ANZILI

Anzili was born in December, 2019, on a farm in Tennessee, to AKC registered purebred parents.  She is a red brindle with a black mask, and weighs around 105 pounds on average.  Her name comes from an ancient Anatolian deity, a goddess of weather and childbirth, worshiped by the Hittites. 

Her temperament won us over to this breed.  She is gentle, patient and generally bombproof.  She has traveled to large events with us and tolerated all sorts of strange environments with a calm confidence that won her friends everywhere.  She has accepted children snuggling her, kids and lambs romping on top of her, and humans of all shapes and sizes wearing funny costumes around her.

Anzili is our best poultry guardian dog, with a fantastic alertness to hazards overhead.  She ignores birds that cannot threaten her avian charges, such as ravens and woodpeckers, but she barks ferociously at hawks, falcons and buzzards that might try to harm her poultry friends.

Anzili whelped her first litter in January, 2025 and immediately showed what a great mother she is.  She had no trouble nursing ELEVEN puppies, the smallest of which weighed a full pound at birth.  She has been tolerant and careful of her pups, allowing them to continue nursing well into their second month (long after all the pups learned to eat kibble and solid treats).  There were no issues of her being territorial or defensive about visitors handling her puppies, even in her whelping box in their earliest days; she is tremendously trusting of humans, even complete strangers.

When we saw how sweet and gentle Anzili is with visitors, we knew we wanted to breed her, to help the Anatolian breed prosper in the US.  Thus began the search for a mate with a similar working ability who would likewise be gentle and loving toward humans.

TARU

Taru, registered with the AKC as Sidehill Roots Taru, was born in June, 2023 on a homestead in Indiana.  He is a silver brindle with "residual white" markings, including one white sock.  His handsome looks earn him a lot of comments, as well as questions such as, "Is that a wolf?" (no, wolves don't come in brindle, and they don't have floppy ears) and, "Is he wearing a cast on his leg?" (nope, that's his natural fur color).  His "rough coat" is much silkier than Anzili's fur, and it sheds dirt really quickly--a blessing on a working farm!

The name Taru comes from another ancient Anatolian deity--the Hattian weather god, often depicted as a bull.  From this Indo-European origin comes the name of the Bull, Taurus, of Greek mythology.

Taru has many of the typical Anatolian qualities that make them such impressive livestock guardian dogs.  He is highly intelligent and loves finding a high point from which to survey the surroundings, observing that all is well (and ready to charge in and defend his home, if needed).  He refrains from barking randomly, and only barks in response to sudden changes in the environment that might prove threatening to his family.  He is at home with the sheep and goats, calm with the poultry and rabbits (he goes up to sniff at each to check that they're okay, then moves on), and he respects the electric net fences we use for rotational grazing.

Like many Anatolians, Taru is not particularly food motivated; he eats if he is hungry, but generally isn't too excited over treats and cannot be bribed.  For a working dog of this caliber, his job comes first; treats are a nice reward for the job well done, but they cannot distract him from the tasks he considers more important.  He loves to learn, but the best reward for him is to know that he helped.