It was last winter in an animal husbandry village in Wenquan County, Xinjiang. In the winter, the cattle and sheep were all returned to the pen, and the sheepdogs returned to the village. So walking into the village, there were dogs barking everywhere.
However, I was fortunate enough to meet the sheep who were finally returned to the pen. At that time, we were on the road behind the village, when we suddenly heard a dog barking in the distance, and when we turned our heads, a black and white sheepdog came with a flock of sheep. And I instantly understood what the dog meant: we're going to come over and get into trouble.
Neighbors have Kazakh Shepherds, but as pets
I told my peers, and they let go. The sheep led the dog neatly past us, turned their heads and looked at us a few times, and the man, the sheep and the dog were all right. However, one of the girls in my company suddenly had a childlike heart and thought that the dog was too sensible, so she wanted to run to pick up a few. The dog stopped and looked at her warily, and she did not dare to move forward.
We laughed. The girl walked back with a smile on her face, her heart still melted, and said that she must keep a dog like this in the future. Listening to the conversation, I knew that she did not know what breed of dog this was, so I introduced: this is a Kazakh Shepherd, the most traditionally raised dog in the Kazakh people. When there is no shepherd, the personality is docile and even a little cute, always like to rub on people, and even rest their heads on your thighs, hoping to go to bed and sleep with you, like people's girlfriends. When shepherding sheep, do your duty and do not slacken off for a moment. Not only are sheep not allowed to run around, but when sheep encounter danger, such as wolves coming, they will fight with wolves.
"Wolves? So cute dog, how to fight with wolves? ”
In fact, if this soft girl had been a little more careful, she would have been able to discover this long ago. Because we've already taken this village for the most part.
Kazakh Shepherds have accompanied Kazakhs for hundreds of years and, for a long time, were almost their only sheepdogs. I don't know when it began, it should be the Sanyuzi era, the Central Asian Shepherd Dog came into their lives. It was a tall and mighty dog. The height can reach one meter, the weight can reach two hundred pounds, the mouth is thick, the voice is loud and wild, making people afraid to look forward to it, listen to it and be afraid. The Central Asian Shepherd, also known as the Central Asian Wolfhound, can deal with two or three wolves in one dog. Therefore, using this kind of dog to herd sheep generally does not let the sheep suffer. But the shortcomings of the Central Asian Shepherd are also prominent: low IQ, attack raw people, eat more, and lack of meat to stretch.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Chahar and Erut moved west, and the Kazakhs gradually moved east, forming the intersection of the two major ethnic groups. The Mongolian mastiff, commonly used by the Mongols, was gradually introduced to the Kazakh people. This is also a mighty dog, but similar to the shortcomings of the Central Asian Shepherd, the combat effectiveness is not as good as the Central Asian Shepherd, so not only the Mongolian Mastiff is not popular among the Kazakhs, but the Kazakh Shepherd is gradually favored by the Mongols.
I don't know the exact date, but the analysis should be that after the founding of the Country, with the increase of international exchanges, foreign shepherds have gradually entered the Kazakh family. One of the most spiritual aspects of sheep herding is the British Border Shepherd, which directs the sheep with its eyes, and under the threat of the sheep, the sheep are very obedient. But border collies are only suitable for shepherding sheep in safe places where there are no natural enemies of sheep, because with their small bodies of thirty or forty pounds, they can't even beat sheep, let alone wolves and other beasts of prey.
But another kind of dog introduced abroad was quickly welcomed by herders, that is, the German Shepherd, commonly known as wolf dogs, black back, this kind of dog weighs seventy or eighty pounds, running ability is extremely strong, can run at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour for half a day without getting tired. The attack ability is also strong, and the wolf fights and bites the neck. The wolf could not run, but it was far away from the sheep, and the dog went back to protect the sheep. Such a powerful dog, in front of people to sell cute and petite behavior, the degree of socialization is very high, or the most protective of the dogs mentioned in this article. When you go out with such a dog, the gangsters and beasts are not afraid.
A few years ago, I took a car to northern Xinjiang and saw a German shepherd with dozens of sheep not far from the road, followed by an old lady. The old lady had trouble with her legs and feet and walked very slowly. The shepherd saw that the old lady was far away, so he let the sheep huddle together and stopped to wait for her. She arrived, and the sheep and the dog walked for another while, and waited.
Probably because the price of German Shepherd dogs is high, a good Shepherd dog can withstand five sheep, and then it seems that it needs manual training to herd sheep, unlike other dogs, which are almost born to herd sheep, so the popularity of German Shepherds among Kazakh herders is not high. They keep the most, or the traditional Kazakh Shepherd. Foreign dogs always have such shortcomings, some diet is very picky, some have a bad stomach, and some are afraid of cold. The native Kazakh shepherd, commonly known as the Xinjiang native dog, is very adaptable, and a piece of bread can solve the problem of eating. Of course, in fact, the Kazakhs love dogs, and the mixed meat and sheep bones are given to the dogs.
Once upon a time, wolves were the masters of the grasslands of Xinjiang, flocking to the grasslands. Chahar moved west, grazing on the border while guarding the border, and wolves became their biggest headache. Chahar also organized the army to fight wolves, and by the way trained the ability of riding and shooting and army coordination, and included wolf fighting in military training subjects. As the saying goes, man will triumph over heaven, and although this is not necessarily true, man is certain to overcome the wolf. Gradually, the wolf fled into the mountains, and if it were not for the special year, it would no longer be afflicted. The wolves retreated, and the territory was occupied by cattle and sheep, and so on.
When China paid attention to environmental protection after liberation, wolves became rare animals and are now protected animals at the national level. Man cannot fight wolves, and the wolf's courage gradually increases, gradually invading the territory of cattle and sheep.
I don't know if wildlife protection laws stipulate that sheepdogs can't attack wolves. But even if it is prescribed, it does not play any role for dogs, because protecting the flock and fighting the natural enemies of sheep is the innate consciousness of the sheepdog. Therefore, in the grasslands far away from people in Onsen County, you can sometimes hear the dense barking of dogs and wolves, that is, dogs protecting sheep.
Wolves are always in droves. Although the Kazakh Shepherd dog has the ability and courage to fight with wolves, it will often fall into the situation of two fists and four hands. As a result, many shepherd dogs have died in the wilderness, and the surviving dogs that have had experience in wolf fighting are almost all mutilated: some lack tails, some lack ears, and some have only three legs.
Almost all of the sheepdogs we see in this village are mutilated, and that's why. Among them, the Kazakh shepherd dog is the most, and the others also have Central Asian shepherds, Mongolian mastiffs, etc., only one black back, and unscathed, probably because the wolf can't run it. The Kazakh shepherd who beckoned us to give way was only about a year old and had not yet experienced a hard battle, just like the age when people still fantasized about a better life in the future.
After listening to me, the group was silent for half a minute, after which one person praised me for my erudition, and then it was quiet again. Walking into the village's Mujiale, the little girl suddenly sighed: I thought I was tired, compared with these shepherds, their lives are cruel.
In fact, the lives of most animals are cruel, but we rarely have the opportunity to pay attention.
I made some videos of sheepdogs in the village, which I later deleted.