Kangal livestock guardian dog focus of Feb. 26 webinar
Free webinar hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will host the webinar, The Kangal Livestock Guardian Dog Breed, on Feb. 26.
The webinar is free and will begin at 2 p.m. Participants must preregister online at https://tx.ag/LSGwebinar.
The Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at San Angelo has a research program dedicated to livestock guardian dogs, LGDs, and uses them at its ranches and in partnership with private ranch owners.
Free educational webinars for producers and those in the livestock guardian dog industry are offered each year courtesy of the LGD research program.
Featured speaker to be Kangal breeder
Long-time livestock guardian dog breeder Tamara Taylor from Patteran Akbash and Kangals will present the workshop.
“I’m excited to have Mrs. Taylor as our featured speaker for this webinar,” said Bill Costanzo, AgriLife Extension livestock guardian dog specialist, Bryan-College Station. “She has been breeding livestock guardian dogs since 1980.”
Akbash is a past board member of the Akbash Dog Association of America. She has helped locate LGDs for several previous U.S. Department of Agriculture studies.
About the Kangal breed
The Kangal dog is an ancient flock-guarding breed that looks very similar to the Anatolian Shepard but is generally larger in size. The breed is named for the Kangal District of Sivas Province in Central Turkey.
Though the breed has long been associated with the family of Aga of Kangal, most dogs are bred by villagers who take pride in the dog’s ability to guard its flocks of sheep and goats from such traditional predators as the wolf, bear and jackal.
