into the U.S. in 1978.

That first imported dog, Cybele White Bird, was the beginning of the breed in North America. She was imported carrying what was to become the first litter of U.S. born Akbash Dogs. The next year the Akbash Dog Association International was established, a step which lead to the further importation and progeny testing of Akbash Dogs from Turkey and the foundation of the affiliate, the Akbash Dog Association of America.

Cybele's owners were David and Judith Nelson. While living in Turkey, they had first observed the white shepherd's dogs like the young female pictured here. The striking similarities between the milk-white Akbash Dog and the other European breeds of white flockguardians were obvious to them. Watching the dogs at work with their flocks of sheep, the Nelsons came to admire the breed and see its potential for North American livestock producers. Over a three year period, they undertook field studies, documenting the existence not only of a large mongrel population of sheepdogs but also of the native Turkish breeds, one of which was the Akbash Dog. It was during that time that they acquired their family companion, Cybele.

The first importation of the Akbash Dog to the U.S. was timely. The United States Dept. of Agriculture Animal Damage Control was involved in a Livestock Guard Dog project. Their goal was to evaluate the use of specific livestock guard dog breeds and that of livestock guarding in general as a means of protecting livestock, primarily sheep. While hunting, trapping, and poisoning had been the predominant methods of predator control, by 1980, there was a great deal of interest in finding alternatives. The livestock guard dog project was a success and so were the livestock guarding dogs. Since that first project, the various breeds have continued to be used and evaluated. The Akbash Dog, then as now, ranked high in effectiveness, being aggressive not only to intruding wild animals, such as bear, coyote, and cougar but to stray dogs, as well.

While the initial interest in the Akbash Dog was as a protector of herds primarily on Western ranges, from the first days of importation, Akbash Dogs also served as family companions and home protectors. Cybele herself, dam and grand-dam of many working dogs, was a family companion.

Today there are over 2000 Akbash Dogs in the U.S. They are one of the three breeds USDA most recommends as livestock guardians. However, these versatile dogs also serve as family companions, go to obedience classes, and win at dog shows.

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This page is copyrighted and maintained by Tamara Taylor.  If you wish to use any material from these pages, please request permission by email:  ttaylor7@gte.net.  This page was last updated July 14, 1998.