Maremma Sheepdog Information & Dog Breed Facts

Introduction

The Pastore Maremmano Abruzzese, Maremma Sheepdog, originated in Italy where it has been used for many centuries as a flock guardian for sheep and goats.

It was first imported into the United States for this purpose in the early 1970s. Since then, the Maremma Sheepdog has continued to increase in number and popularity. You will commonly hear them referred to as Livestock Guardian Dogs.

Origins

The Maremma Sheepdog is an old white sheep guardian dog that dates back at least to ancient Roman times as the breed was described 2000 years ago in literature written by Columello, Varro, and Palladius.

Similar dogs are also depicted in many sculptures and paintings from Roman times to the present. They have not undergone any particularly special changes during the centuries since shepherds have always protected and improved the breed’s functional qualities, which are characteristics connected to their capacity to protect sheep from wolves.

Furthermore, the Maremma Sheepdog traces its origins to the Tibetan Mastiff, from which many similar breeds descended including the Kuvasz in Hungary, the Akbash in Turkey, the Tatra in Poland, and the Great Pyrenees in France.

These breeds are similar in appearance and structure, and their role in each country was to protect the flock. However, some of these breeds have not performed this task for many years because of the disappearance of the wolves from areas of civilization.

The Maremma-Abruzzese sheepdog, on the other hand, has never stopped working because wolves have never vanished from central Italy's Apennine Mountains, particularly in Abruzzo, necessitating the usage of the dog to defend livestock.

However, like with many other breeds, during the Second World War, the Maremma was almost eradicated by the invading German army who could not content with their ferocity as guards dogs and shot them on sight.

Moreover, until 1958 the Pastore Maremmano (Shepherd Dog of the Maremma) and the Pastore Abruzzese (Shepherd Dog of the Abruzzi) were regarded as separate breeds.

A breeder's society for the Pastore Abruzzese was formed in 1950, and one for the Maremmano in 1953. On the 1st of January in 1958 the breeds were unified by the Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiano, the national dog association in Italy.

According to the argument, a "natural fusion" of the two types happened as a result of the seasonal movement of sheep herds from one region to another, especially after Italy's unification. Until 1860, the mountains of the Abruzzo and the plains of the Maremma lay in different countries.

While some older publications refer to the Maremmano and Abruzzese as independent breeds combined to create the Maremmano-Abruzzese, it has been noted that the shorter-haired Maremmano was only ever observed during the winter months when flocks were grazed on their winter pastures on the milder coastal Tuscany, whilst the supposedly longer-bodied Abruzzese was only observed in the summer months when flocks were grazed in the Abruzzi mountains.

Furthermore, Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, was the first to introduce Maremmas to the United States in the mid-1970s. Their ultimate purpose was to investigate the breed's guarding qualities and compare it to many other livestock guardian dog breeds such as the Anatolian Shepherds, the SharPlaninetz, the Anatolian/Shars, and the Maremma/Shars.

Recognition

In 1898, the Italian Kennel Club registered four Maremma Sheepdogs under the breed name “Maremmano” and by the 1940s there were 40 registered dogs.

The Maremma Sheepdog has also become recognized by the United Kennel Club in 2006.

Overall, the Maremmano dogs continue to be widely used by Italian sheep farmers in areas where predation is common, such as the Apennine Mountains of central Italy and the open rangeland of national parks in Abruzzo.

Besides their wide use in Italy, Maremma Sheepdogs are extensively used as livestock guardian dogs in Australia, the United States, and Canada.