Kangal dog, Akin village, Ankara, Turkey

It has been estimated that Turkey has over 36 million sheep, and most of them are reared on these vast open plains. The flocks range over huge areas browsing on the scrubby grass and at nightfall, if the grazing is not too far distant from the shepherd’s village, they are brought back to the area around the settlements, where they are less likely to attack by predators. If they are further away, then they have to be guarded overnight on the mountainside. In many regions shepherds employ the ancient system of transhumance, whereby whole flocks, and often most of the population of the village to which theybelong, migrate to summer pastures (yaylalar) and back with the changing seasons. Life is hard for the Turkish shepherd, and his livelihood depends to a great extent on one valuable asset – his dog.