The Italian Shepherd Maremma is one of the oldest breeds on Earth. Only enthusiastic dog breeders know how important a purebred of an animal is, what exactly these or those changes in the gene pool affect, how much effort and resources it sometimes takes from breeders to maintain all the necessary qualities. It is curious that such troubles almost bypassed the snow-white shepherd from Italy.
History of occurrence
For more than 2000 years, if not longer, a large, proud and incredibly beautiful dog of the Maremma breed lives and lives in almost unchanged form. A number of researchers have reason to believe that animals descended from the heights of Tibet with the ancient Aryans and migrated to Italian lands along with nomadic peoples grazing cattle. Flocks of sheep and other cattle, requiring protection from the encroachments of humans and wild animals, received these shepherd dogs as the best protectors.
Archetypally similar to such breeds as the Pyrenean mountain dog, the Polish Podhalyan shepherd (Tatra), Hungarian kuvas, Slovak Chuvach, Greek (Hellenic) shepherd, the Italian shepherd, however, are significantly distinguished by their independent character and special intelligence. The named shepherd breeds undoubtedly had ancestors, which are considered prehistoric bronze dogs (canis familiarie matris optimae), which became the first wolfhounds.
Beginning in the 17th century, maremmas began to be depicted in paintings describing hunting. Studying Italian and French painting, you can see that they were taken for wild boar, bear, lynx.
Breed description
Residents of the two Italian regions of Maremma (with access to the sea) and Abruzzo (mountainous area) have been lengthy disputes regarding ownership of this breed. It was decided to pacify the emotional skirmishes by adopting the double name for the breed - the Maremmano-Abruzzi Shepherd. Herds were regularly distilled along these places, and dogs smoothly formed under the influence of climatic and landscape conditions of both territories. In 1958, the full breed standard was adopted with its careful description.
According to the classification of the International Cynological Federation (FCI), the Italian Shepherd (the full name sounds like Maremman-Abruzzi) belongs to the group “Shepherds and cattle dogs, except for Swiss cattle dogs” in the section “Sheepdogs”.
The Italian Shepherd Maremma has considerable dimensions. Thus, males are larger than females and reach 73 cm in height and 45 kg in weight. Bitches below - up to 68 cm, and lighter - up to 40 kg. Lightness and height help dogs to fulfill all their intended functions. Life expectancy is about 13 years.
The muzzle should not be long, rather wide and short, resembling the face of a polar bear. Dark nose, lips and paw pads. The ears are not cropped and have a triangular shape with a length of 12 cm.
Thoroughly inspect and care for the eyes, ears, claws and paw pads. They need to be cleaned regularly and kept in order.
The color of the dogs is white, sections of ivory, light lemon or orange are allowed.
Translucent stiff hair on the body and tail reaches a length of 8 cm, on the head - short. On the neck, fur grows abundantly, forming a tight collar. This is a kind of barrier from bites to a vulnerable place. For centuries, shepherds have worn maremmas with spiked collars as an additional protection.
The hair of a white shepherd dog may be slightly wavy, but by no means curly. This is not a whim or principle, but a necessity. So, an airy, highly curly coat will not be able to protect the inner thick (especially in winter) undercoat from getting wet in rain and snowfall. A cold dog will be forced to leave the herd and dry. As well as in the heat - loose wool will let hot air pass to the skin and disable the dog. She will have to look for a shadow to cool. And in the absence of maremma "on the post" can happen irreparable. That is because this breed is good because it contained a number of amazing, very reasonable natural qualities, bred for millennia.
An interesting fact is that the dirt does not linger on the snow-white coat of dogs. Having dried, it crumbles itself, not requiring additional care. Probably, this effect is achieved due to the thin coating of hair with sebum. In this case, of course, the owner must comb out the thick coat of the pet at least 1-2 times a month. For show dogs, these procedures are carried out more often.
Dogs of this breed molt 1-2 times a year. Before molting, you can bathe the dog, then the process will be faster. Again, the demo swim more often. It is important to note that the coat of these dogs is practically odorless and hypoallergenic.
Italian Shepherd Maremma: character
By temperament, the dog is rather a sanguine: active, easily excited. In this case, inhibitory functions occur more slowly than excitatory ones, which is quite normal for the functions performed by it.
The Italian Shepherd is a very cautious breed. The dog may not approach the owner if an outsider is next to him. She will never eat unfamiliar food from the earth and will not accept refreshments from the wrong hands. Moreover, even from the hosts will take with caution, or even completely refuse food at the wrong time.
In everyday life, dogs are very calm, practically do not become instigators of fights between themselves or with other animals.
Interestingly, in the United States the breed was recognized as the best in terms of intelligence and physical strength.
Relations with family members and other pets
The Italian Shepherd Dog chooses one owner-partner for itself, but will be obedient to other family members, including children whom it loves.
These dogs are on a par with humans, do not consider him superior to themselves and do not subservient to the owner. Humility and obedience are not in their blood. It is necessary to gain respect and acceptance of Maremma. In communication, the owner should give the pet as much freedom as possible and allow him to do what he wants.
In this case, of course, much in the nature of maremmas depends on education. If a shepherd or watchman is needed, the approach will be one, if a dog is required for exhibition and breeding, it is completely different.
This shepherd is tolerant of other breeds of dogs and gets along well even with cats.
