Gallery 14

Samson - The Kangal Shepherd

Now this boy is something else.

Samson is a 12 months old Kangal Shepherd which looks very similar to the Anatolian Shepherd, and they are, in some countries, including Australia, recognised by the ANKC as being the same breed, which they are not.

He's a Liverstock Guardian Dog, but luckily for the current owners, he was imprinted on humans as a very young pup, not livestock, which makes it somewhat easier to train him.

How he ended up with the current owners is a long story, but sufficient to say that they saved his life.

I have now been working with this lovely dog for a number of weeks and he is a sheer delight to be around, but, make no mistake, this is not a dog for anyone, he is not only big, but also incredibly agile and fast.

There are limits to what we can do with him due to the genetics, so the goal is for him to have good foundation obedience in place, generalsing the behaviours, exposing him to new environments and distracrions to ensure that he can be safely walked in public.

Lucky for Samson, he has a seriously dedicated and commited owner and the work is progressing nicely as you can see from the videos.

Second photo from the top; my first meeting with Samson at his home, it's a "getting to know each other" moment. :)

Part of the training involves making him environmentally neutral to all kinds of surfaces and obstacles.

Second session in public, October 4th 2022

Third session in public, October 11th 2022

As you can see from these videos, we have in the space of a couple of months, gone from severe reactivity and not being able to walk this dog anywhere to this.

Still a way to go, but we have had some major breakthroughs so the future is looking a lot brighter for both dog and owner.

Luna

The young Australian Shepherd.

There was a lot to unpack when I first met this young dog, she was definitely not happy to see me - or anybody else for that matter.

Severe human and dog reactivitiy making it very difficult to take her for a walk.

She presented as a highly insecure and anxious dog,  and I was not 100% confident that I would be able to turn her around at that stage without the help of medication.

This was not going to be turned around overnight or in a week or two.

Well, how did we go? Judge for yourself.