It has taken me over 10 years to decide I was ready to breed Anatolians. I have learned a lot about the breed, breeding and what an ethical breeder is all about.
I have been a member of the Anatolian Shepherd Club International for as long as I have been involved with the breed, and I am a Code of Ethics Breeder. I am also a member of Anatolian Shepherd Dog Club of America, the parent club for AKC.
My kennel name Zaltana is Native American for High Mountain. Mt. Charleston towers over our valley and for most of the year its peak is snow-covered. It is 11918 feet above sea level and has an awe-inspiring presence. I marvel at the beautiful view many times a day and from the moment we decided to buy this property I knew that I needed to find a kennel name that would have something to do with this mountain. I chose a Native American word because of my respect for a people who were native to this beautiful area.
The Purchase Contract: I have developed my purchase contract with the goal to protect the individual dog as well as the image and betterment of the breed. If a buyer or potential buyer has a concern about any part of my purchase contract I am open to discuss it. I don't want to come across as being a control freak, but at the same time I want to make sure that the buyer and I are in agreement on what is best for the puppy and future generations of the breed.
My goal in breeding is to preserve this wonderful breed and to produce Anatolians with correct temperament and correct conformation as well as good health. All puppies/dogs come with a written health guarantee and lifetime breeder support. Lifetime breeder support means that I will be available to talk about training, behavior, nutrition and medical care. I maintain an e-mail group for people who have paid a deposit on a puppy and for those who have purchased puppies from me in the past, other members of the group are breeder/owners of related dogs. The purpose of the group is to share information on each litter; it gives people who have litter mates a chance to hear about their dog's brothers and sisters as well as to hear about other related dogs. There is a photo section for that group for people to share pictures, and I am uploading files of interest for group members.
I stand 100 percent behind every puppy I produce, which means I will take this dog back at any time in its life, and at the owner's request I will give a refund in the amount stated in the purchase contract and assist with transport to make sure this dog is being returned to me if the owners can no longer care for it.
All puppies are micro-chipped before they leave my home. Puppies will go to their new homes when they are 10 weeks old or any time after that. The entire litter will be temperament tested at 7 weeks of age. Zaltana puppies grow up in an enriched environment with exposure to various surfaces to walk and play on, a variety of toys to play with and plenty of objects to climb over, walk on, sit on top etc. All puppies will be leash and crate trained. All puppies will be handled on a regular basis and will be accustomed to grooming and nail care. They will be socialized to children, adults, unfamiliar places, car rides, other dogs and other animals.
I require that all dogs purchased from my breeding program will have OFA screening of their hips and elbows between 24 and 30 months of age.
Any puppy/dog purchased after it is 4 months of age will have this testing done by myself prior to going to its new home.
For anybody who doesn't want to buy a dog with "strings attached" there are some options. I am planning to keep several puppies from each litter until they are at least 6 months old and may become available at that age or later after health screening has been done. Otherwise I recommend getting a rescue. There are plenty of beautiful and loving, purebred Anatolians available through National Anatolian Shepherd Rescue Network.
Revised March 27, 2008
Breeding-related Links
Early Neurological Stimulation http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/achiever.html
Collecting and utilizing phenotypic data to minimize disease
This is a PDF file
Evaluating Breeding Stock This article is about Salukis, but much of it applies to livestock guardian dogs as well, it explains very well why breeding stock needs to be evaluated for function.
