History of Watchful Eyes

In 1994, our family moved to Loganville, purchasing a little over 4 acres of land. Initially we purchased two goats to help keep some of the maintenance down, but it was all they could do to keep up. Over the years, we purchased more goats and of course "had" more goats and eventually we ended up with 10-12 maintaining our small fenced in area.

We knew we had about 2 acres of land behind our home but over the years, the prior owner had let it go and the underbrush was so thick and tall, we really had no idea what was back there. One Labor Day weekend, we rented a bobcat and began clearing a path to fence in our property. Soon after, we turned our goats out to begin clearing the property. Within about 6 months, we were able to walk around in an area that was once so thick no human dared to enter.

Over the years, we had lost a goat or two to the neighbor's dogs and we realized that with them foraging further away from home, they needed more protection. While on a plane to Pennsylvania in 2000, we were reading the most recent version of Reader's Digest which contained an article about Dogs with Jobs. It was here we learned of the Anatolian Shepherd and its ability to protect livestock. Once arriving back home, we began researching the Anatolian Shepherd.

2001, we purchased our first Anatolian. She didn't realize it at the time, but she would have several jobs as she grew older. Her first job was to protect the goats from predators and safeguard them from danger. Her second job was to be a "show dog" in the ring for our Junior Handler who had never handled a dog in the ring before; fortunately they would learn this job together. Her third job was to be a family pet and to say she was spoiled would be an understatement.

Kristal did very well with all of her jobs, a lot to ask from a dog, not even a year old when she made her first appearance in the ring. We knew, though, that protecting the livestock with it spread out over a couple of acres was a tough job; she couldn't be everywhere all of the time. We began researching other breeders to find another Anatolian and in May of 2002, we brought home our second, Ana.

Ana joined Kristal and learned a lot from her. Kristal taught her when the time to play was (they were both puppies, 14 months apart) and when was the time to work. Today, they are still best buddies. In 2006, Ana was bred and brought 8 puppies into the world which were raised with livestock from the time they were 3 weeks old. They were totally comfortable with these much bigger friends and respected them as well. Several of these puppies went on to homes to protect Alpacas, cows and exotic birds while others became a companion dog or show dog/livestock guardian dog (LGD)/companion dog. This breeding was an AI breeding so that we could help introduce new bloodlines into our area. In the end, we kept both a male and female out of this litter.

In 2003 we brought home our first male, Wes. He was different than the two we had and we wrote this off based on the fact that he is a male. He grew faster, bigger and taller, and seemed to eat all the time, anytime there was food around. He also seemed more energetic than our other two, he was so different from them, yet he was still an Anatolian. While the others could be brought in the house and expected to act a certain way, he was like a "bull in a china shop", thinking he was a lap dog. If you sat down on the sofa, he thought he would join you and sit in your lap. After 3 years, he has calmed down a lot, but he's still much different than the others. In 2007, we decided to breed Ana again, this time to Wes. He handled it perfectly, almost as if he had read the textbook on how to do "his job". We will know in September, how successful he was.

So as you can see, we currently own 5 Anatolians, 3 females and 2 males. No, we have never had all 5 of them together at the same time as we fear that "egos" would get in the way, however, we have had 3 of them together with really no issues. They all respect each other as friends and seem to know where the boundaries are. It will be interesting come September when little Anatolians are wandering around yet again. The last time there were 8 and Kristal ended up teaching a few of them some of life's lessons. We're sure she will do the same this time; never hurting the puppies but giving them strong words of wisdom.

So where did Watchful Eyes Anatolians come from? Ana was from the Night Watch's Kennel here in Georgia. We wanted to maintain some connection with that Kennel name and help promote the job that an Anatolian performs. Since much of the Anatolian's time is spent "watching out" for trouble, it seemed to be a natural direction to go in and "Watchful Eyes Anatolians" was borne.

Since 2001, we haven't lost livestock to any of the neighborhood dogs. Anatolians take their jobs seriously! We also know when the UPS man pulls up in the driveway or if someone else does that they are unfamiliar with. Through their barking and size, they are intimidating to strangers and announce their presence to us.

So as you can see, Watchful Eyes Anatolians dates back to 2001 with all of our dogs raised with livestock. Our upcoming litter will be no different as they will be placed with livestock after about 3 weeks. We believe that socialization is important, both with people and livestock, in order to have a well rounded Anatolian. If you are in the area and interested in learning more about the Anatolian Shepherd, we encourage you to set up a time to come see them and learn more about this magnificent dog and its abilities.