# My 1 year shepherd/anatolian(?) mix, finally some pics!



## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

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http://imgur.com/a/jKqnI17


He's 1yr and 75 lbs with room to fill in. Wondering what breeds he might be!

Meet Mad Max! More pics on the imgur link in case these don't work! (My phone takes crummy pics...) He's got a HUGE head. 26 in tall and 26 in long (withers to rump) and lanky! His floppy rose-shaped, wider-set ears are a giveaway to mixed heritage, but I'm scratching my head as to what. Adopted him in Texas. He bears some resemblance to a black mouth cur, which I'm reading are mostly in the south. His temperament was super chill when we met him with his previous owners, but started acting more like a nervous (albeit sweet) shepherd immediately when we took him home. He's getting used to his new life, deffo a watchdog. He has the GSD/husky/trotting breed 'trot' gait.

Lots of rambling, sorry! Max is a great boy with a wonderful temperament (especially for a young dog). He has some separation anxiety and associated issues but we are working on that


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

Idk why it's indicating suggestive content, it's just max on his doggy bed (doggy booty?)


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

Looks more like an Anatolian to me


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

@Thecowboysgirl funny thing, my parents just acquired a purebred anatolian shepherd female with their property (just how country things work lol). Here are some pics of her! She has the distinctive curly q tail, whereas his is more shepherd/dane with the long sickle....Time to google search anatolian mixes...


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

He clacks his teeth when excited, too, don't know if that means anything?


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## Orphan Heidi (Sep 21, 2018)

Handsome dude he is. Boy I'd definitely do an Embark DNA on him. Could be several large breed mixes in there, but
whatever he sounds like a special guy. Congratulations on acquiring him. And Welcome to the forum.


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

Holy cow he does look like an anatolian! The coat lengths varies within the breed, I'll surmise? 

And thank you Orphan Heidi!  I've heard Embark is one of the better DNA test brands, yes?


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

He sounds like a nice boy.
Anything is possible with mixes...
I wouldn’t rule out the cur, Texas is “southern enough”... Anatolian is definitely a strong possibility despite the straight tail, as is lab, shepherd, mastiff, dane.
He really isn’t huge... probably done with height and will put on another 10lbs.


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

elves said:


> Holy cow he does look like an anatolian! The coat lengths varies within the breed, I'll surmise?


Yes, there will be some coat variation dog to dog as well as season to season... especially with once you get into actual working stock dogs.


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## Orphan Heidi (Sep 21, 2018)

elves said:


> Holy cow he does look like an anatolian! The coat lengths varies within the breed, I'll surmise?
> 
> And thank you Orphan Heidi!  I've heard Embark is one of the better DNA test brands, yes?


Embark was recommended on this forum as being the best and most accurate dna test. I used it on my rescue
and was impressed. Also the additional health testing is well worth the money if you decide to go that route.

Now that you posted the Anatolian pic, it does look like your boy has some in him. The body structure, especially the hind end really matches.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

If you do the DNA I hope you come back and tell us what it said. It would be interesting to know!

I wish they had had the better DNA tests back when I had my mystery yellow dog.


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## K9SHOUSE (Jun 8, 2003)

He looks predominantly Anatolian with a little shepherd in there. He's got "eyeliner" as we called it. His ears are too small to be pure. At 1 he should be over 100lbs. There are several Anatolian breeders in Texas. He definitely has the deep amber Anatolian eyes. He will be a great dog, but socialize him heavily and establish your leadership through obedience classes. This is not a breed to be heavy-handed with. They are very sensitive and attach deeply to their people. My male (got him at 2 years) that passed did not like anyone touching him in public (kids and adults) and was highly suspicious. You had to be invited in by us or he would not let you in even if he knew you or you had been in the house before. Amazing with my children and they learned to walk holding him (by his choice with his harness and supervised). Not a breed for the dog park once they reach maturity. If he is 1 he is starting to come into his confidence and protective instincts.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

K9SHOUSE said:


> He looks predominantly Anatolian with a little shepherd in there. He's got "eyeliner" as we called it. His ears are too small to be pure. At 1 he should be over 100lbs. There are several Anatolian breeders in Texas. He definitely has the deep amber Anatolian eyes. He will be a great dog, but socialize him heavily and establish your leadership through obedience classes. This is not a breed to be heavy-handed with. They are very sensitive and attach deeply to their people. My male (got him at 2 years) that passed did not like anyone touching him in public (kids and adults) and was highly suspicious. You had to be invited in by us or he would not let you in even if he knew you or you had been in the house before. Amazing with my children and they learned to walk holding him (by his choice with his harness and supervised). Not a breed for the dog park once they reach maturity. If he is 1 he is starting to come into his confidence and protective instincts.


I believe in this case it would be GUYliner.


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

Google images of greyhound cross german shepherd mixes, and see what you think.


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

I almost never take pics during walks but I finally had the chance to snap a few with my crappy camera. Max is 1 year and 75 lb, not sure what breed he is. I was pleased to finally get some pics of his side profile and build. He comes from a household where he had low but sufficient (i guess) exercise, excited to see how he does with a better exercise regime! (He loves walks, that's for sure).


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## CactusWren (Nov 4, 2018)

Definitely reminds me superficially of a kangal. Handsome boy!


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

@CactusWren I've looked up Kangals and they are certainly gorgeous and HUGE!!! He does have the markings like one, but (for now) not the size. I don't think im ready for that much dog!


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

I think the longer, narrower snout is the most un-anatolian thing about this dog. Gonna do that DNA? I'm curious!

Could be a dash of some sight hound too?


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

If he has been neutered at an early age, he height is probably taller than normal which can be confusing regarding the mix. He could easily and simply be a Lab X GSD is that way.


