Anatolian Shepherd the transhumance, guarding flocks of sheep from wolves and cheetahs. It is probable that dogs of this type existed 6,000 years ago in what is now Turkey. Anatolian Shepherd Dogs are members of a very old breed, probably descended from powerful hunting dogs from Mesopotamia. This mountain dog breed was developed over time to meet a specific set of circumstances. The most formative were climate (very hot, dry summers and very cold winters), lifestyle (sedentary, semi-nomadic and nomadic) and duties (guarding flocks moving great distances on the Central Anatolian Plateau). In the 1970s, breeders in the West became interested in
Anatolian rug in Anatolia itself. The most important cultural influences came from the Chinese culture, and from Islam. Carpets from the Bergama and Konya areas are considered as most closely related to earlier Anatolian rugs, and their significance in the history of the art is now better understood. The early history of the Turkic peoples in Central Asia is closely related to China. Contacts between Turks and China are documented since the early Han dynasty. In his essay on centralized designs, Thompson relates the central medallion pattern, frequently found in Anatolian rugs to the "lotus pedestal" and "cloud collar (yun chien)" motifs,