Tobet

The Tobet (Russian: Казахский тобет; Kazakh: Қазақ Төбеті) is an ancient breed of livestock guardian dog from Kazakhstan.[1]

Tobet
Other names	Казахский тобет (Russian) Қазақ Төбеті (Kazakh)
Common nicknames	Kazakh Mountain Dog Kazakh Mastiff
Origin	Kazakhstan
Foundation stock	Sarabi Mastiff
Traits Weight 40-79 kg Height 60-78 cm
Dog (domestic dog)

The breed is also known as Kazakhstan mountain dog. It is a Central Asian Shepherd Dog and a Livestock guardian dog. Tobets are both physically and mentally strong. They protect their owners by barking and attack intruders. Kazakhstan mountain dogs can also guard territory. They are intelligent and strong, but because of their giant size they need to be trained in the right way. Tobets have come a long way since early times, surviving the Soviet Union and Kazakhstan's declaration of independence, but there are only a few Tobets left.

Description

Physical characteristics

Tobets have a well-built and muscular body. Fur covers their whole body except for their paws. Their height ranges from 60-78cm and weight from 40-79kg. They squint and have small eyes. Their necks are short; their tails are whitish and always raised. They live from 12-15 years. Tobets have keen senses of smell and hearing. As guard dogs, Tobets bark loudly to alerts their owners and to scare trespassers. Because of their weight, they are strong enough to fight predators such as wolves. After barking, they prefer to attack rather than stay back. [2]

Tobet

Temperament

Tobets fight to defend their owner only when there is a real threat. They also protect its territory. Tobets protect the residence of Kazakh. They can sense the presence of friends and enemies with their intelligence. For example, when they sense the presence of the wolves they would bark to give the signal to the owners and also to prevent the chance of losing their sheep. Tobets are guarding dogs that work in extreme weather and land. Tobet transformed into a fast fearless powerful defender when someone or something is attacking their owner or their priority like their territory. [3]

Training

Tobets are a strong and intelligent breed of dog. They need an owner that could handle them and love them. The most important is to train them. The first step when instruct is to establish leadership and have a good relationship with them. When Tobets see the owner as a leader, it would be easier to train them base on the training method. And with a big dog like that, a harsh method can often backfire. [4]

History

Names

Tobet Kazatch was the founder of Tobets. He named the dog as "Tobet" after his name. Because he found the dog on Kazakhstan mountain and he named it "Kazakhstan Mountain Dog". At the end of the past century, breeders classified Tobets as Central Asian Ovcharkas. They are also the livestock guarding dogs. Russia gave them a nickname "Volkodav" means "wolf crusher".[5]

Life of Tobets in early century

Tobets had been working as the livestock protector and the loyal companion since the ancient time. In between 15000 and 12000 years ago, human and wolves and bears shared the land of Eurasia. The carnivores were both a threat to human lives and the causes of carrion that early human could scavenge. Their relationships took a dramatic turn and led to the birth of dogs. Human used the dogs as the guards and the hunting partners.[6]

In the 13th century, the blood of dogs from Mongolia influenced the native people to set up a type of Kazakh Wolfdog that still reminded the same for hundreds of years. In the 1930s, Kazakhstan experienced a rise of non-indigenous population and foreign customs, changing the ethnic and cultural identity, as well as many Kazakh dogs. The Soviets brought Tobets to guard there military base and government building. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and Kazakhstan's declaration of independence in 1991, there were only around forty Tobets left. By the 21st century, the herder almost managed to double the number of the Tobets, but because of inbreeding aimed of per serving the breed purity, the number of Tobets drop again.[7]

Parenting and food

Newborn Tobets stay with their mothers and drink her milk and other food from the owners like bones. However, the mothers sometimes do not feed their puppies and sometimes the puppies die of hunger. Tobets will often eat corpses of grazing cattle out of hunger.

References

1. "Kazakhstan Mountain Dog". molosserdogs.com. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
2. Kamalov, Rustam. "Tobet - history". www.tobet.kz.
3. "Kazakh breeds of dog to be | Kazakhstan Blog". Indy Guide. 25 April 2018.
4. "Central Asian Shepherd Dog Breed Information and Pictures - PetGuide". PetGuide. 25 June 2014.
5. Kamalov, Rustam. "4000 years together". www.tobet.kz.
6. John D. C., Linnell; Nicolas, Lescureux (March 2015). Livestock guarding dogs. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim. 76 pp.: Linnell, J.D. C. & Lescureux, N. p. 6.CS1 maint: location (link)
7. "Central Asian Shepherd Dog". Wikipedia. 14 November 2018.