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2 Maremma puppies available (Vermont)

Cj Sloane

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posted 10 years ago

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I have 2 Maremma (LGD) puppies available. They are 6 weeks old and will be ready to go in 2 weeks. They are best suited to living with and guarding sheep, goats, or poultry. Ideally, the paddock is not too close to the road and neighbors wont mind barking which is one of the ways they convince predators there are easier meals elsewhere. They aren’t fully up to speed as guardians till they are 18 months old. They do work best in pairs as coyotes will draw a single dog away so other coyotes can attack. $300 for one or $500 for two.

The father is 80 lbs and looks like a white golden. The mother is 70 lbs. Both are very friendly with family/children and wary of strangers. Please do not be concerned that they will eat too much. My Australian Shepherd will easily eat 5x what the Maremmas eat and still eat their left overs!!! These dogs lay around most of the day, not consuming much energy. They bark at any unusual smell or sound.

When a stranger comes on to the property, Brutus will calmly come over and sit between me and the stranger. It is very comforting.

We live in the middle of the woods but the chickens are very free range and are able to hatch out their out chicks without much worry of predation. I haven't had as much luck with turkeys hatching naturally due to Ravens - so nothing's perfect!

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Craig Dobbson

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What can you tell us about the pups as individuals? Aside from the fact that they are cute as hell.

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Cj Sloane

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posted 10 years ago

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Well, I've given them yarn collars to distinguish them but I haven't noticed much difference in behavior. Lots of puppy wrestling going on.

The 2 girls do seem friendlier and everyone seems to want them site unseen. I've always found males easier to deal with. Hoping for a non-adventure bringing 6 shapeshifting pups and their mom to the vet on Saturday.

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C. Hunter

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posted 10 years ago

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I've got a friend looking in NH - what are the parents hip and elbow scores?

Cj Sloane

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No idea! I can post pics & ask the vet this weekend.
The mother is a little gangly and the father is very solid.

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C. Hunter

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posted 10 years ago

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Hip and elbow scores are done via x-ray on adult dogs. If they haven't been checked, I know she won't be interested, but good luck.

Cj Sloane

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There is a lady named Jackie ... something or other, in NY who sells very expensive, fully trained Maremmas. I think she'd be the one to go for that type of dog. If you're interested, I'll dig a little deeper into my emails and get you her contact. It was something like $1200 for a puppy or maybe $1800 for a full trained, micro-chipped, neutered Maremma ready to go!

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C. Hunter

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posted 10 years ago

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Nah, that's more than she's willing to pay. We may end up shipping her a dog from down here- puppies out of hip scored parents are usually in the $300 range and it's just not worth the risks since she prefers not to replace dogs every 4-5 years due to arthritis and DJD.

Cj Sloane

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Wow! Dogs are way more expensive up here. Lots of rescues from down south get shipped up here too!

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C. Hunter

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True, but saving money on puppy price doesn't help if the dogs end up dysplastic, which severely shortens working life. You can get around this by breeding really old males who are still sound, but most people aren't doing that.

Thankfully, hip xrays are cheap enough if you shop around (Average is $130 + $35 if you want to send it ot OFA, but most good vets can at least give you a ballpark idea what it'd grade) that it's becoming more usual to do.

Cj Sloane

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Huh. Well, I've only heard about hip problems in Goldens or similar "fancy" breeds. I don't think I've seen it in my rescues even. Are these Maremmas, other LGDs or crosses?

My male is about 8 and is very spry but I'm trying to plan ahead, hoping for 1 or 2 of his offspring ready to go in 2-3 years. I've always been mainly concerned about temperament and coming from working parents. My biggest issue with the male (who I got as a 18 month old rescue) is that he wont walk on a leash and it's virtually impossible to get in a car. I can get him in the car but before the door is closed he's vanished. I've stressed the importance of this to buyers & will certainly leash/car train my puppy!

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C. Hunter

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posted 10 years ago

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Maremmas, Akbash, and Great Pyr all have very significant numbers of dogs who are affected. The worst I've seen was a dog I fostered, who was Akbash/Marema cross and ended up needing surgery on both hips. YOu *cannot* tell from gait unless the dog is super severe, unfortunately- most LGDs are just too stoic.

David Livingston

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Unfortunetly I dont think UPS will deliver

David

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Cj Sloane

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David, one of these days you're just going to have to get yourself a Pyr (named Belle).

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David Livingston

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CJ
Have already got French Gf called Laurence
Elle est belle

Mais pas interest en Pyr

David

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Cj Sloane

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Gf?

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David Livingston

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Gf =Partner of the female kind

Living in Anjou , France,
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Cj Sloane

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I thought so but "Laurence" threw me off. No interest in a Pyr, huh. And she watch that kids show? And she's seen a puppy?

All I can say is that it took 14 years for me to convince my husband to let me have chickens. Now I have, chickens, turkeys, sheep, cows, bees... Patience, my friend. Wear her down!

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Craig Dobbson

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Cj Verde wrote: All I can say is that it took 14 years for me to convince my husband to let me have chickens. Now I have, chickens, turkeys, sheep, cows, bees... Patience, my friend. Wear her down!

