Maremmas For Sheep Guarding?

[Steve]

Steve, have you ever had any issues with them protecting people or stock inappropriately? How would you manage the situation if (for example) you needed to let someone in the house for some reason, but your LGD considered them to be a threat?

Fascinating thread, thanks.

No issues ever,my Maremmas take their que from me and my body language and my behaviour as they do with the sheep.

They bark as you drive through the gate ,stand between you and me as you get out of the car and move off as I welcome you.

Ive had an incident where some creepy old man arrived looking for free twine off the hay bales.I thought that was very strange as he was spending petrol money to get free twine but he stay out side the gate as I didnt invite him in.

The front fence was about a metre tall and as he was speaking with me he leaned the top part of his body over my side of the fence. The bitch hated him stood in front of me and barked her head off then moved closer to him telling him to back off. He didnt.I asked him to lean back off the fence - he laughed and said the dog didnt bother him.I said it was bothering the dog so please just lean back - he didnt so the bitch wouldnt shut up - nothing I did or said made her settle.She wouldnt come and all her beautiful training for recall etc was evaporated. Each pass she made at that man she came closer until he felt her breath on his knuckles. He stood back and she walked over and sat at my feet between him and me. That was because it was different to what was normally expected of people coming to the house.

Another time I had a bitch inthe lounge room and vistors in the dining room who didnt even know the dog was there. The visitor was telling my husband a story and stood up raised his arm and his voice and the dog was 6 inches from him in a heart beat. Hackles up teeth bared ears back . The visitor sat down Hubby told her it was O.K. and she sat down between my husband and the vistor .For the rest of the visit you would have thought she had gone to sleep and forgotten all about it .Until the visitor stood up or moved too quickly and then she sat up too and just stared at him. There was no doubt that if he came close to my husband she had him .When it was time for him to leave she was O.K. with letting him go out but at all times she was between him and my husband.

Another time was when my eldest son was home visiting and the dog didnt know him - the dog had been born the same day as my youngest son who was now toddling but eldest son had only been home for a visit spasmodically -

Anyway like an idiot eldest son came running up behind me and the toddler while we were walking and picked the baby up and had a wooooo. Before he could put the kid down the dog had him by the leg - not enough to leave a mark but enough to scare the hell out of him. My eldest son was able to do anything and move anywhere for the rest of the visit until he tried to go into the baby's bedroom un escorted where the dog had decided was a good doorway to sleep in and as he came close you could hear a dull growl. So as long as he didnt go in the baby's bedroom nothing to worry about but Im not sure I could have stopped her giving him another nip if he had tried to get past her.

Just recently this summer my 17 year old son was baled up by a brown snake and climbed up onto a crate and phoned his dad to come and save him. Dad arrived in his mates car with his mate .Mate jumps out of the car and opens the gate the dog is barking at the mate but no big deal. Dad drives through and leaves the mate at the gate while he speeds off to save the kid .The mate comes through the gate running toward my Son and the dog grabbed him by the back of the leg - enough to hurt but not cause any huge problem. The mate stopped moving toward my son so the dog stopped and moved closer to my son. Mate went back out through the gate. Dad goes looking for the snake - snake is gone by now anyway. The mate has been back but the dog and the mate dont trust each other much anymore - neither seem to be very comfortable with the other's company and the mate wouldnt come in without an escort.

[Steve]

Would a maremma alter the way cattle / sheep would graze. Say if i have 100 steers in one paddock.. On any given day the social structure of those 100 head will be all over the place.. There would be at least 3 mobs if not more. 30 odd here, 20 there, 5 or 6 somewhere else etc etc.. How do the maremmas work that sort of scenario?

Also, if i have mobs of cattle next to each other (neighbouring paddocks) how does that fit in?

Genuine responses please.. Dont want to sound rude but dont want info off a website or a show breeder that doesnt have them working in an extensive situation. I am looking at solutions to feral animals and trespassers.

Thanks in advance

the dog works the paddock so where the cattle or sheep are isnt an issue until they percieve a threat. They have already barked and told predators they are there, they have marked the place so the predAtor can smell them and they watch the body language and anything even remotely different is dealt with. The only time they will interupt the normal grazing pattern of the mob is if something actually comes into the paddock and then they will bring them into one place and put themselves between the mob and the predator. Now how they do that is open to debate but it appears that the animals they are working with simply trust their judgement. and watch the dogs body language as well as the dog watch ing theirs. Its not like move or I will bite you like a cattle dog its sort of like come on guys lets move over here. After dark they usually have them clumped together but that also depends on how big your paddock is , how much tree coverage etc and how many dogs you have with the mob. The dogs just sort it out . As is explained in that link allowing the dog to work out best work practices just works.

