maremma sheepdogs

[lcw1995]

okay ive seen a lot of posts about great pyr
but what about maremmas
arent they a breed of LGD as well
if so tell me about them
share pics, stories, info, ect
thank ya

 

[watchdogps]

Similar to a pyr, but smaller usually more like 80lbs. Good dogs, good lgds, but there are a lot of shy ones. I would suggest meeting the dog in person before buying it, not having it shipped, for that reason.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Similar to a pyr, but smaller usually more like 80lbs

80 lbs is a small one

The smallest female I've had weighed 93 lbs, and most are larger

http://www.maremmaclub.com/

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/maremmasheepdog.htm

My male weighed 130 when he was 11 months old:

My largest male is close to 150 lbs:

 

[carolinagirl58]

yeah the ones I have seen are pretty big too. They look a lot like Pyrs, only with a little less coat.

edit...let me rephrase that. They have less coat than the show bloodline pyrs. Their coats are pretty similar to working bloodline pyrs.

 

[watchdogps]

I went back and checked to make sure I wasn't recalling wrong, but no the listers on another lgd forum usually say their meremmas are 75-80 lbs. In the links included by bearfoot farms, they say the dogs average 66-99 lbs, so I wasn't off base. Y'all just have some big ones!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

the listers on another lgd forum usually say their meremmas are 75-80 lbs. In the links included by bearfoot farms, they say the dogs average 66-99 lbs

That data is old, and the breed has improved with time.

It's the same data that was there 8 years ago when I got my first dog​

 

[Kev]

How's the level of prey drive and youth energy overall in Maremmas? Thinking of chickens here- no prey drive dog for obvious reasons.

Barky like Pyrs or quieter like Anatolians?

Had an Anatolian, he had horrible prey drive as a youngster(and actually fetched balls?! Yikes).. so bad he tore into pens just to kill the chickens. Eventually after several years, he stopped and become totally trustworthy. Don't want to go through that again..... Can't have Pyr due to neighbors(semi rural area). Anatolian was wonderful in that regard, he never barked unless necessary. But am worried about prey drive level seeming to be all over the place in this breed.

 

[Sherry]

I have a five month old...Daddy is Great Pyr, Mama is 1/2 Maremma and 1/2 Anatolian. So far he is showing good potential.

He'll chase the ducks and guineas, but if they stop he just goes around them. Same thing with the cats. He'll chase the goats until one stops, turns and lowers the head...then he turns the other way. All of this is only under supervision. Unsupervised he is in his pen between two pens of goats and right next to the chickens.

I see him laying or standing on his dog house, just watching all around. He's not a big barker, at least not yet!

 

[dainerra]

Quote:
That isn't prey drive, that is puppyhood. Any breed is going to do things like that if left unsupervised, though some individual dogs will be worse than others. He stopped after a couple years because he grew up.

Most large breed dogs are very much puppies until 2-3 years old.

 

[watchdogps]

Quote:
That data is old, and the breed has improved with time.

It's the same data that was there 8 years ago when I got my first dog

Improved? By getting bigger? Bigger is not better. We americans tend to want to make dogs "better", rather than honor the country the dogs came from. They have been 80lbs-ish in italy for centuries. They do their job as so. Italy clearly did not need a150 lb lgd. A good breeder should be preserving the breed, not "improving" it. If one needs a huge lgd, there are other breeds to choose from.