KANGALING: Allow it
Kangaling:
(Applies to all Livestock Guardian Dogs)
The desire to sit (or lay or stand!) and to just simply observe. The need to use *that* part of the brain to look out over the mountains (or the park, the field, the garden) and to identify threats.
You will often see the nose frantically twitching and the jowls puffing out during a particularly good Kangaling session. This is a sign that your dog is downloading the environment and assessing the situation - a behaviour in which your Kangal has a genetically disposed need to do.
You should allow your dog the time he needs to complete his Kangaling each day wherever possible (working WITH him rather than against him to form a partnership) This allows your Kangal to feel good! To do their job. To use the part of their brain that they have a strong desire to use. To feel like a Kangal & to be a good Kangal with an important job to do.
KANGALING (totally made-up word but it should be real and we're on a quest to make it real!)
KANGALING post - CLICK HERE
It's a bit like getting a Ferrari and then standing there, scratching your head in disbelief, saying, "Oh, so it's quite fast then, isn't it?"
What did you expect when you bought the Ferrari??? Of course it is going to go fast .... It's a Ferrari!!
And of course your Livestock Guardian Breed is going to want to ‘guard livestock’ but I’ll bet you don’t have any livestock for him to guard?
You chose to share your life with a Livestock Guardian Breed. These dogs have a NEED to observe. To sit. To watch. To scan the horizon. "Who goes there?" To process their environment. "Friend or enemy in the distance??" To download this information.
Livestock Guardians are not the same as Guard Dogs. It's a completely different *NEED* being met when an LGD is "working"
A Kangal has little desire to carry your slippers around (Labrador) or to chase cars (Border Collie) and they have no interest in looking like a teddy bear (Cocker-Poo) however, a Kangal will likely get a lot of pleasure from just being a Kangal & doing normal Kangal behaviours.
Look at his little nose working away here. Taking in all of those scents from up ahead. Processing his environment. Ears alert. Eyes watching.
He most definitely is not "being stubborn" because he refuses to walk but instead he is "being a damn good Kangal & doing what he needs to do"
Don't get yourself a Kangal if you're not prepared for or willing to work with this behaviour should it show itself.
And if your Kangal has behaviour issues (anxious, fearful, barking & lunging at people or dogs etc) then it's possible (not always but a possibility) that he's not being given enough opportunity to "Kangal" and he is living with so much frustration that his behaviour is affected in other ways.
KANGALING creates calm, happy, relaxed, feel-good feelings.
Allow it
What does "Kangaling" look like?
KANGALING Video 3
There may be a reluctance to walk. Suddenly stopping mid-walk for no obvious (to you!) reason.
Looking out ahead, in to the distance. Possibly watching another dog from afar but also may be watching a human, a child, a weird object that isn't usually there (we've had Kangaling moments when a black sack has suddenly appeared outside of a house overnight or when a traffic cone has suddenly appeared in a road etc)
Everything needs to be weighed up: Friend or enemy? What are your intentions? Is my human safe? Is there any danger ahead? Am I safe? Do I need to start working to protect my "livestock"?? Can I relax now? Has the threat gone away?
The situation will be assessed by sight but mostly you will see your Kangal assessing the moment by scent .... Air scenting .... That little nose will be twitching away, taking it all in. Storing all of this information on to his hard drive (his brain!) Downloading the files (this smell and that smell plus this thing over here and what's this new scent blowing in from the East - hold on a moment, hooman, I just need to gather some more information from this scent)
It may take several minutes to complete or it may take even longer. Either way, a happy Kangal will be a Kangal that is allowed the opportunity to complete his work.
Enjoy the moment together.
Look at that most beautiful sight of that nose working away. The jowls puffing up. The calm, relaxed, pleasurable experience that your Kangal is embracing with every ounce of his soul.
It's majestic & beautiful.
It provides the "feel good factor"
It allows your Kangal to actually BE a Kangal.
It needs to happen.
KANGALING.
Allow it.