Italian Shepherd (Maremma): sizes, nature, photos, reviews

Italian Shepherd Maremma - one of the oldest breeds on Earth. Only enthusiastic dog breeders know how important the thoroughbredness of the animal is, what exactly are the changes in the gene pool affected, how much effort and resources are required at times from the breeders to preserve all the necessary qualities. It is curious that such efforts bothered the white sheep-dog from Italy.

History of occurrence

More than 2000 years, if not longer, live and well in a virtually unchanged form of a large, proud and incredibly beautiful dog of the breed maremma. A number of researchers have reason to believe that animals have descended from the heights of Tibet with ancient arias and migrated to Italian lands along with nomadic peoples grazing cattle. The flocks of sheep and other livestock, which demanded protection from encroachments by humans and wild animals, received these sheep-dogs as the best defenders.

Similar archetypal to such breeds as Pyrenean Mountain Dog, Polish Podgalyanska Shepherd Dog (Tatra), Hungarian Kuvasz, Slovak Chuvach, Greek (Hellenic) Shepherd, Italian Shepherd still stands out for its independent character and special intelligence. The named shepherds undoubtedly had ancestors, which are prehistoric bronze dogs (canis familiarie matris optimae), which became the first wolfhounds.

Since the XVII century., Maremma began to be depicted in the pictures describing the hunt. Studying Italian and French paintings, you can see that they were taken to the boar, bear, lynx.

Description of the breed

Residents of the two Italian regions of Maremma (with access to the sea) and Abruzzo (mountainous region) had long disputes over the ownership of this breed. Emotional wrangling was decided to pacify, taking for the breed a double name - maremma-abruzzka shepherd. The herds were regularly driven along these places, and the dogs were gradually formed under the influence of climatic and landscape conditions of both territories. In 1958 the full standard of the breed was accepted with its careful description.

According to the classification of the International Cynological Federation (FCI), the Italian sheepdog (the name in full form sounds like maremma-abruzzian) belongs to the group "Shepherds and cattle dogs, except for Swiss cattle dogs" in the section "Sheepdogs".

Italian shepherd maremma sizes are considerable. Thus, the males are larger than females and reach a height of 73 cm and 45 kg in weight. Bitches below - up to 68 cm, and lighter - up to 40 kg. Lightness and growth help dogs fulfill all the intended functions. Life expectancy is about 13 years.

Muzzle should not be long, rather broad and short, resembling the face of a polar bear. Dark nose, lips and paw pads. The ears do not stop and have a triangular shape with a length of up to 12 cm.

Careful examination and care are subject to eyes, ears, claws and paw pads. They need to be cleaned regularly and kept in order.

Color of dogs is white, areas of ivory, light lemon or orange shade are allowed.

The translucent rigid coat on the trunk 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 against bites in a vulnerable place. For centuries, shepherds wore maremma collars with spikes as their additional protection.

The coat of white sheepdogs may be slightly wavy, but in no way curly. This is not a whim and not a principle, but a necessity. Thus, an airy, highly curly coat can not protect the inner thick (especially in winter) undercoat from getting wet in the rain and snow. A chilled dog will have to leave the herd and dry it. As well as in the heat - loose hair will let hot air to the skin and disable the dog. She will have to look for a shadow to cool. And in the absence of the maremma "on the post" can happen irreparable. That's because this breed is good, which contained a number of amazing, very reasonable natural qualities, deduced for millennia.

An interesting fact is that the mud does not linger on the snow-white wool of dogs. Having dried herself, she herself crumbles, without requiring additional care. Probably, this effect is achieved due to thin coating of hair with skin fat. At the same time, of course, the owner must comb the thick fur of the pet at least 1-2 times a month. For exhibition dogs, these procedures are conducted more often.

They molt dogs of this breed 1-2 times a year. Before molting, you can bathe a dog, then the process will be faster. Again, demonstrators swim more often. It is important to note that the wool of these dogs is practically odorless and hypoallergenic.

Italian Shepherd Maremma: Character

By temperament, the dog, rather, sanguine: active, easily excited. In this case, inhibitory functions appear more slowly than excitatory ones, which is quite normal for the functions it performs.

Italian shepherd - the breed is extremely cautious. A dog may not approach the owner if an unauthorized person is with him. She will never eat unfamiliar food from the ground and will not take refreshments from other people's hands. Moreover, even from the owners will take with alertness, or even completely refuse to eat at the wrong time.

In everyday life, the dogs are very calm, practically do not become instigators of fights either between themselves, nor with other animals.

Interestingly, in the USA the breed was recognized as the best in terms of intelligence and physical strength.

Relations with family members and other pets

The Italian sheepdog chooses one partner master, but will be obedient to other family members, including children whom she loves.

With a man, these dogs keep on par with, do not consider him above themselves and do not condescend to the master. Submission and obedience are not in their blood. It is necessary to win respect and acceptance of the maremma. In communication, the owner must 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 the maremma depends on education. If you need a shepherd or a watchman, the approach will be the same if you need a dog for the exhibition and breeding - quite different.

This sheep dog is tolerant of other breeds of dogs and quite gets along even with cats.

Education of the white sheepdog

With maremma you need a lot to do. In this pair, the breed qualities are revealed more clearly, and it is much easier to control two individuals. Often dogs learn from each other useful skills, competing as a performance.

