Akbash Breed Overview: Size, Temperament, And What Ownership Involves

An adult male Akbash stands 30 to 34 inches at the shoulder and weighs around 120 pounds. The breed was developed in western Turkey to live out with a flock and decide, usually at night and usually alone, whether something approaching the sheep is a threat. A dog selected over centuries to make that call without a handler will not reliably come back when you call it, and will not stop barking because your neighbors are asleep.

You cannot train that out. The practical terms are containment in place of recall, barking as a night-long habit, and two years before any of it settles.

Where the breed comes from

The name is Turkish for “white head.” The Akbash worked the plains and mountains of western Turkey for centuries before Westerners took a systematic interest in it: David and Judy Nelson began fieldwork on Turkish guardian dogs in the 1970s, and the first Akbash arrived in the United States in 1978. The Akbash Dog Association of America formed the following year.

The United Kennel Club recognized the breed on January 1, 1998 and places it in the Guardian Dog Group. The American Kennel Club does not recognize it at all. Under AKC rules, Turkish guardian dogs register as Anatolian Shepherd Dogs. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale holds no Akbash standard either, and in 2018 merged the Anatolian Shepherd and the Kangal into a single breed. Anyone advertising an AKC-registered Akbash is selling a different dog, and it is the first thing to check when you contact breeders.

Size and build

Against the male’s 30 to 34 inches and 120 pounds, females stand 28 to 32 inches and average about 90. The UKC standard asks for weight in proportion to height, and for a dog that is well-muscled and lean.

The standard describes a mix of two types. From the gazehound side come long legs, a deep chest, an arched loin, a tucked-up flank, and genuine speed; from the mastiff side come the height, the weight, the broader head, and the power. An Akbash that decides to leave your property covers ground faster than a dog its size has any business doing.

The coat is double, with coarse guard hairs over a dense undercoat, and comes in two correct lengths: medium, which lies fairly sleek, and long, which is often slightly wavy. Color is white, full stop. Light biscuit or gray shading around the ears is permitted. Any other color, defined spots, black whiskers, black eyelashes, and blue eyes are all disqualifications, so there is no such thing as a rare-colored Akbash.

Temperament

The UKC standard describes the Akbash as calm, quiet, and steady, independent, and able to respond correctly to changing circumstances without human direction. With its own family it is loyal, gentle, and quietly affectionate. With strangers it is aloof and suspicious, and it may react aggressively to strange dogs coming onto its territory.

The standard disqualifies viciousness and marked shyness alike, so a correct Akbash is confident and settled, and its coolness toward visitors is the breed working as designed. Expect an undemanding dog indoors and a watchful one outdoors, and read temperament before deciding whether that suits your household.

What the guarding actually looks like

Research from Texas A&M AgriLife describes livestock guardian dogs working through three escalating mechanisms: territorial exclusion through scent marking, which turns predators away before they approach; disruption through barking and posturing; and physical confrontation only as a last resort. Most of the job is the first two.

The same research puts effective guardianship at 18 to 24 months. Until then you have a large, fast adolescent that needs managing. If you are buying one to protect stock, start with the bonding protocol in working with livestock, because the window for it closes at 16 weeks.

Akbash dogs guard sheep, goats, poultry, alpacas, and emus, and Akbash Dogs International notes they defend against aerial predators as well as ground ones. They do not herd, and calling them a herding breed will confuse anyone you buy from.

Living with one

The exercise requirement is lower than the size suggests. Guardians patrol at a walk, many sleep through the day and come alive at dusk, and no amount of structured exercise substitutes for territory to hold.

Shedding is heavy and continuous with a seasonal blow, and the breed is not hypoallergenic. Grooming is low on trimming and high on brushing.

Health and lifespan

The Akbash Dog Association of America tracks entropion, epilepsy, and demodectic mange through its breed health surveys. The deep chest also puts the breed in the group at risk of gastric dilatation-volvulus, the stomach twist that is a surgical emergency.

No breed-specific prevalence data exists for the Akbash, because the registry is small and the breed does not appear in the large veterinary screening databases, so treat any site quoting a percentage for this breed with suspicion. Ask breeders for hip, elbow, and eye screening on both parents instead. Lifespan is usually given as 10 to 12 years.

In Texas A&M’s work on working guardians, only 52 percent live to age six, and 57 percent of deaths happen after the dog leaves the property. For this breed a good fence does more for lifespan than anything a vet will sell you. Full detail on health.

Who the breed suits

The Akbash suits an owner with rural property, real fencing, experience of large independent dogs, and neighbors who are either distant or forgiving, who wants a dog that holds a place and asks for little else.

First-time owners, apartment dwellers, and anyone on a standard suburban lot should look at a different breed. If you are weighing it against the obvious alternatives, start with Akbash versus Great Pyrenees.