Hafise lives in Southeast Kansas with the Inanna Nubian herd of dairy goats. Hafise and her owner would enjoy hearing from you.
Please visit our herd website to see more information and pictures of the animals.
Hafise lives in Southeast Kansas with the Inanna Nubian herd of dairy goats. Hafise and her owner would enjoy hearing from you.
Please visit our herd website to see more information and pictures of the animals.
Patricia McConnell, Certified Animal Behaviorist, leads a lively weekly call in show on Public Radio. Callers receive help and hear interviews with people who are working with a wide variety of animals. Her website offers animal tips from listeners from across the country.
Temple Grandin has written several books. The last one I read was Animals in Translation. Grandin's new book is Animals Make Us Human. She says that her insight into animal behavior is due to her autism. Grandin's work has been innovative and ground-breaking in the area of livestock management. You can see more of her work at her website.
The Wikipedia article on Anatolian Shepherds is excellent. It gives general information about the breed including size and temperament.
I am an Anatolians Livestock Guard Dog. We are big dogs. I must weigh about 120 pounds and I am still a puppy. We are the peace keepers. Our jobs are extremely important for we protect the animals that have been placed in our care. We are Livestock Guard Dogs.
I was born on a cattle and goat ranch southwest of Fredonia, Kansas, early in September, 2007. Like all good livestock dogs we were born right in the middle of the animals we were to protect, the goats. My real mother, Ginger, had us in one of the kidding pens. There were twelve of us before she got done. Since there were only ten teats we were fed goat milk from a bottle. We all grew big and healthy. All the time we lived with the goats.
We puppies were sweet when we were little. But as we got bigger we were not very nice. We fought over the food, we fought for our mother's attention, we fought for no reason at all. We heard the words "quit it!" a lot. All the time we were learning how to protect ourselves and the animals we would care for.
When I was eight weeks old I was choosen to live at another place, a farm, with another livestock guard dog named Patty, a house dog named Boogie, cats, birds, and most important, goats. I slept in the barn at night because I was most comfortable snuggling with the goats. In the daytime my new person would take me, the other dogs, and all the goats out into the pasture so the goats could eat the browse and some grass. I knew I was at home.
We have a rather small place here so I also look after the woman who lives on the farm to the west. She seldom comes outside so I go to the porch and bark until she comes to the door. Then I go south into the forest and make sure everything is as it should be. Often there are deer in the forest. I just bark at them if they come close to my barns and animals. They travel through the west end of the property moving so much like goats that it takes a moment to see that they are really deer.
I am proud of my heritage. My mother's people were from Turkey so I have a direct connection to my ancestors who so proudly cared for their animals. I carry on that tradition. To do my work I have to think for myself and can't wait for a human to tell me what to do. Dogs like me run into trouble when people want to control us and make obedient lap dogs out of us. When they respect us we willingly do all that is asked of us and more.
Life is good! I have food, places to sleep, a job, and most important, I know they love me.
Patty didn't have much patience with me when I was little. But, I loved playing with Boogie. Everyday the three of us, Patty, Boogie, and me would go out into the pasture with the goats. We still like to play. She is my pet so I let her win.
