Breed Characteristics
Some Concepts
Firstly certain concepts need to be clarified; the concepts of species and breed
are often confused.
Species: The term species means a group of animals with the same genetic
structure, with certain common hereditary characteristics, and which can mate
and produce offspring regardless of the environmental conditions. With this
meaning, for instance, cats and dogs are separate species; they cannot mate with
each other and cannot produce offspring.
Breed: The term breed means, within the same species, a group of animals
more closely resembling each other from the point of view of their hereditary
characteristics, under the same environmental conditions. The offspring of
animals from the same breed must resemble their parents.
Despite the breeds within a species resembling each other from the standpoint of
basic characteristics, they do not resemble each other from the standpoint of
certain other characteristics. These are called the breed characteristics, which
are of two kinds:
Morphological Breed Characteristics: Since these characteristics relate
to morphological structure, they can be identified from external appearance.
Characteristics such as the colour of coat, coat markings, body size, and the
structure of some sections such as head, ears, and tail, may be given as samples
of morphological characteristics. Generally they are determined by one or
several double genes. Therefore these characteristics are not greatly affected
by environmental conditions. Distinct variations among breeds from the
standpoint of these characteristics exist, whilst within the same breed
similarity of such characteristics exists.
Physiological Breed Characteristics: These are related to characteristics
such as body structure, early development, maternal qualities, temperament and
character, and they are generally polygenic. In other words, they are created by
a number of genes having fewer side-effects but greater in number. They are much
more affected by environmental conditions than morphological breed
characteristics. Variation of these characteristics is observed both among
breeds and among dogs within breeds. The dog is a species. The Kangal (Karabash)
Dog is a breed within the dog species. For instance, the Doberman is a separate
breed. The mating of Kangal (Karabash) Dogs always produces Kangal (Karabash)
puppies, and the mating of Dobermans always produces Doberman puppies. As for
the mating of Kangal (Karabash) and Doberman, it gives different puppies. They
may resemble Kangal (Karabash) Dogs or Dobermans, but puppies from this mating
do not strictly resemble their mother or father. This process is called cross-breeding,
and the puppies are called crossbred. The parent dogs could not create puppies
resembling themselves because they have different characteristics.
The Basic Breed Characteristics of the Turkish Kangal (Karabash) Shepherd Dog
The external appearance of the Kangal (Karabash) Dog has always been a matter of
great debate. The following are the basic breed characteristics of a purebred
Kangal (Karabash) Dog:
1. The structure of the body and particularly the head resembling a female lion
2 . Dun or fawn coloured coat with muzzle, ears and eyes edged with a black mask
3. Completely dropped ears close to the skull
4. Tail hanging low with a slightly upward and forward curl
These four main characteristics resemble a trivet. The stability of a trivet
fails if one of its legs is absent. The purity of breeding of a Kangal (Karabash)
Dog is out of the question if one of these four characteristics does not exist.
The Secondary Breed Characteristics of the Turkish Kangal (Karabash) Shepherd
Dog
1. A white spot or blaze (medallion) on the chest
2. A white or black tail tip
3. A few black spots with long bristles on the face, sometimes on the tail
4. White socks or stockings below the knees on the forelegs
5. A black area on the palate
6. 1, 2, or 3 additional claws, known as 'wolf killer' (kurtçul) claws in
Turkish, on the hind legs.
7. Toes webbed
The lack of one, a few, or all of these characteristics does not mean that a dog
is not purebred. However, it is desirable to have them.
Coat colour
This is the most contentious issue in the breeding of Kangal (Karabash) Dogs.
The coat colour of Kangal (Karabash) Dogs is fawn or dun. However, this colour
may vary in shade. Intermediate tones from off-white, cream, yellow, fawn, tawny
to liver may be seen. A purebred Kangal (Karabash) is never completely white or
black (excluding pads and the medallion on the chest). There are some factors
playing a role in colour variation.
1. Concerning the Kangal (Karabash) Dog coat colour, it is not exactly known at
present how many alleles there are at the main loci, and the added, dominant and
epistatic relations between these alleles. In addition, the genes defining the
coat colour in a number of animals are affected by certain genes which have a
modifying effect. These modifying genes cause variations within a population.
An example can be given for those unfamiliar with this subject. The coat colour
in cattle, for example, is multifarious. It is assumed that the coat colour and
pattern in cattle are affected by at least nine main loci. Four of these have at
least 3 alleles. In addition, if the modifying genes are included, hundreds of
colour tones will be created in the cattle. This is indeed the situation;
hundreds of colours, colour tones and patterns are seen in cattle.
The same situation exists in the coat colour of Kangal (Karabash) Dogs and other
breeds. The German Shepherd Dog varies in colour. Strong rich colours such as
varieties of brown-black are preferred. Its coat hairs should be straight, harsh
and lying close to the body. Although rare it sometimes happens that puppies are
born with a white coat and long hair. This is not acceptable. The white colour
is recessive in both breeds. The occurrence of this white colour may be
decreased by means of selection studies but it can never be eliminated from a
population because it will be transferred to future generations concealed in a
heterozygote genotype.
2. A number of effects such as dominance, intermediation, pleitropism, and
penetrance are in question among the genes which are alleles.
3. A number of effects such as adjacent genes, the genes effecting mono
sexuality, the genes whose effects are modified with sexuality, preservative
gene effects, supplementary gene effects, epistatic effect, and double genes and
modifying effect are in question among the genes which are not alleles.
One or more of the effects listed above may play a role in the coat colour of
the Kangal (Karabash) Dog.
Fotoğraf 1. Sürü peşinde ideal tipte bir Karabaş- Kayseri, Pınarbaşı.
Diğer tali ırk vasıfları ise şunlardır:
1-Ön göğüste beyaz madalyon,
2-Kuyruk ucunda beyaz leke,
3-Yüzde ve bazen kuyrukta, birkaç uzun, sert kıllı siyah ben,
4-Ayaklarda, dizden aşağı kesimlerde beyazlık,
5-Damakta siyah leke,
6-Arka ayaklarda "Pençe" veya "Kurtçul Tırnak" denen 1, 2, veya 3 adet ilave tırnak,
7-Ayaklarda, parmak aralarında perde.
Bu 7 özellikten birinin, bir kaçının veya hepsinin birden olmaması, o köpeğin saf olmadığına delalet etmez. Olması, olmamasından daha iyidir ve makbuldür.
Bazı yetiştiriciler ve kaynaklar, burun ucunda ve alt çene ucunda, Kangal yöresinde "Çakal" denen beyaz lekenin makbul olduğunu söylerler. Bu şu yönüyle yanlıştır. Ağız ve burunda siyah maske, zaten vazgeçilmez bir ırk özelliğidir. Bunun homojen rengini bozan beyaz bir leke nasıl makbul olabilir?
Ayrıca saf kangallarda Clavicula (Köprücük) Kemiği'nin kıkırdak şeklinde bulunduğu da iddia edilmektedir. Bu kemik normalde, kıkırdak dahi olsa köpeklerde bulunmaz. Ancak Alman Çoban Köpeği, Senbernar gibi iri ırklarda, kas dokusu içinde, fibröz doku olarak bir belirtisi bulunur.