Help Dogs Save Cats

In 2010 we added four puppies to expand the livestock guarding dog breeding program at the Cheetah Conservation Fund's research station in Namibia. Aleya, the eldest of the four and imported from Germany, is now more legs than dog and promises to become an elegant Kangal when she grows into those legs! Chino--one of the puppies from the artificial insemination litter--is an exceptionally affectionate little Anatolian who greets us with enthusiasm every morning and patiently endures being checked for ticks. Our French duo, Firat and Feliz, have quickly become part of the dog/livestock family. This is especially true for young Firat who never wants to leave his herd and howls when separated from them. These four young dogs represent a bright future for our guarding dog programme, so their excellent progress as working dogs is especially encouraging. This year, we will continue to breed our adult dogs and hope to produce four litters: two from our Anatolian females, Uschi and Penda, and our first Kangal litters from Cazgir and Hediye. After her 2010 litter, Tylee was spayed and is now a staff pet. In her breeding days, she gave us 58 future livestock guarding dogs. If one guard dog can reduce predation on a livestock herd by 80-100%, thus negating the need for a farmer to shoot predators, imagine the impact she made during her "career." Thank you, Tylee.