Shir Khan.
The Shepherd's dog in Afghanistan is called "Sage Koochee", which means "dog of the nomade". The larger and heavier built dogs
of "Mountain type" is called Djence Sheri, which means "Lion race", while the lighter and swifter dogs of the "Oasen type" and
"steppe type" is
called Djence Palangi (Tiger race). The primary work of the Afghani Shepherd Dog work was, and still is, besides being a
company and guard of the caravan, to protect livestock such as cattle, donkeys and goats. The dogs that were solely used as
guarddogs of the sheep was called "Sage Rama", which simply means "Sheepdog" (not to be confused with the western sheepdogs).
This breed have been used for thousands of years accompanying the caravans of the nomads of Afghanistan, and the history of
these dogs in Afghanistan stretches as far back as the human history in the same area.
Zhura and Ghaleb.
Since Afghanistan is located in the middle of Central Asia, the Sage Koochee would be the dog who truly deserve to be called
the Molosser from Central Asia. The Sage Koochee is a Central Asian Ovtcharka, by some regarded as a sub variant
of the Central Asian Ovtcharka. But to "toss" all the different Central Asiatic Molossers into one pond labeled
Sredneasiatskaia Ovtcharka is like if all the different Scandinavian spitz breeds (a total of 10 different breeds) would be
regarded as only one breed, called Scandinavian Spitz, but still did show their own breed characteristics.
Many of the sub variants of the Central Asian Molossers are vanishing since the different types are now being imported and
exported between the different countries, and interbred, using only the standard for the Sredneasiatskaia Ovtcharka as a
guideline.
The difference between the Sage Koochee and the "Russian" Central Asian Ovtcharka is that the Afghani version of the
breed have been kept more pure because of its location and lack of importation of other types from other parts of central
Asia. The Russians have imported all the different types of CAO's from all over Asia and interbred them, which makes the
Sredneasiatskaia Ovtcharka more unstable in type.
The shepherd's dogs from Afghanistan are regarded as being similar as the ones from eastern Turkmenistan and eastern Iran,
which borders with Afghanistan. They should therby differ from the other CAO's from central Turkmenistan and the other areas.
Lagar, the uncle of Shir Khan & Zuhra.
Bred and shown by Rasaq Qadirie.
The Sage Koochee is not as common as before the Russian invasion. The camel caravans are no longer a favored way to travel,
and thereby their companion dogs are no longer needed. The number of nomads that is keeping livestock is declining and the
dogs that for thousands of years have guarded the animals no longer have a work to do. The Russian occupation of
Afghanistan, and the following war, also set its mark on the Sage Koochee. While the war was going on the Russians often
shot the guarddogs on sight, or sometimes they did bring some of the dogs back to Russia, where they were used in the breeding
of the modern CAO lines.
There still are Sage Koochee's used for their traditional work, and guarddogs living with nomads in remote areas.
Shir Khan, Zuhra's brother.
The Sage Koochee's often looks square because of its perfect backlines, but the most common is a rectangular body.
Compared to a lot of Russian bred CAO's the Sage Koochee usually have perfect angulation. Sometimes you can find
Koochee dogs with a more "mastiffy" apperance than many of the working Koochee dogs, because of selected breeding
The height of the males are usally between 70-86 cm. (27,5-33,7 in) at the shoulder, the female always smaller.
The Sage Koochee male weights 60-75 kg. (132-165 lbs), with the heaviest specimens found in the Mountain type (Djence Sheri).
Normally the ears of the Sage Koochee are cutted, and the tail cropped. Often only 1/3 of the tail is remowed.
Today pure Koochee Dogs can be found in Germany and Canada, in addition of course to its homeland Afghanistan.
Sage Koochee's in Afghanistan, resembling Kangal Dogs of Turkey.
Additional info by Rasaq Qadirie:
These dogs (above) are Koochee dogs and not Kangal dogs of Turkey. They suggest strongly that Kangal dogs originated in
Central Asia. There are two reasons I suggest this. One, the Kangal colouring (fawn with a black mask) as we know it in the
west, is a very dominant colouring that is found in many dog breeds. I have seen it in Central Asian dogs (such as those
in these pictures). Two, I have often seen puppies, from purebred Kangal parents (with standard coloring),
who had white spots on the nose or neck for example. Doesn’t this suggest the breed may come from Central Asia??
Are we to think that Kangal dogs fell from the sky into Anatolia? Where were they before? What does history tell us?
Don’t the Bakhtiary nomad tribe from western Iran also have very similar dogs to the Kangal dog in Sivas? What makes
them different from each other?