If you have mobs in neighbouring paddocks the dog may want to guard them too.tThere are various ways you can prevent that if thats what you want but if you have a couple of dogs in each paddock if its a major threat they will move into each others paddocks to give each other a hand.

We have a couple at the moment we sent home to a sheep property who are 9 months old and working really well with sheep. Too well it appears as the neighbour has a flock of about 500 and they are lambing so the dogs are going onto the neighbours property to guard them as well as their own. The neighbour admits he hasnt lost any lambs this year when he usually looses up to 50% but he doesnt like the owners of the dogs and has threatened if they come onto his property he will shoot them .The ranger has been out and so have the cops. The dogs owners have been advised by me to put yolks on them to keep them in their own property which in my experience works every time but it appears they are too concerned the dogs will be shot anyway so have asked me to help find a new sheep property for them to work on.

Humans wanting to come into a paddock are advised by the dog not to come in. The dog will let them in the paddock as long as they dont go near the animals they are working with but under constant threat .Again the dog guages the threat level based onthe body language and movements of the predator whether that be a human or not. Last resort is to attack and they give stacks of waring when they can that this will be nasty if you keep coming.

[Steve]

What would be the difference in a Anatolian shepherd and a maremma?

Read Lillis post above.

[Guest Willow]

Years ago I had a friend whose parents had three house Maremmas. Loking back, and reading what you have read, I see now they didn;t fully understand what they had taken on. I was terrified of these dogs. I felt very unsafe in her house, and her parents were very "oh don't worry about them they'll be fine" but never told me (as a teen) how to act around the dogs, or what not to do.

Their daughter (my friend) often commented she felt the dogs weren't "quite right", and she thought her parents shouldn't have them.

They sound like fascinating dogs, I love hearing all your stories Steve!!!!

[Steve]

My inlaws have run sheep for generations, so I was talking to my brother in law who is a vertebrate pest researcher at the NSW Department of Primary Industries, and he suggested a couple of links that may be of interest:

http://www.feral.org...an-Dogs-web.pdf

http://www.dpi.nsw.g...s-and-wild-dogs

He also added that, for what it's worth, no one has done a really good cost-benefit analysis of LGDs as yet, not to say that they aren't worthwhile.

Cheers.

I have - Ive got stud dorper sheep - worth up to $10,000 each and the year before I got the dogs I lost 500 lambs. Ive have never lost a lamb since I got the dogs . Thats a good enough cost benefit analysis for me. Beats the hell out of baiting and shooting and spotting for dead lamb bodies and ewes withtheir entraills yanked out. the crows around here also feast on ewes eyes when they are down and lambing too - the Maremmas sort that oput quick smart.

The first year I put the first boy into the paddock he looked after mob of 250 merino crosses and he thought that wasnt enough so he moved between two paddocks and looked after 500. Not one lamb was taken by foxes.

For me they are priceless and around this time of year when Im getting farmers calling me begging to borrow my dogs to work their properties through fox season until they can train their own makes me realise no matter what price I was offered for them I cant afford to be without them.

[Clyde]

Might seem like a stupid question, but I've always wondered why Snowy wags her tail when she's telling someone to back off. Her tail always seems really friendly - wagging in a happy position from side to side - it fools people in to thinking she likes them and so they walk over to the fence then she really puts her bitch pants on. (I've seen non happy wagging from other dogs so know that there are differences, but this is all over happy IYKWIM). Once she's wearing her bitch pants I haven't a hope in hell of telling her to back off so I always ask the visitor to back away and then she will stop.

I've also heard that Maremma can often not like men (a breed trait) - would you agree? It seems odd to me but I've read it a few places online.

[BJean]

What would be the difference in a Anatolian shepherd and a maremma?

In general:

The Anatolian is in the middle between Maremma and Central Asian, wrt using physical confrontation as their defence response.

By that I mean maremma innate response is to bark and warn from a distance,

Central Asian innate response is active physical confrontation;

Anatolian is generally warn first followed by physical confrontation.

That said, It depends on the lineage of the dog, some Anatolians you can leave out the front to bark at unknown arrivals and some you cannot, because they will attack unknown arrivals.

How they work is not the only difference, but it represents a lot about the dogs' general temperament and character traits.

