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More updates will be added shortly July 15, 08.
Working Kangal Dogs
USA
Mari
Krebs –
Michigan
Mari
is originally from Germany
. She and her family settled in rural
Michigan
on a 15 acre farm to pursue their family’s hobby of raising and showing
poultry.
Some of the birds that Mari has were imported from
Germany
and are very expensive. She has
Steinbacher geese from
Germany
in both blue and gray colors. She
feels that her “Steineies” are the most intelligent geese she has ever seen.
She also breeds Embden geese and says they are the exact opposite of the
Steinbachers. She has various breeds
of laying chickens as well.
Mari is the most knowledgeable person I have ever met regarding geese and
chickens. She does not mind sharing
her knowledge and is a very fascinating woman.
She brings to this country a wealth of knowledge that she learned over
the years in
Germany
.
When Mari came to our farm for a tour, her interest was to obtain a livestock
guardian dog that would protect her valuable poultry from predators.
She also wanted protection for her children and family as well.
She had heard from many people that they loose their birds to various
predators in the area.
Michigan
has many predators that attack, kill, and eat poultry during the critical
winter predation period. Some of the
predators include: mink, weasels,
raccoons, possums, rats, fox, cougars, coyotes, owls, hawks, feral and domestic
dogs.
Mari began looking for a Livestock Guardian dog so that she could have peace of
mind about the safety of her birds. So,
the search began.
She found us years back when we first had Anatolians.
When the time came for her to purchase a livestock dog, we had converted
over to Kangals. We discussed the
reasons for our change to breeding Kangals and Marie decided she wanted to
purchase one to protect her flocks.
Mari has been very interested in preservation methods.
She is also interested in working with various sorts of animals that are
endangered. She is an active member
of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
The solution to their predator issues is Loki.
He is from Doga Farms Lokum and Kahraman of Misty Acres.
He is now 17 months of age and has grown into a very loving but very
protective dog of 135 lbs.
Mari states that Loki can see potential predators up to ˝ mile away.
When he is in the field he often alerts her to potential dangers such as
roaming dogs, coyotes, or cats.
This past winter the coyotes were coming so close to her farm that they were
becoming a pest at night. The family
has seen coyote tracks that circle their land.
But, Loki’s barks have kept them out.
Written by: Char Luthy 4/19/08