Let us say we brought a Koochee dog like those in the pictures without a cropped tail to a dog show in Europe. Do you
think that anybody would be able to tell that this dog was not a Kangal dog? Similarly, would anyone distinguish
between a white dog from Central Asia and an Akbash dog from Turkey? Clearly I am not saying that Kangal dogs are
Koochee dogs and I am not trying to pick a fight with anyone with my points. I am simply urging people to think a
bit about the possibilities of origin, nothing else.
“Kars Dogs”
Next, I question what many people refer to a “Kars dog”. What is meant by this? In Kars there exists many types of dogs
similar to Caucasian Shepherd, Central asian Shepherd, Kangal, Armenian type of dogs, as well as crossbreeds of the above.
I would not be able to describe a typical “Kars dog”.
The Use of the Word Alabai
Today many modern CAO breeders use the word "Alabai" on their websites and
in their kennel names.
I recently asked a modern German breeder, who imported dogs from
Novosibirsk and elsewhere, what the word 'Alabai' meant to him and his
answer was: big white dogs from Turkmenistan.
Some modern CAO breeders do not even know where these countries are on a
map, nor do their dogs even come from Turkmenistan, but they claim they
have ALABAIS, ALABAIS, etc. Maybe they think it sounds good. I don't know.
If we are to call a type of turkman dog an "Alabai" and these are assumed
by many to be the best, than what should the other typefull CAO's from
Central Asian countries be called (for example, the dogs from Pamir)?
In 2002 while I was in north Afghanistan (where Turkman, Uzbek and Tadjek
people live), I asked people about the word "Alabai" and they answered this
- a mixed color dog, like a white dog with brown, black or ochre spots, or
brown with white spot, etc. My point is that the word "Alabai" is not the
name of a CAO-race. In the Turkman language "Alabai" is an adjective used
by Turkmans to describe their livestock guardian dogs.
In Tadjek Afghani (Dari language)this color is called "Ablaq", or "spotty
dog" which to them indicates that the dog would have many genes. They also
said that the sense of the word in our language is more like a mix of
"wild, strong, loyal, independant, stubborn, friend. I was glad to hear
this as it makes total sense to me in as much as I know these dogs who have
all of these characteristics and more.
So Ablaq or Alabai and many other such tribal words refer to those qualities.
What has led to the use of the word "Alabai" to label this breed? And why
haven't other tribal words been used by modern CAO breeders in the west to
describe this type of dog?
The other problem is that some of today's CAO breeders do not know that
Turkoman and Tadjek tribes moved for alot of reasons here and there.
Therefore one can find the type of dog which many western breeders seem to
call "Alabai" in other areas besides Turkmenistan. For example, the Uigor
Turkoman tribe live with their dogs in the area of China bordering on
Pamir. Also, the Tadjek Aimaq tribe live in Tadjikistan and Afghanistan
with their dogs.
I hope this helps you to think a bit about these words (names).
A typical Sage Koochee of great structure.
The brother of Khal, which can be found at the pictures page.
Khal is the father of Rasaq Qadirie's Zuhra.
Breeding
Today some people breed very very heavy Central Asian Shepherd dogs. I can’t imagine them moving half as fast as working
dogs in their native countries. Sometimes breeders argue that their dogs don’t need to be so agile in western countries.
If that’s what they want then fine, but they should not then claim that these dogs represent the “original type” of dog
that would be found in those countries. I do think however that it is possible to breed heavy dogs that do not lose their
agility if you choose the parents wisely.
If one breeds even an excellent line-bred dog, whose genetic background is known, with a dog deficient in quality then it
is sure to damage the blood line. My point is that you can quickly damage a good breed that took thousands of years to
build. Once it is gone it cannot be rebuilt again. My desire is to protect those dogs which have never seen a vaccination
or vet, but which still live for 14-21 years.
Some important considerations when breeding:
-Choosing a good pair (both male AND female are important).
-Aiming to maintain the integrity of the breed when considering characteristics like height, weight, head size, etc.
-Knowing the character of the parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents.
-Choosing parents with good healthy angulation.
-Understanding the history and heritage of the breed.
Finally, I do not presume to have the last word about this breed. I still continue to learn about old breeds and the cultures
they come from. I have traveled all over for many years, often in very difficult conditions, accummulating information and
documents about many kinds of livestock dogs simply because I love them. It is incredible to me that, even in the face
of so much difficulty, people in Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries have managed to develop and keep an
incredibly strong dog heritage and culture. It would be a shame to see the dogs that accompanied and guarded the
caravans that travelled the Silk Road all disappear.
I trust that my pictures talk for themselves about the nomad culture in Afghanistan and their dogs.
Rasaq Qadirie
A young Ghaleb and sheep.
For more about the Sage Koochee, visit Koocheedog.com