Probably Anatolians are more likely to exhibit aggression towards people than the maremma, but you will have to check with steve.

Anatolians are expected to take the lead if there is leadership lacking and it is not unusual for this to manifest into human aggression if raised the wrong way. Generally if an Anatolian is 'not working out', it is because the dog is exhibiting aggression towards the owner / family. Nothing wrong with the dog. Just the wrong temperament type for the home.

My ideal Anatolian has a strong psychological ascendancy and I will use an alpha assertive temperament type in at least either the sire or dam when breeding. Not all Anatolian breeders share this ideal, nor will a whole litter be this way.

Edited May 31, 2011 by lilli

[Steve]

Years ago I had a friend whose parents had three house Maremmas. Loking back, and reading what you have read, I see now they didn;t fully understand what they had taken on. I was terrified of these dogs. I felt very unsafe in her house, and her parents were very "oh don't worry about them they'll be fine" but never told me (as a teen) how to act around the dogs, or what not to do.

Their daughter (my friend) often commented she felt the dogs weren't "quite right", and she thought her parents shouldn't have them.

They sound like fascinating dogs, I love hearing all your stories Steve!!!!

When I first got them I heard many conflicting stories and wouldnt breed them until I really pushed them and put them to the test - put them with children, old people, chooks, sheep, cattle, horses and ragdoll kittens.

I was concerned that if I had one in the house and one of the kids friends came over that the dog may want to protect my kids too much.I wanted to see how they reacted to humans coming near their animals and how they coped with working dogs, shearing time ,strangers , and everything I could think of in a pet and working situation.

The fact is they arent up for making friends with stangers, though strangers are O.K. if I let them in and I say so they dont want to be patted or fussed over by anyone but their own animals or their own people. As pets With their own family they are affectionate and cant get enough cuddles and love but if you want them to be like that with other people you have to make an effort for them to see that as normal.

At the end of the day its all about what is normal for where they live and work. If you have a 100 people coming and going via the front gate they accept that but get a bit noisy if someone comes in the back gate and thats not normal.

No point in having a situation where you keep them apart from strangers and then expect them to be O.K. about strangers in 6 months time. Here if you drive up to the door they give a yell to let me know you are here but if you park the car and try to come through the gate and walk in they are more likely to scare you because that isnt something they see as being the norm.

Ive got 14 grandkids and the dogs love em to bits .I love watching them making sure the little ones dont go off the front porch without the kids even knowing thats what they are doing - part of that is that they make the kids love em so they choose to stay with them rather than go exploring.

I had one that had me baffled for a while. She would pre-empt my husbands movements .She knew before he went to bed that he was going ,knew when he was going to the toot and knew when he was going to get a beer.

She would wait at the hallway door and watch him go into the toot , beat him to the beer fridge and be in the bedroom waiting for him before he got there.

Turned out it was about his beer mug. When he was going to get a beer he stood up with his empty stubby in his hand and left his mug on the coffee table , if he was going to the toot he left the stubbie and the mug on the coffee table, if he was going to bed he would take his bewer mug with him to rinse and fill with water to take to the bedroom . Took me ages to work that out.

Edited May 31, 2011 by Steve

[Steve]

What would be the difference in a Anatolian shepherd and a maremma?

In general:

The Anatolian is in the middle between Maremma and Central Asian, wrt using physical confrontation as their defence response.

By that I mean maremma innate response is to bark and warn from a distance,

Central Asian innate response is active physical confrontation;

Anatolian is generally warn first followed by physical confrontation.

That said, It depends on the lineage of the dog, some Anatolians you can leave out the front to bark at unknown arrivals and some you cannot, because they will attack unknown arrivals.

How they work is not the only difference, but it represents a lot about the dogs' general temperament and character traits.

Probably Anatolians are more likely to exhibit aggression towards people than the maremma, but you will have to check with steve.

Anatolians are expected to take the lead if there is leadership lacking and it is not unusual for this to manifest into human aggression if raised the wrong way. Generally if an Anatolian is 'not working out', it is because the dog is exhibitng aggresion towards the owner / family. Nothing wrog with the dog. Just the wrong temperament type for the home.

My ideal Anatolian has a strong pscychological ascendancy and I will use an alpha assertive temperament type in at least either the sire or dam when breeding. Not all Anatolian breeders share this ideal, nor will a whole litter be this way.

Yep maremmas are never aggressive and do all they can to avoid attacking.

