It is only recently that the West has learned of the beauty and utility of the native dog breeds of Turkey. The purpose of this site is to describe the native dog breeds of Turkey and to provide a forum to discuss these marvelous dogs and their achievements in Turkey and the West. Turkey, or as it was known in ancient times, Asia Minor.
Turkey is a land bridge of communication between Europe in the West and Asia in the East.
This complex relationship among humans and animals and the geography of the land itself produced the diversity of native dogs which we see in Turkey today. It is necessary, therefore, to have some understanding of the geography of Turkey to appreciate one of the major influences in the development of the modern Turkish dog. Turkey is ancient Asia Minor. Turkish Asia Minor extends over 1500 kilometers or 930 miles east to west and 600 kilometers or 370 miles north to south. It has a total coastline of 8000 kilometers or 5000 miles.