Here you do not need to have a vote. No amount of voting can change the Breed's genetic make up anyway. But perhaps you would like to hear a bit about it.

Our Breed undisputedly IS a multicolour one, and trying to hold back the clock by force may break the mechanism, but will certainly not stop the sands of time!

Once a dog or bitch is KC registered it has a perfect right to be shown and also to win awards up to the highest level. Now, you will exclaim; but of course! And you will be right; the reason it has been spelled out so clearly is two fold.

You may be told the reverse some time. I am not saying you will, but you might. Just laugh. If your dog is the better specimen, you may well be the one to 'laugh the longest'.

Once you, the future breeders experience the real delight of an Anatolian litter, I do not want your joy to be spoilt by any un-necessary misgivings. I am sure you would not be so cruel as to destroy the largest bounciest puppy in the litter on the grounds of coat colour alone. These change very much as they grow up anyway, so 'birthday suits' are not always an accurate guide to mature coloration.

The position is spelled out clearly; to help you put your minds at rest.

Note: before anyone breeds they are well advised to get firm bookings and take deposits as well. Ours need special conditions and intelligent owners. All this should be settled long before the bitch is in whelp. Once the pups arrive you will have a full time job on your hands, if you are to do them justice. Letting them go to places not well investigated beforehand can result in a lot of heartbreak later (see proposed Club Code of Ethics).

THE USERS VIEW

Lady Burrows, a Founder Member of our Breed Club, undertook to ask every shepherd "what colour should a Coban Kopek be?" with illuminating results. A detailed list of virtues as in the Ballard letter, with more colour forgotten altogether or shrugged off as a 'fad'. Some did not even begin to understand why one should ask it, or there were peals of laughter. As so many people have increasingly been insisting; there is no wrong colour for a good working dog. Who are we here in the West anyway, to try and impose a 'colour bar' and then reinforce it by killings? when the original breeders love them all, and judge them as individuals, precious ones at that!

PERMISSILE VARIABILITY IN OUR BREED (another nettle)

Geneticists say we are very very lucky, in fact our situation is 'music to their ears' and most unusual in dogs. For in our breed we still have a large (but fast shrinking) gene pool of working, unrelated stock, be it far away and hard to get. Out there the same selection pressures still apply, which have given the breed its unique qualities over the ages. The great mobility of the shepherds and nomads ensure mixing and keep it ONE BREED, with the best being widely admired, talked about and striven for.

Of course variability within the breed exists, but that constitutes its STRENGTH not WEAKNESS. Once a person grasps this fundamental fact, he or she can hold their head high and reply with pride; yes, ours is an unspoit breed! Never let a 'fancier' or 'instant expert' run down your dog on the grounds it has or has not a black tip to its tail, or a spot half way along it, or some other irrelevant detail. We glory in our breed as it naturally occurs. People whom forever try to find faults with everybody else's dogs are best avoided.

Why anyone should wish to sacrifice the Anatolians precious qualities just to make them all look identical (if that were possible) beats me. Look where that has led in other breeds. By repeatedly selection for some show point or other, they have so depleted their gene pool and increased the incidence of hereditary defects; it would take a computer to find a rational mating, least damaging to the breed in question. This is already being done for rare breeds of livestock by Lawrence Alderson, who works out the coefficient of inbreeding so matings can be planned to increase variability by somehow recombining the pitifully few genes left in such breeds. If degeneration has gone too far, related breeds may have to help, or sterility and extinction follows.

To learn dispassionately about the problems of breed that are small numerically, join the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, HonSec c/o Market Place, Haltwhistle, Northumberland. In their glossy monthly magazine, the ARK one gets a real breath of fresh air on the problems facing us today. All back numbers are worth getting too, a store of wisdom. Why - you will even see a photograph of the immediate ancestors of your dog in there as well.

The question arises; how much variability is it advisable to allow in a breed? Here again the Americans have paved the way, with typical energy. The many imports, due to NATO forces stationed in Turkey may have helped trigger it off. See the American Breed Standard for the Anatolian Shepherd Dog. You will notice they exclude certain extremes, like 'matted, curly or corded coats' as unacceptable, but allow variations in thickness and length. In this way they cover Turkey nicely. In fact throughout they face up bravely to the breed as it really is. It gives them a tremendous advantage of course; they can then use any really superb members of the breed that becomes available, without artificial fears or worries.

Experienced judges and breeders, familiar with rare breed problems all advise us to steer a middle course, avoiding selection for any one extreme, if we wish to keep the breed viable, healthy and vigorous.

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