The Strongest Dog of the World (Kurdish Kangal Dog)

[astro]

Whether this dog is THE strongest or not I don't know but this thing is a hoss!

[Soul Brother Number Two]

Awww, poor doggie. Imagine how easy that would be for him if he had a harness on instead of having to pull the thing with his neck. Poor guy. [insert sad-face emoticon here]

Handsome fella, though.

[Sir T-Cups]

I like the comment of

"haha nobody notices the guy in the tractor driving slowly"

I doubt it's true, but funny comment

[Freudian Slit]

But maybe there WAS someone in the tractor. Couldn't there have been?

[Sage Rat]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

But maybe there WAS someone in the tractor. Couldn't there have been?

In the video there was definitely someone in the tractor. You can see him moving pretty clearly. But I suspect he was just there to help steer.

Then again, supposedly the dog pulled the tractor with his teeth. The vid clearly had him pulling it by his neck/chest. So maybe the video is entirely staged even though perhaps the dog had accomplished the feat some time before.

[astro]

Originally Posted by Sage Rat

In the video there was definitely someone in the tractor. You can see him moving pretty clearly. But I suspect he was just there to help steer.

Then again, supposedly the dog pulled the tractor with his teeth. The vid clearly had him pulling it by his neck/chest. So maybe the video is entirely staged even though perhaps the dog had accomplished the feat some time before.

The tractor is unpowered and in neutral, the driver is just steering.

[astro]

Apparently some Russians fight them also. Weird... they seems like big fluffy teddy-bear style family dogs, not killers.

[blackhobyah]

Originally Posted by astro

Apparently some Russians fight them also. Weird... they seems like big fluffy teddy-bear style family dogs, not killers.

Kangals (aka Anatolian Shepherd Dogs) are livestock guardian breeds (LGD), like Maremma, CAOs, Pyrs and others. They are bred to live outside with livestock and protect them against predators. In their homelands those predators included wolves and bears; in Australia they're reduced to dealing with wild dogs; feral dogs and foxes.

Because they need to work away from humans, LGDs are strong-minded, independent; generally dominant and can be both dog and human aggressive. Anatolians are big, determined and willing to make up their own minds. A dog of the right temperament can make a terrific family dog, but they are never going to be Labradors and will need competent, experienced owners.

I own one, Boo, who recently came back to live with me after retiring from a (not very successful) show career. Boo is on the larger end of the scale for Anatolians, weighing about 68 kilos, although I don't know that he could pull a tractor.

He's a lovely dog, quite soft in temperament for an Anatolian, but displaying a lot of the breed's willingness to make up his own mind about what constitutes a threat.

[blackhobyah]

Just wanted to add that the dogs in the link about fighting posted by Astro are not Kangals, they are CAOs (Central Asian Ovcharka) which are usually bigger again than the Kangals, not as leggy and stockier in the body.

Absolutely beautiful dogs; I have a friend who breeds them and I'd love to own one, one day.

[Captain Carrot]

Looks a lot like an English Mastiff. I bet nobody ever pets him. Or at least, so he would have you believe!