Maremma Sheepdog

The Maremma Sheepdog, in full the Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog, is an Italian livestock guardian dog. It belongs to central Italy, above all the Maremma of Tuscany and Lazio and the region of Abruzzo, where shepherds have used it for centuries to guard sheep from wolves. It may share an ancestor with other white guardians of similar looks and work, such as the Pyrenean Mountain Dog, the Kuvasz, the Polish Tatra Sheepdog and the Šarplaninac.

History

White flock guardians are described by Roman writers including Columella, Varro and Palladius, and dogs of this kind appear in sculpture and painting from Roman times onward, among them fourteenth-century frescoes in Amatrice and Florence.

The two halves of the name come from the two ends of the shepherds’ year. Flocks spent the winter on low ground, such as the Maremma marshes, and the summer on mountain pastures in Abruzzo, and the dogs went with them. In Abruzzo, where sheep farming is still vital and the wolf is a protected predator, the dogs remain in wide use.

Four dogs were registered in Italy in 1898, and then none for many years. The first standard was written in 1924 by Luigi Groppi and Giuseppe Solaro. Until 1958 the Pastore Maremmano and the Pastore Abruzzese were treated as separate breeds, each with its own society from the early 1950s. On January 1, 1958 the Italian kennel club, the ENCI, merged them, explaining that the two types had fused naturally as flocks and dogs moved between the regions.

The dogs have also been used to guard animals in Australia, Israel, New Zealand and the United States.

Appearance

This is a solid, muscular dog with a large head. Males stand 65–73 cm (26–29 in) at the shoulder and weigh 35–45 kg (75–100 lb); females stand 60–68 cm (24–27 in) and weigh 30–40 kg (65–90 lb). Some dogs are considerably bigger.

The coat is long, thick and rough to the touch, and forms a heavy collar around the neck. It should be solid white, though slight yellowing is tolerated. The nose, lips and eye rims are black.

Temperament

The notes describe the dog at work. Puppies meant for flock duty are put among the sheep before they are 40 days old so that they bond with them, and contact with people is kept to a minimum. A pup learns by copying the older dogs in the flock.

The dogs work in groups, and three or four are enough to keep off wolves and stray dogs. They mostly deter, and real fights are fairly rare, though working dogs may wear a spiked iron collar called a roccale to protect the neck. The same bond can be formed with cattle. Since 2006 a few Maremmas have guarded little penguins from foxes on Middle Island in Victoria, Australia, and in Patagonia they protect sheep from pumas.

Care and health

The median age at death has been reported as 7.5 years, against a median of 10 years for all dogs in Italy.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.