When training, they must be highly motivated. Maremma will not endlessly perform the same commands, if not see the point. She will not forget her acquired skills, but she will take new tasks with pleasure.

She will not bring a ball or a stick to an adult person. Another thing is a child. The dog will gladly entertain him with such an occupation. In general, to children, the maremma shows great love and patience, allowing you to play with yourself and squeeze everything.

If children start quarrels and fights, dogs in every possible way tend to calm and dissolve them. In this case, no cases of child bites were recorded; Shepherds can safely be considered excellent nannies.

Maremma will not accept aggression and violence against him as educational measures. On the contrary, it is possible to push the dog away, after which it will be very difficult to regain credibility and trust. You can not also plant an Italian sheep-dog on a chain or in an enclosure - this will cause rejection and isolation of the animal.

Maremma is a brilliant guard

When performing security functions, the prepared dog will give priority to the defense of the owner, and in the second place will guard the territory entrusted to it.

Shepherd knows very well how many people are under her immediate care, so if, for example, during a walk one of the children lags behind the rest of the group or gets lost, the maremma will not move until the laggard appears on the horizon.

In recent years, the Italian shepherd maremma reviews quite positive has and as a bodyguard. Abductors are extremely difficult to approach a person, if a number of maremma. The Italian Shepherd (photos confirm this) looks elegant, while it inspires fear and respect.

The breed has innate qualities of responsibility and incorruptibility, as well as good adaptability to the new environment.

Maintenance and care

Maremma-abruzzka sheepdog does not belong in the labyrinths of city streets. It requires the vastness of fields and mountain slopes, for lack of which the countryside in general will suit.

Keep the maremma in the apartment is possible only with the obligatory condition of long daily, not less than 3-5 hour walks in the fresh air. From 3-4 months old puppies should begin to run slowly to trot up to 2 km per day. From 5-6 months you can already walk the dog, driving alongside it for 5-6 km on a bike every day. This is extremely important for strengthening the musculoskeletal system, joints and muscles of the animal.

Feeding dogs

Feeding puppies up to 11 months should occur at least 6 times a day. With age, the number of meals should be reduced to 2-3 times.

It is important to separate feeding with dry food (preferably premium) and natural food. The latter refers to low-fat raw or scalded meats, porridges (buckwheat, rice), vegetables that do not contain starch, unsweetened fruits, protein of fermented milk products. Vitamin supplements are required.

Under the ban for all animals - smoked, sweet, salty and spicy food.

Maremma Health

The white sheep dog, whose Italian ancestry has practically no flaws, is not prone to any diseases. As a preventive measure, however, it is necessary to cleanse the parasites. A vaccine healthy puppies can be from a month and a half.

Choosing a puppy

When choosing a puppy, you should learn as much as possible about his parents, especially about the mother. It is known that more than 70% of the gene pool is transferred to the child from it. It is necessary to watch, that eyes were dark color, with a minimum yellow shade, and even at all without it. The head, like everything else, must conform to the standard.

Unlike many other breeds, in which puppies become adult in color over time, babies of maremma are immediately born white.

Before buying a baby, you can visit dog shows, get acquainted with all the breeders, learn the contacts of veterinarians and cynologists, who are aware of the peculiarities of this breed. Specialists should help in choosing and further caring for the animal.

The cost of a puppy can vary from 30 to 70 thousand rubles. The price is affected by the exterior of the dog, its breed, the correctness of the lines, the titles of the parents.

Working with herds

Future working dogs should be given in hands not later than 32 days from a sort. If until now they do not see the herd, the required merge will not occur. It is noticed that sheep are not at all afraid of white dogs, probably taking them for relatives.

When working with a herd, dogs work as partners, coordinating security and regulatory activities. Someone heads the flock, someone structures and forms the system of the flock, located along its perimeter. Incredibly clever dogs are sensitive to everything that happens, not letting go of anything. When an extraordinary situation arises, an immediate reaction follows, often without requiring the presence and intervention of a person. Maremma make decisions independently and realize them at lightning speed.

Having a light bones, elongated body and strong musculature, being extremely hardy, the Italian shepherd is able to relentlessly repel attacks on the herd of even large predators. When dogs drive a wolf from a herd, one always remains next to the sheep, and another one hides among them. There is a known case when a dog imported into the United States stoically drove away a grizzly, trying to drag a sheep. The snow-white dog merged with the soft woolen coats of the wards and emerged exactly in the place where the thief had crept in. Having received repeated repulse, the bear retreated, and the shepherd kept the herd safe and sound.

They say that to strengthen the connection of the dog with the sheep, a newborn puppy is put to the sheep udder to rally these animals and make one family. Moreover, the restraint and patience of the maremma is confirmed by another amazing observation. After the birth of the lamb, the dog will only then allow himself to come up and eat the placenta, when the mother takes the kid to the side. No interference will be allowed to the dog during the first hours of the parent-child retirement.

Maremma does not bite sheep, but blocks them, forcing the herd to change the trajectory of the movement as required.

Not knowing the tired, bearing frost and heat, wind and rain, transitions to significant distances, overcoming the differences of landscape heights, the Italian shepherd surprisingly finds in itself more and more forces to fulfill the duty.