Help Needed Please

[royalla]

hi guy's i have found a Marmara pup 7 mths old that has been living with goats so he already knows how to guard which is what i want him for to guard my sheep but this boy has just been living in the paddock with very little human contact and was only fed once a week on a whole pig leg, he is not under weight or anything but as this is not a good guide for me to know how much to feed him in the way of dry food, as i can't get a lot of raw meat for the dogs unless i buy tray's of steak, lamb chops or trays of chicken legs as i live in a rural area and most of the farmers out here just kill a steer if they need more meat for themselves or need some dog meat so the butcher does not sell a lot of pet mince or even dog bones so from now on he will only see raw meat when i can find it , OK how much to feed him is one of the problems now for the bigger one what is the best way to get him use to people as he has not had any needles that i know of so i would like to teach him how to lead and to like getting a pat but at the same time i don't want him to become a house pet but it would be nice if he did not try to run away to the end of his chain every time i go near him but once you get hold of him he will sit and take the pat and is just starting to show signs that he likes the pat, very small signs that is so any help with teaching him how to lead so that i can interduce him to my other dogs safely would be great

thanks guys

[Shoshana]

Do you mean "Marema" perhaps?

How big is the pup? How much does he weigh? Any dry food packet would have a guide about feeding quantities based on dog's weight.

I'm no expert but I would use food to "befriend" the pup - maybe hand feed him and at the same time talk to him nicely & pet him. This is how wolves were domesticated 15000 years ago.

Good luck & tell us more about him please.

[persephone]

I am guessing you have obtained a MAREMMA pup ?

Sorry, I cannot help with specifics..

You might want to do some more research on them- there are lots of sites which will help

You might also want to check if maremmas are prone to bloat/torsion!!

Just for interest, here are some to start you.

HERE

HERE

HERE

[Paganman]

Not sure but I think "Steve" on this forums got maremmas maybe send her a PM

[royalla]

Ok first i got the spelling wrong sorry it is one of those big white fluffy dogs lol maremma ? second who in their right mind is going to try and pick up a dog that has not been handled just to stand on the scales when the dog is about the same size as me i did not make it to the 5 foot make. 3rd Barney thats that we have called him will not eat until we have moved away and have not been in sight of him for at least an hour then he will slowly eat, 4th this dog has never been inside a car before and my freind tied him up very short in the back of her ute inside a cage to bring him home for me, so i am not going o drive the 40kms to the closest vet to get he weighed until he knows me and starts to trust me more, but i have had a break through with him today he has been running away from me when i approch him or he stays at the far end of the chain and shakes. last night i put him away into the nigh yard with the sheep mind you i locked him up in a crate and he handled that very well and this morning i took him out to the paddock with the sheep put him onto his chain then i left and got a bucket of water for him and when i got back to him he came up to me to see what was in the bucket but he quicky move away again, i just let him go and told him he was a good boy and inbetween the rain i have been going out to the paddock were he can see and hear me and doing a little bit of work so that he gets use to me beening in the paddock with him and i have started to introduce him to some of my dogs slowly yesterday he got to see Spice then Rocco close but not close enought to touch.

[persephone]

Poor boy - sounds as if he didn't have human contact at all

Glad he is responding to you , tho

You will have to get him to the vet soon- for his needles and desexing.. the crate will be handy for that , and perhaps, if you explain-the vet will give you a mild sedative for the journey?

[royalla]

he was desexed by his breeder most of the farmers out here do the male dogs themselves, i think they do them the same way as you would geld a horse but i am not sure on that so please don't quote me but i do know they don't take them to a vet to be done. the crate that i am useing for him to sleep in is to big to fit into my car

Edited October 12, 2008 by royalla

[sopheven]

To me it sounds like you're going about it the right way. For all their strengths as a breed the mental side can be an issue. They like a set routine, the same area to patrol, the same people and animals to see - anything else sets off the guard instinct. Your boy is obviously adjusting to his new surroundings. From my experience they're not an overly aggressive dog, he wont suddenly attack you but if you back him into a corner and he feels like he's no other option he will bite. So he needs time, just keep going with the socialising and it will be worth it.

As for food, whilst they appear a large dog take away the fur and they're surprisingly slim. As such you don't need to go overboard. I would think 2 cups of dried food combined with meat/veg would be fine. My boy would get the dinner left overs from my 3 kids with some dried food.

[royalla]

thank you sopheven sounds like i have been giving him to much then i have been feeding him 3 large scoops of dry thats about 4 1/2 cups and raw meat mixed in as he was raised on pigs meat nothing else so he does not like the dry food at all and i have to mix in raw he won't touch cooked meat as he has never had that so geting vegies into him will have to wait just a little while longer until he gets use to the change of diet. the pig farm that he came from has 3500 pigs so it was nothing for this bloke to kill one pig a week for his dogs, last night he had some roo meat mixed into his dry and before that i have been mixing in beef or goat so all this change has been playing up on his poor tummy just a little bit but not to much.