Shepherds Rest Farm

Breeding New Anatolian Shepherd Import Lines - Direct From Turkey

Name:  Shepherds Rest Farm

Location:  Newberg, Oregon, United States

Friday, September 28, 2007

Summer 2007 Highlights

Summer 2007 at Shepherds Rest Farm was delightful! We were privileged to have visits from Guvener Isik (middle in above photo), a Turkish researcher and author of numerous articles and a book on Anatolian Shepherd Dogs, and Annie Beckhelling (left in above photo), Founder of Cheetah Outreach, a cheetah conservation facility in South Africa.

The website for Cheetah Outreach is: www.cheetah.co.za.

Isik's website is: www.yorukanatolian.com.

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Annie enjoyed meeting Gandolf (forefront in above photo), owned by Isik but residing at Shepherds Rest Farm. Gandolf is the sire of the Shepherds Rest puppy, Morocco, who now resides at Cheetah Outreach and is anticipated to be the foundation sire for their Anatolian breeding program.
Gandolf has a great sense of humor and enjoyed trying to give hugs. He kept us all amused. He was tied here in this picture after running down our long driveway to meet the garbage truck and insist it had no business on our property! Good thing Isik ran track, because he was able to run after Gandolf and bring him back, saving us girls from watching a big dog devour a garbage truck!
The three of us had a great time discussing Anatolians. Annie spent almost all her time outside meeting and getting to know all the Anatolians at Shepherds Rest Farm! Isik kept us fascinated with information about the dogs in Turkey.
Well, okay, it wasn't all dog business! We dined on seafood on the waterfront in downtown Portland. Left to right in the photo: Jim, Chyril (me), Annie, and Isik. What special friends you are to us, Annie and Isik!
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Wildlife Safari Visit

About 3 hours south of Shepherds Rest Farm is Wildlife Safari, where I took Annie and Isik. Thanks to Darlene Alexander, far right in the picture above, I've been kept informed about the pairing of a cheetah cub and Anatolian pup, which happened about a year and a half ago. Darlene connected us with the appropriate staff for a phenomenal tour! See below for a photo story of a play session between the cheetah and Anatolian!
Many thanks to Milt McClung (far left in photo above) for being our driver on the Safari drive part of the tour!
Rebecca McCloskey "Becca" (middle in the photo above) is the Senior Cheetah Ranger who helped facilitate our private tour. She was assisted by Lacey Braun, Cheetah Ranger (on the right) and Brian, Intern (on the left). These three people, along with Darlene, were delightful to exchange information and stories with about cheetahs and Anatolians.
What a profile!
What a beauty!

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Wanna have a stare-down with this cheetah?
Look at the size of this tiger!
Annie must be a tiger whisperer! The cheetahs and the tiger all seem to have a special connection with her.
Sure was a fun visit!
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Anatolian & Cheetah Playing Together

Wildlife Safari is also the home of Sanurra (cheetah) and Ellie (Anatolian Shepherd Dog). This "cheetah/anatolian pair live in adjacent pens with a shared fenceline. They get along great through the fenceline with kisses etc. They miss each other when they are separated. But they play pretty rough. They love to wrestle, but we are very protective of both of them and only allow it for short periods of time always supervised," as Becca (Senior Cheetah Ranger) describes it.

Sanurra was born in November, 2005, at Wildlife Safari as a single birth. When she was 11 days old, her mother rejected her, and the staff began raising her. Ellie was born in September, 2005, and Wildlife Safari acquired her in January 2006 to be a companion to Ellie . . . because Anatolians are "saving wild cheetahs." Wildlife Safari has paired these animals in order to teach people about cheetah conservation and what is happening in Africa [farmers are exterminating cheetah for fear they will kill their livestock, so conservation projects like Cheetah Conservation Fund, DeWildt, and Cheetah Outreach (Annie Beckhelling's program) are placing Anatolian puppies with farmers to protect livestock from predators and deter cheetah from livestock so that farmers won't kill the cheetah].
Please enjoy this photo story of a play session between Ellie and Sanurra. The play progressed in the same order as you see these pictures. Many thanks to Wildlife Safari staff for the special tour, and especially for allowing Annie, Isik, and me to observe this unique interaction!
(Lacey is the one shown below in a picture who is supervising the play inside the containment area.)



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Hello, Neighbor! Nice Anatolians, and WHAT a goat!

Mid-August, I discovered a country neighbor with a mutual interest in Anatolians and goats. These are some of the pups from his summer litter.
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The owner is Dave Lilly, shown above with the sire (standing) and dam of the litter. Sire and dam are each about one year old. Dave is Executive Director of the US Boer Goat Association.
Here is the dam of the litter, getting attention from Isik in his airport-famous "Aussie hat." Even the dog looks like she's interested in it!
Dave and Isik are seen here with Dave's famous 2006 "Elite Ennobled Champion DNR KTM TUCK."
Wish I had Tuck in my herd! NOW THAT'S SOME SERIOUS MUSCLE!
To visit Dave and Laurie Lilly's website, go to http://www.goatpalace.com/.
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