[BJean]

What would be the difference in a Anatolian shepherd and a maremma?

In general:

The Anatolian is in the middle between Maremma and Central Asian, wrt using physical confrontation as their defence response.

By that I mean maremma innate response is to bark and warn from a distance,

Central Asian innate response is active physical confrontation;

Anatolian is generally warn first followed by physical confrontation.

That said, It depends on the lineage of the dog, some Anatolians you can leave out the front to bark at unknown arrivals and some you cannot, because they will attack unknown arrivals.

How they work is not the only difference, but it represents a lot about the dogs' general temperament and character traits.

Probably Anatolians are more likely to exhibit aggression towards people than the maremma, but you will have to check with steve.

Anatolians are expected to take the lead if there is leadership lacking and it is not unusual for this to manifest into human aggression if raised the wrong way. Generally if an Anatolian is 'not working out', it is because the dog is exhibitng aggresion towards the owner / family. Nothing wrog with the dog. Just the wrong temperament type for the home.

My ideal Anatolian has a strong pscychological ascendancy and I will use an alpha assertive temperament type in at least either the sire or dam when breeding. Not all Anatolian breeders share this ideal, nor will a whole litter be this way.

Yep maremmas are never aggressive and do all they can to avoid attacking.

I believe the dogs are very much the result of their homelands.

The Maremma is from Italy.

Anatolian from Turkey.

Central Asian from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

The Anatolian had less day to day interaction with people than the Central Asian, it needed to protect a lone shepherd and his flock. Being good with people was not a requirement. It was necessary that the dogs did not need people The dogs were never part of the family. The dogs of Central Asia were family guardians, expected to be a canine warrior of sorts and evolved to be physically so hardy because basically there is nothing there to support them. I dont mean 1000 years ago or 100 years ago. I mean even now.

The landscape of Italy I cannot relate as I have not been there to look at the dogs in their environment, but if you extrapolate what you know of the three geographical regions, and the histories of the peoples that lived on them, then you will also see and understand the psyches of the dogs who lived with them. It is probably true to say that the Central Asia dogs can be as volatile as the histories of the lands they are from. But they are also survivors. I arrived in Kazakhstan with a lot of speculation and arrogance about how we look after our dogs, and left humbled with a lot of admiration

and realisation there is so much for me to learn

Edited May 31, 2011 by lilli

[Steve]

Might seem like a stupid question, but I've always wondered why Snowy wags her tail when she's telling someone to back off. Her tail always seems really friendly - wagging in a happy position from side to side - it fools people in to thinking she likes them and so they walk over to the fence then she really puts her bitch pants on. (I've seen non happy wagging from other dogs so know that there are differences, but this is all over happy IYKWIM). Once she's wearing her bitch pants I haven't a hope in hell of telling her to back off so I always ask the visitor to back away and then she will stop.

I've also heard that Maremma can often not like men (a breed trait) - would you agree? It seems odd to me but I've read it a few places online.

No I wouldnt say they dont like men. In fact my house dogs appear to "love" my husband more than me and Ive often had a sook about their disloyalty when Im the one with them all day and feeding them etc. though I know thats because he is more affectionate to them than I am and because they see him as boss cocky of the mob.

If you watch your own body language and your own tone of voice and tell the dog quietly and calmly its O.K. it will turn her off quicker but the reality is anyone that comes in too quickly rather than back off a minute and let the dog know they arent going to hurt you and allow them to judge what your reactions are is pretty brave .When they are yelling with their hackles up and acting like they mean it - it really is someone more fearless than me who would keep coming.

[Guest Willow]

The more I read, the more I like the sound of them (despite the bad experience with my frinds pack).

Maybe one day in the far-off future.....

[Steve]

What would be the difference in a Anatolian shepherd and a maremma?

In general:

The Anatolian is in the middle between Maremma and Central Asian, wrt using physical confrontation as their defence response.

By that I mean maremma innate response is to bark and warn from a distance,

Central Asian innate response is active physical confrontation;

Anatolian is generally warn first followed by physical confrontation.

That said, It depends on the lineage of the dog, some Anatolians you can leave out the front to bark at unknown arrivals and some you cannot, because they will attack unknown arrivals.

How they work is not the only difference, but it represents a lot about the dogs' general temperament and character traits.

Probably Anatolians are more likely to exhibit aggression towards people than the maremma, but you will have to check with steve.

