Maremma Sheepdog

I am privileged enough to have owned a wonderful Maremma Sheepdog and I must say I miss him sorely. He was massive (75.5 cm at the shoulder) and strikingly beautiful. 60 Kg of dog without an ounce of fat. He would run after the car for 10 miles or so and thoroughly enjoy it.If I ever decide to have a dog again, I will definitely go for a Maremmano-Abruzzese. But before considering that I will need a house with a few acres of land!

The Maremma Sheepdog is an ancient breed, its exact origins are unknown but the breed's roots are thought to be up to 5000 years old. Because of this, all genetic faults have been ironed out, and the maremma suffers very rarely from illnesses, my Maremma who is a 5 year old male has never been ill! The main role of the Maremma Sheepdog is to protect and guard the family and property; it is probably the most effective breed at doing so because the guarding is instinctive, not like other guard dogs, e.g. Rottweilers/German Shepard dogs, whose guarding skills have to be taught by the owner. The Maremma was designed to be left high in the Italian mountains overnight with the sheep in the most adverse whether conditions and protect the flock from wolves and bears, which would be killed by the Maremma's (that's an idea of how powerful they are) .The Maremma sheepdog is still unfortunately extremely rare in the UK, the nearest owner I know about lives about 30 miles away from me. The Maremma is the perfect burglar alarm and will keep your property safe when you are out for the day. The Maremma is a big breed, measuring 65-73cm tall for males and 60-68cm tall for bitches. The male Maremma weighs in at 77-100 lb and the bitch Maremma weighs in at 66-88 lb. The dog is white in colour and I was initially worried at the problem of mud, however, this turned out not to be a problem as the natural oils in the coat makes mud literally fall off. I could bore you with pages more of info but its getting late so just bear in mind the responsibilities of Maremma ownership, they are not for the faint hearted!