When it comes to China's excellent dog breeds, the tibetan mastiff that everyone thinks of the most is probably the Tibetan mastiff. But in fact, in the northwestern border of our country, there are also fearsome fierce dogs. They are the symbol of the Tian shan.
The Kazakh Shepherd (also known as the Tianshan Shepherd Mastiff), which is more commonly known as the "Earth Dog" by locals, is a tall, brave sheepdog fed by farmers and herdsmen in Xinjiang. The Kazakh Shepherd is also one of the few well-preserved dog breeds to date.
For Kazakhs, Kazakh shepherds are a precious treasure left over from their ancestors and are known as "one of the seven great treasures". Among the seven great wealth of the Ha people, dogs are the only animals, because they firmly believe that "people do not understand human nature, and dogs know human nature."
When a Kazakh shepherd dog reaches adulthood, it has a strong physique, a large head, a wide mouth and sharp teeth, a heavy bark, thick body hair, cold tolerance, fierce temperament, good at attacking, and a strong sense of territorial protection, but it is hard-working, loyal, and extremely understanding to its owner. In the Altay pastoral area, this dog often accompanies the shepherd, carefully guards the cattle and sheep, copes with the siege of the wolves, and is the right-hand man of the herdsman.
Kazakh Shepherds have a breeding history of thousands of years, and their earliest roots are the Tianshan Wild Wolf. The wild nature is too big to be used as a pet. Only local herders can raise them, especially some nomadic people in the mountains, who have very high requirements for dogs, deliberately select tall, fierce dogs to mate, and even use male wolves to mate with female dogs.
Adult Kazakh shepherds can weigh more than 70 kg, the height is generally around 60cm to 70cm, larger than the Tibetan mastiff, wild and fighting nature is also above the Tibetan mastiff, the pure blood of the Kazakh shepherd dog is mainly black and yellow brown, the variegated dog breed is almost rare, the Kazakh shepherd dog at a higher altitude, with black hair as the main body, the chest hair is reddish brown, and the plain area is dominated by pale yellow. The overall coat color is mainly black and white, black, yellow, white, gray, brown and so on.
In recent years, due to the traditional breeding methods, the awareness of pedigree protection, the imbalance in the proportion of male and female dogs, the low survival rate of puppies and other factors, the number of Kazakh shepherd dogs has decreased sharply, and it is difficult to see this tall, fierce, sharp and loyal "earth dog" in rural areas, but it can still be seen in remote pastoral areas. Like a knifeman living in the Tianshan Mountains, he lives a life without controversy. I hope that we can preserve its ancient bloodline as much as possible and retain the foundation of the famous Chinese dog.