Anatolians are expected to take the lead if there is leadership lacking and it is not unusual for this to manifest into human aggression if raised the wrong way. Generally if an Anatolian is 'not working out', it is because the dog is exhibitng aggresion towards the owner / family. Nothing wrog with the dog. Just the wrong temperament type for the home.

My ideal Anatolian has a strong pscychological ascendancy and I will use an alpha assertive temperament type in at least either the sire or dam when breeding. Not all Anatolian breeders share this ideal, nor will a whole litter be this way.

Yep maremmas are never aggressive and do all they can to avoid attacking.

I believe the dogs are very much the result of their homelands.

The Maremma is from Italy.

Anatolian from Turkey.

Central Asian from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

The Anatolian had less day to day interaction with people than the Central Asian, it needed to protect a lone shepherd and his flock. Being good with people was not a requirement. It was necessary that the dogs did not need people The dogs were never part of the family. The dogs of Central Asia were family guardians, expected to be a canine warrior of sorts and evolved to be physically so hardy because basically there is nothing there to support them. I dont mean 1000 years ago or 100 years ago. I mean even now.

The landscape of Italy I cannot relate as I have not been there to look at the dogs in their environment, but if you extrapolate what you know of the three geographical regions, and the histories of the peoples that lived on them, then you will also see and understand the psyches of the dogs who lived with them. It is probably true to say that the Central Asia dogs can be as volatile as the history of the land they are from. But they are also survivors. I arrived in Kazakhstan with a lot of speculation and arrogance about how we look after our dogs, and left humbled with a lot of admiration for the land and her dogs.

And realising there is so much for me to learn

Very true. In italy they are expected to be more people friendly as the threat is from wolves and they are also expected to have basic manners with visitors etc when they are bought back in closer to the farmhouse.

[Steve]

Might seem like a stupid question, but I've always wondered why Snowy wags her tail when she's telling someone to back off. Her tail always seems really friendly - wagging in a happy position from side to side - it fools people in to thinking she likes them and so they walk over to the fence then she really puts her bitch pants on. (I've seen non happy wagging from other dogs so know that there are differences, but this is all over happy IYKWIM). Once she's wearing her bitch pants I haven't a hope in hell of telling her to back off so I always ask the visitor to back away and then she will stop.

I've also heard that Maremma can often not like men (a breed trait) - would you agree? It seems odd to me but I've read it a few places online.

I bet you feel safer knowing she is there. I have no doubt that if someone rushed at me in a threatening manner they would be pinned in a heartbeat. I would be guessing at why they wag their tail but its my experience when they are "on" the tail is the last thing you would be looking at

Edited May 31, 2011 by Steve

[BJean]

What would be the difference in a Anatolian shepherd and a maremma?

In general:

The Anatolian is in the middle between Maremma and Central Asian, wrt using physical confrontation as their defence response.

By that I mean maremma innate response is to bark and warn from a distance,

Central Asian innate response is active physical confrontation;

Anatolian is generally warn first followed by physical confrontation.

That said, It depends on the lineage of the dog, some Anatolians you can leave out the front to bark at unknown arrivals and some you cannot, because they will attack unknown arrivals.

How they work is not the only difference, but it represents a lot about the dogs' general temperament and character traits.

Probably Anatolians are more likely to exhibit aggression towards people than the maremma, but you will have to check with steve.

Anatolians are expected to take the lead if there is leadership lacking and it is not unusual for this to manifest into human aggression if raised the wrong way. Generally if an Anatolian is 'not working out', it is because the dog is exhibitng aggresion towards the owner / family. Nothing wrog with the dog. Just the wrong temperament type for the home.

My ideal Anatolian has a strong pscychological ascendancy and I will use an alpha assertive temperament type in at least either the sire or dam when breeding. Not all Anatolian breeders share this ideal, nor will a whole litter be this way.

Yep maremmas are never aggressive and do all they can to avoid attacking.

I believe the dogs are very much the result of their homelands.

The Maremma is from Italy.

Anatolian from Turkey.

Central Asian from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

The Anatolian had less day to day interaction with people than the Central Asian, it needed to protect a lone shepherd and his flock. Being good with people was not a requirement. It was necessary that the dogs did not need people The dogs were never part of the family. The dogs of Central Asia were family guardians, expected to be a canine warrior of sorts and evolved to be physically so hardy because basically there is nothing there to support them. I dont mean 1000 years ago or 100 years ago. I mean even now.

