The Sheep Dogs of Anatolia, Yörük Koyçs, is not intended to be a guide or instruction manual, and the material in the book is presented by integration into stories and the author's personal observations. The author has worked on this book since 1997. Although the focus is the Anatolians, the information provided here is applicable to all Large Guardian Dogs, such as Great Pyrenees, Kuvasz, Alabai, and Ovtcharka. The reader is not forced to accept rules and laws dictated by the author or any club. On the contrary he is encouraged to mold his own methods based on the practices in the rural Anatolia. Rights and wrongs in sheep dog raising are not confined to rules; rather they reside in understanding the mindset of the shepherds, the nature of the flocks, and the dogs, which are summarized in principals. The main source of information in this book is from the authentic shepherds instead of white collar data collectors and the sedentary farmers. No ready- to -swallow pills are provided in order to successfully live with sheep dogs and to benefit from them. Once the reader understands the aboriginal conditions of the sheep dogs, only then can she start seeing where they are coming from and why these primitive dogs act in certain ways. The book helps the reader to understand the source, which allows a smoother journey to the destination.The first half of the book provides general information on the sheep dogs in Anatolia in terms of historical background, descriptions, various strains of dogs, traditional selection, conditioning, feeding, numerous practices, fundamental characteristics, and determining standards of Anatolian sheep dogs in relation to the requirements set by the shepherds. The second part of the book is mostly discussions about the common misunderstandings related to the sheep dogs, such as breed descriptions, training problems, and the concept of primitive breeding. The approach to tackle these issues is radically unconventional, which challenges the show mentality which consists of pedigree based breeding and artificial selection criteria, as well as other practices related to conformation showing. The author also looks at the dog-wolf interaction in terms of flock guarding. The format of the book allows the reader to pick up any chapter from the second part, independent from the first part, and read without having to have read the preceding chapters or accordingly, choose to be done at the end of the first part of the book. In other words, one can feel free to stop reading at the end of Part I if he is not interested in the philosophy behind pastoral sheep dogs. The second half of the book follows with 63 pages of original photographs from the author's private collection and is composed of 119 dog photos from all corners of rural Anatolia.

Dog anatomy, breeding, breeds, equipment, health, law, monuments, organizations, related professions and professionals, shows and showing, sports, training and behavior, types, working dogs. Dogs in popular culture, famous dogs, fictional dogs, films. The dog is a canine mammal of the Order Carnivora. Dogs were first domesticated from wolves at least 12,000 years ago but perhaps as long as 150,000 years ago based on recent genetic fossil evidence and DNA evidence. In this time, the dog has developed into hundreds of breeds with a great degree of variation. This guide details the dog anatomy, breeding, breeds, equipment, health, law, monuments, organizations, related professions and professionals, shows and showing, dog sports, training and behavior, dog types, working dogs, as well as dogs in popular culture, famous dogs, fictional dogs, films about dogs, dogs as pets, and many other related aspects.

"Human beings are important, especially to themselves! But as science advances, it has become increasingly clear that we are less special and more natural than many people have long believed. This book shows how, as we finally look at ourselves honestly and accurately, we can identify ourselves as wonderfully natural, inseparable from the universe and other living things"--

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"A deeply thoughtful, gripping and scrupulous book told in Sayarer's trademark style from the saddle and the roadside" CAROLINE EDEN By a winner of the Stanford Dolman Award for Travel Writing "The best travelogues should make you question your preconceptions of a place and force you to engage with what the author is saying. Türkiye succeeds on both fronts" Cycle Magazine "We need writers who will go all the way for a story, and tell it with fire. Sayarer is a marvellous example" HORATIO CLARE On the eve of its centenary year and elections that will shape the coming generations, Julian Emre Sayarer sets out to cycle across Türkiye, from the Aegean coast to the Armenian border. Meeting Turkish farmers and workers, Syrian refugees and Russians avoiding conscription, the journey brings to life a living, breathing, cultural tapestry of the place where Asia, Africa and Europe converge. The result is a love letter to a country and its neighbours - one that offers a clear-eyed view of Türkiye and its place in a changing world. Yet the route is also marked by tragedy, as Sayarer cycles along a major fault line just months before one of the most devastating earthquakes in the region's modern history. Always engaged with the big historical and political questions that inform so much of his writing, Sayarer uses his bicycle and the roadside encounters it allows to bring everything back to the human level. At the end of his journey we are left with a deeper understanding of the country, as well as the essential and universal nature of political power, both in Türkiye and closer to home. "A persuasive corrective to western views of a place he loves" Guardian