Dr. Orhan Yilmaz, from his book Turkish Kangal (Karabash) Shepherd Dog

http://www.turkkarabas.com/english/

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.

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