The landscape of Italy I cannot relate as I have not been there to look at the dogs in their environment, but if you extrapolate what you know of the three geographical regions, and the histories of the peoples that lived on them, then you will also see and understand the psyches of the dogs who lived with them. It is probably true to say that the Central Asia dogs can be as volatile as the history of the land they are from. But they are also survivors. I arrived in Kazakhstan with a lot of speculation and arrogance about how we look after our dogs, and left humbled with a lot of admiration for the land and her dogs.

And realising there is so much for me to learn

Very true. In italy they are expected to be more people friendly as the threat is from wolves and they are also expected to have basic manners with visitors etc when they are bought back in closer to the farmhouse.

Yes in Central Asia the threats have been four legged and two legged. A guardian dog that will not attack is no good. A dog must love its family and be able to defend them. Be gentle and kind with those they know, and wild and fearless with those they don't.

But we cannot say, guardian dog defend my family with your life, stop who will harm us at night, we trust you to make that decision with your superior sense of movement, sound and smell -

and at the same time say, guardian dog I want you to use your instincts some of the time but other times just bark at what may cause harm;

accept this person as my guest now but I depend on your physical strength to stop them when they are not my guest.

Edited May 31, 2011 by lilli

[Clyde]

Might seem like a stupid question, but I've always wondered why Snowy wags her tail when she's telling someone to back off. Her tail always seems really friendly - wagging in a happy position from side to side - it fools people in to thinking she likes them and so they walk over to the fence then she really puts her bitch pants on. (I've seen non happy wagging from other dogs so know that there are differences, but this is all over happy IYKWIM). Once she's wearing her bitch pants I haven't a hope in hell of telling her to back off so I always ask the visitor to back away and then she will stop.

I've also heard that Maremma can often not like men (a breed trait) - would you agree? It seems odd to me but I've read it a few places online.

I bet you feel safer knowing she is there. I have no doubt that id someone rushed at me in a threatening manner they would be pinned in a heartbeat. I would be guessing at why they wag their tail but its my experience when they are "on" the tail is the last thing you would be looking at

True, I love having her. I have to admit I was very surprised when I first saw her protecting. For the week prior I even fleetingly second guessed her potential (sorry Andrea ) as she's such a gentle, affectionate dog. Boy she knows how to turn it up when she wants to. I can't imagine we will ever be without one now.

I arrived in Kazakhstan with a lot of speculation and arrogance about how we look after our dogs, and left humbled with a lot of admiration

Lilli, could you elaborate on that more?

[MissMaddy]

I'm really enjoying this thread! I love learning more about these amazing breeds.

I myself plan on one day running my own horse stud, and have plans of having LGDs (I was leaning more towards the Central Asians as I would think any real threat to the horses would need a tough dog to take it on) to protect my mares and foals. I already live on small acreage, and I'm now considering perhaps getting a maremma sometime in the near future to give me an introduction to LGDs, as well as having a dog to just generally protect the family and animals. How do they go accepting new members into the family? eg. a new dog, horse or human? From what's been said here, I would think they'd be ok if given time to accept the new member and realise they are part of the family??

Amazing dogs, can't wait to own one!!! But I would like to make sure I'm in the position to offer it the right sort of home and environment for it's natural instincts.

[Steve]

They accept anything you accept .Bringing in a new animal here is no big deal. I walk in put it down and say dog meet new animal and they say Oh O.K..They will actually go out of their way to make friends and let the new kid know they are no threat and that they will look out for them.

[spanky]

Steve, how would they go with dogs on lead with strangers?

We're in the process of looking for a 50-100 acre property to have a mixture of cattle, sheep and pigs so I'd like a maremma. If we find something in a suitable area I'd like to do a dog friendly farmstay, but not sure a maremma would take kindly to having strange dogs on the property. So maybe I'd be best not having one?

[MissMaddy]

They accept anything you accept .Bringing in a new animal here is no big deal. I walk in put it down and say dog meet new animal and they say Oh O.K..They will actually go out of their way to make friends and let the new kid know they are no threat and that they will look out for them.

That's what I was hoping. I'd love to get one now to bond onto myself, my existing dogs and horses (oh, plus the cats), but am planning on moving in the next 6 months so I think I should wait. I'm buying land with my mum, and am considering running agistmnent, so I'd want to be there before getting a LGD, so it would get used to people coming and going from the start (also so I then know the dog laws and if I need to get a permit as I already have 3 dogs). I assume in this case the dog would become good at discriminating between those coming in with good or bad intentions from the person's body language???