What do anatolian shepherds have to do with cheetahs? CCF and Dr Laurie Marker have chosen to focus on the Anatolian guard dog (Turkish) to provide protection to local farmers' small stock. This keeps predators, including cheetahs, away from the herd and reduces farmer shooting of cheetahs.
The dogs are known for their guarding ability. CCF breeds and raises the dogs on location. Dogs are placed with local farmers and flocks at a very young age to facilitate the bonding process. With careful training, the dog will grow up to protect it's flock from predator attacks. Throughout the dog's life, CCF makes visits to ensure good health, good performance, and that they are being appropriately utilized. If a dog falls ill, is not treated well, or is not performing as desired, the dog is brought back to CCF to be nursed back to health or retrained. This pilot program has been very successful and the waiting list is currently several years long for Namibian farmers to obtain dogs.
We were lucky to arrive just after puppies had been born and got to participate in puppy feeding and (when no one was looking) puppy hugging. It was sad to see the pups leave and be given away, but cool to see the Guard Dog program in action.
In the photos above, Gail is walking Timbo, a lovable dog-in-retraining, and SuperDog, the last puppy, is checking out the goat pen.
Written by Kim.
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