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

I plan to do a DNA test, but funds need to go to Responsible Owner Things for max right now 😉

And wolfydog yeah that's what the original owners thought as well. Postulating breed mixes is more addicting than one would think, I'm finding...all the possibilities~!


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## K9SHOUSE (Jun 8, 2003)

Bets still on Anatolian in there. His body is longer and sleeker, made for running and quick maneuvering with long legs. 

Kangals are a lot more solid boned and bulky. They are built more block-like similar to Storm's breed. Very wide mastiff/molosser type head. 

If you want real controversy and within breed bickering step into that world. It's not the dogs who are the most protective and snarky, lol.


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Very handsome dog but way too small at that age to be mixed with Anatolian. I really have no guess as to breed at the moment but as Wolfydog said, a lot can be contingent on whether he is intact or not and at what age if he was neutered. IMO, I would be looking at GSDs as the larger breed in the mix and would surmise the unknown part is of a smaller breed.


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

He likely was neutered young, given that he was adopted originally around four months. He's a tall boy, though. 26 in long and 26 in tall. My parents now have a female anatolian shepherd and he's taller than her....she's definitely got more bulk on her than him (and a lot of fur too lol).


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

Update: Ordered an Embark kit! After doing more browsing research I'm pretty confident in my guess that he has some Anatolian in him. We'll find out what he's mixed with (if anything) or if my guess is completely wrong!


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## Orphan Heidi (Sep 21, 2018)

Great! Don't be surprised if there's 3-4-5 different breeds there. I find that there's lots of purpose bred dogs of mixed breeds, especially amongst farmers, hunters and sledders.

If you wanna have some fun waiting for the test results, go on Embark DNA Discussion on facebook and post his picture and ask for guesses on his breed. There's some really sharp dog people on there and I'm sure they've seen
a couple that look similar to your dog. It's a fun way to spend a doggy afternoon indoors.


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

Thanks, I'll definitely check out the Facebook page


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

*Update! *Results are in!

Max’s Embark Dog DNA Results

Aaaaaannnddd...he's a petri dish guard dog 😂 
Surprisingly almost a quarter husky...which makes me smile b/c my last dog was a husky/shepherd mix (or so we think)


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

lol, and that’s how you get an anatolian with absolutely no anatolian 😂

very cool, thanks for sharing!


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

Sounds about right! Not a bad mix at all. Enjoy.


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Wow! A little bit of everything! Thanks for sharing the results. I never saw Husky coming! Or even Golden.


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

MineAreWorkingline said:


> Wow! A little bit of everything! Thanks for sharing the results. I never saw Husky coming! Or even Golden.


The only thing that really gave away the husky was his partial heterochromia in one of his eyes. Typical of only a few breeds, aussies and huskies mostly. He does act a lot like my husky shepherd mix, boris, though, and it makes more sense now! He does the same pouncing and bouncing as Boris in tall grass on the hunt (like a fox). It's adorable! Shepherd owners, do your dogs do this as well?


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

elves said:


> The only thing that really gave away the husky was his partial heterochromia in one of his eyes. Typical of only a few breeds, aussies and huskies mostly. He does act a lot like my husky shepherd mix, boris, though, and it makes more sense now! He does the same pouncing and bouncing as Boris in tall grass on the hunt (like a fox). It's adorable! Shepherd owners, do your dogs do this as well?


The rottweiler and to some extent, pit bul, was the biggest surprise for me. He really looks nothing like it.... but he is very protective!


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

elves said:


> The only thing that really gave away the husky was his partial heterochromia in one of his eyes. Typical of only a few breeds, aussies and huskies mostly. He does act a lot like my husky shepherd mix, boris, though, and it makes more sense now! He does the same pouncing and bouncing as Boris in tall grass on the hunt (like a fox). It's adorable! Shepherd owners, do your dogs do this as well?


I think the fox pounce is a common Husky trait. Bully breeds are found in many mixed breeds today. Being protective comes from the Shepherd and Rottweiler.


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## Shadow Shep (Apr 16, 2020)

Can we have more pics to celebrate please?


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## berno von der seeweise (Mar 8, 2020)

great looking dog! sure could have fooled me!!

I'm struggling to get my head around embarks results here? more than half shepherd-husky is easy enough (shepherd x shepherd/husky) but it sure doesn't match the conformation AT ALL? apbt x rott is a fairly common mix, but that's all the way back to great grand parent slots in the ped. Lab x golden mix is also very popular, but there we're looking at great great grandparent slots? It just doesn't add up on paper here? I can't help wondering how wisdom panel's analysis would have stacked up against embark's in this case?


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## elves (Dec 5, 2018)

The first three are from our walk yesterday, about 3 months after I got him. Fourth one maybe about two months in. He's still pretty lean and lanky but starting to put on noticeable gains in muscle tone! We go for lots of walks and hikes  The last two pics are from right when I got him (about 1 year). He looked so gangly and young! It's hard for me to notice changes since I see Max all the time (AND his weight hasn't changed a single pound from 75 that he started at...) but I feel like you can tell a difference between these sets of pics (tell me if i'm wrong). Still working towards filling out at a healthy rate, I'd rather him stay on the leaner side for his joint health....and the picky boy doesn't eat a whole lot of food...

Anyways here you go!
































Pics from when I first got him:


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## SammyS778 (Oct 31, 2018)

My cousin has some and she is wanting to give me Anatolian Shepherd puppy when I move into my new home sometime in the next month or two . My home has a huge backyard and it is fenced all the way around ...Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this breed just read this article https://fello.pet/en/dog-breeds/аnatolian-shepherd/? thanks in advance for any advice ...


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