5-3-20 Lokum Esma Kangal Dogs

Kangal Dogs Esma and Lokum 4-10-2020

Kangal Dogs in back yard

Esma and Lokum update

Just for the record here, I wanted to say that for the past couple weeks Esma has been coming up to me during feeding time and seems like she is happy to let me pet her.  This is a first since she's been here. 

Also I have suspected that Esma and Lokum have been sometimes sleeping together in the same dog house and last night for the first time I actually saw them in there curled up together.  It's been cold lately in the single digits and below zero degrees Fahrenheit.   

I built a big insulated dog house with this in mind, that they would go in it together.  It's about 4' x 5' wide and tall enough for a Kangal Dog to stand up in, with 6 inch walls insulted completely with old sheep wool top bottom and side walls.  

Kangal Dogs Esma and Lokum Hanging out together 10-18-19

Esma and Lokum hanging out yesterday afternoon. 

Esma is wearing a catch line because she still won't come to me, not even for food.  She cannot be bribed.  She has been very wary of strangers since the day I brought her home. Even after keeping her in the house the first couple months she still is uneasy when ever I come around her. 

NOTE: ~I only put the catch line on Esma when she is in larger area's where I would not be able to easily catch her, she does not ever wear it unsupervised.~

Esma is great with the sheep and quickly dodges any bossy ewes that try to head butt her, unlike Lokum who gets aggressive towards them when they do that to him. 

Esma and Lokum seem to compliment each other nicely, I'm glad I have the both of them now. 

 

I've been letting them stay together for long periods of time by connecting their pens but Lokum has begun digging huge holes and I'm afraid he will dig under the fence so back to supervised only visits until I can make other arrangements.

Good article about Kangal Dogs

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/kangal-soldier-of-the-steppe/

Kangal: Soldier of the Steppe

January 5, 2016 | 

Editor’s note: The kangal (pronounced khan-ghahl) is a breed of large livestock guarding dog originating from the city of Sivas in central Turkey. The breed is not used for herding, but to defend flocks of sheep from wolves, jackals and even bears. The kangal is such an effective guardian that it has been imported to the U.S for the purpose of protecting livestock from wolves, lessening the need for more extreme control measures such as wolf culls. In the piece below, Bernd Brunner, a writer who splits his time between Germany and Istanbul, explores the relationship between these fearless dogs and their Turkish masters.

The Kangal – also known as the “Anatolian Lion” – is Turkey’s national dog

The independence and courage of these hard-working animals is the stuff of legend, and exporting Kangals from the country is forbidden. The history of the dogs is intimately tied with the history of Turkey itself. But as the forces of modernity find their way into the furthest reaches of Anatolia’s wild plateaus, the role of the Kangals is changing, too.......

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/kangal-soldier-of-the-steppe/

Second time together

 

 

 

This evening was Esma and Lokum's second time being together. They're reunion is coming along nicely.  

The first time together Lokum tried mounting her two times and each time I told him to stop it he stopped right away.  This time he tried playing with her, he kind of tackled her he's very much a puppy still even at  4 years of age, but like when he tried mounting Esma I told him to stop it and he stopped.  Esma's response was to ignore him even though she was getting tackled.  

I let Esma and Lokum spend many hours by each other in adjacent pens, she seems happiest when she is by him. She eats best by Lokum as well.  

I still bring her in at night as she is still very skittish around us and people in general.  However Esma does wag her tail and get a little excited when I bring her food.  

So far the only way I can catch Esma is if she is in confined quarters.  She tries to evade me but as soon as my hands touch her she stops and submits to having a leash put on, once the leash is on she calms down and does quite well.  When Esma is in the back play yard I can't catch her out there and she won't come to me so I let her in the house and then I can catch her in the house.  

Even getting her in the house has been a process, in the beginning Kelli and I had to kind of round her up and herd her into the house the two of us, but now If we step to the side and open the door she quickly scoots inside breezing past us so as not to get too close.  

We are convinced that she has had one or more bad experiences with people.  Perhaps when she was loose for 5 days or something else.  

Last night we had a thunder storm and she seems to be quite afraid of storms and hid under the piano all night until morning.