I'll second that. It took a little convincing to get my wife to allow me to fill our launrdy room with chicks. Once you get past a few chickens, it's all smooth sailing. One week I bought 10 chickens... not so bad. The next week I got two dozen more... A year later, a hundred more. Then pigs, rabbits, and ducks the next year. Next on the list is a dog to keep track of everyone... hmmmm

What do you feed your dogs? Can you tell me about what their work day is like? Habits/quirks? The car thing is good to know. My neighbor has a Border Collie that is well behaved and knows it's territory. How are the Maremmas behaved when dealing with other dogs in that situation? Will they stop at their border and respect the others' territory? How do I convince my wife that a puppy is a better investment than replacing the washing machine that just crapped out?

It's not that hard doing laundry in five gallon buckets... right?

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Cj Sloane

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Craig Dobbelyu wrote:Once you get past a few chickens, it's all smooth sailing. One week I bought 10 chickens... not so bad. The next week I got two dozen more... A year later, a hundred more. Then pigs, rabbits, and ducks the next year. Next on the list is a dog to keep track of everyone... hmmmm

I'm not the first to say this but it's true, chickens are the gateway drug. I mean gateway animal, of course.

Your questions about the dogs are a little trickier and I think on them as I head off to work.

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Cj Sloane

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Craig Dobbelyu wrote:
What do you feed your dogs? Can you tell me about what their work day is like? Habits/quirks? The car thing is good to know. My neighbor has a Border Collie that is well behaved and knows it's territory. How are the Maremmas behaved when dealing with other dogs in that situation? Will they stop at their border and respect the others' territory? How do I convince my wife that a puppy is a better investment than replacing the washing machine that just crapped out? It's not that hard doing laundry in five gallon buckets... right?

I was told to give them cheap kibble because they need a low protein diet once they are full grown. I give the male maremma a full scoop (3 quarts?) and sometimes he eats it all and other times not. Sometimes, when it's colder he needs more. The female is very picky and skinny. I was giving her kibble and she covered it up with dirt. Not sure if it's because she didn't like it or was hiding it from the chickens. They do enjoy milk with their kibble. I offer offal if an animal has been slaughtered. Occasionally I'll cook up some dog food - on sale chicken with rice and carrots.

The females have lived with the livestock, laying around, barking at night. Sometimes I bring them into the house for a visit and sometimes I think they'd prefer the house to the livestock. The males have only reluctantly come into the house. He does border patrol, picks odd spots to lay down, escorts deer off the property, barks at night.

I've never seen them be aggressive toward other dogs but we've never had a "bad" dog come around. I watched my male lay on the deck while my Australian Shepard dragged it around by his tail.

As far as the washer goes... my washer works but my dryer doesn't and for various reasons my husband refuses to fix it (uses too much propane blah blah) so I go to the laundry mat anyway. Nice thing is you can do 9 loads pretty quickly!

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Cj Sloane

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And Craig, here's the most interaction I've seen between dogs & pigs:

This is a Pyr X Kuvatz. She weighed 137 and really enjoyed sitting on my lap. She died this summer and I was left with just one LGD & I decided it was time to breed Brutus.

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Cj Sloane

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Craig Dobbelyu wrote:Can you tell me about what their work day is like?

Here is a typical work day:

Sometimes the chickens will try to steal the dog food and the dog will hold down the chicken with one paw will continuing to eat!

They tend to kill a chicken by accident when they are young. Just one. They will also eat a still born lamb/kid because otherwise predators would be drawn in. Many people think their dogs have killed the lamb and panic but that's not what happens.

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Craig Dobbson

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Looks like a good life for a dog. I think we have pretty similar setups to each other. I'm pretty confident that she'll have a good time here. I'm ok with her teaching chickens about property rights too. LOL Some chickens don't learn and it's best to remove as much stupid from the flock as possible.

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Cj Sloane

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Sometimes Brutus is (IMO) too far from the livestock but he may know better. Yesterday he was at my husbands garden, 1/3 mile down the driveway. It seemed like an odd spot but it turns out that my husband saw a possum there a little later, moving off our property.

The dogs teach property rights by placing a paw on the offending chicken while they eat. One day I watched a chicken play tag with a maremma and later the chicken was face down in the coop. I chalk that up to rough play.

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Ghislaine de Lessines

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*sigh*. How I wish we were ready for puppies on our property! I have hip dysplasia myself so I couldn't hold that against a dog. LOL A friend of mine still giggles about my having a "dog disease"!

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Cj Sloane

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It is better to wait till your ready - with this breed especially!

They were insanely cute and well behaved at the vet yesterday. I had to explain to everyone that these dogs need something to guard, a place with some land and night time barking wouldn't be a problem, and they're about as obedient as cats (but perfect for the perfect situation).

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Craig Dobbson

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posted 6 years ago

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I just wanted to update this thread. I have one of these puppies, well... he's 3 years old now. He's the most awesome dog I could imagine. He watches over our house and livestock and loves to play in the snow with the kids. He's just a lovable fluffy 95 Lb baby. Sorry for the super late update, but... Thank you CJ. Higgs is the best dog around these parts, even the vet loves him. And, he only barks at every other thing, so that less than half the normal amount. :)

maremma-livestock-guard-dog.jpg

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Cj Sloane

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So glad Higgs is working out Craig.

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Jamal Bailey

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posted 3 years ago

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Why is my permies so active and bites a lot so I leave him outside and I feel bad but don't know how to get him to stop. Please help with tips. And is it ok that I leave him outside all day until night when he's more calm?

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