Raising a White Shepherd Dog
Maremma needs a lot to do. At the same time, the pedigree qualities are revealed brighter in a pair, and it is much easier to control two individuals. Often dogs learn from each other useful skills, competing in quality of execution.
When training, they should be highly motivated. Maremma will not endlessly execute the same commands, if he does not see the point. She will not forget the acquired skills, and will accept new tasks with pleasure.
She will not bring a ball or stick to an adult. Another thing is a child. The dog will gladly entertain him with such an activity. In general, maremma shows great love and patience for children, allowing it to play with itself and squeeze in every possible way.
If children start quarrels and fights, dogs in every possible way strive to calm and separate them. In this case, no cases of bites of children were recorded, i.e. Shepherd can safely be considered excellent nannies.
Maremma will not accept aggression and violence against him as educational measures. On the contrary, it is so possible to push the dog away, after which it will be very difficult to regain authority and its trust. You can also not put the Italian shepherd on a chain or in an aviary - this will cause rejection and isolation of the animal.
Maremma - a brilliant guard
When performing security functions, a trained dog will give priority to the owner’s defense, and secondly, it will guard the territory entrusted to it.
The shepherd knows exactly how many people are under her momentary care, therefore, if, for example, during a walk, one of the children lags behind the rest of the group or is lost from sight, the maremma will not budge until the laggard appears on the horizon.
In recent years, the Italian Shepherd Maremma has quite positive reviews as a bodyguard. It is extremely difficult for kidnappers to approach a person if there is a maremma nearby. The Italian Shepherd Dog (photos confirm this) looks elegant, while at the same time inspires fear and respect.
The breed has innate qualities of responsibility and integrity, as well as good adaptability to the new environment.
Maintenance and care
The Maremmano-Abruzzi Shepherd has no place in the labyrinths of city streets. She needs the expanse of fields and mountain slopes, for the lack of which the whole countryside is suitable.
Maremma can be kept in an apartment only under the condition of long daily, at least 3-5 hours, walks in the fresh air. From 3-4 months, puppies should start running a slow trot to 2 km per day. From 5-6 months it is already possible to walk the dog, riding next to it for 5-6 km on a bicycle daily. This is extremely important for strengthening the musculoskeletal system, joints and muscles of the animal.
Dog food
Puppies should be fed up to 11 months at least 6 times a day. With age, the number of meals should be reduced to 2-3 times.
It is important to separate dry-feed (preferably premium) feeds and natural foods. The latter includes low-fat raw or scalded meat, cereals (buckwheat, rice), vegetables that do not contain starch, unsweetened fruits, sour-milk protein products. Vitamin supplements are required.
It is forbidden for all animals - smoked meats, sweet, salty and spicy foods.
Maremma Health
The white shepherd, whose Italian pedigree has virtually no flaws, is not prone to any disease. As a preventative measure, however, parasites should be cleaned. And healthy puppies can be vaccinated from a month and a half age.
Puppy selection
When choosing a puppy, you should definitely learn as much as possible about his parents, especially about his mother. It is known that more than 70% of the gene pool is transmitted to the baby from her. It is necessary to ensure that the eyes are dark in color, with a minimum yellow tint, or even without it. The head, like everything else, must conform to the standard.
Unlike many other breeds in which puppies acquire the color of an adult over time, Maremma babies are immediately born white.
Before acquiring a baby, you can visit dog shows, get acquainted with all breeders, find out contacts of veterinarians and dog handlers who are aware of the characteristics of this particular breed. Specialists should help in the selection and further care of the animal.
The cost of a puppy can vary from 30 to 70 thousand rubles. The price affects the exterior of the dog, its breed, the correctness of the lines, the titularity of the parents.
Work with herds
Future working dogs must be handed over no later than 32 days of age. If until this moment they do not see the herd, the necessary merger will not happen. It has been noticed that sheep are not at all afraid of white dogs at all, probably mistaking them for relatives.
When working with a herd of dogs, dogs work as partners, coordinating protective and regulatory activities. Someone leads the flock, someone structures and forms the herd structure, located along its perimeter. Incredibly smart dogs are sensitively watching everything that happens, without losing sight of anything. If an unusual situation arises, an immediate reaction follows, often not requiring the presence and intervention of a person at all. Maremmas make their own decisions and implement them with lightning speed.
Having a light skeleton, an elongated body and strong muscles, being extremely hardy, the Italian shepherd can tirelessly repel attacks on a herd of even large predators. When dogs chase a wolf from a herd, one always remains next to the sheep, and another hides among them. There is a known case when a dog brought to the United States stoically drove off a grizzly trying to drag a sheep. The snow-white dog merged with the soft woolen coats of the wards and emerged in the exact spot where the thief was creeping. Having received repeated resistance, the bear retreated, and the shepherd kept the herd intact.
It is said that to strengthen the connection of the dog with the sheep, a newborn puppy is applied to the sheep's udder to unite these animals and make them one family. Moreover, the endurance and patience of the maremma is confirmed by yet another surprising observation. After the birth of the lamb, the dog only then allows itself to come up and eat the placenta when the mother takes the baby to the side. The dog will not allow itself any interference in the first hours of the parent’s solitude with the child.
Maremma does not bite the sheep, but blocks their path, forcing the herd to change the trajectory of movement as required.
Not knowing tired, transferring frost and heat, wind and rain, crossings over considerable distances, overcoming differences in landscape heights, the Italian Shepherd surprisingly finds in itself more and more new forces to fulfill his duty.