ABOUT THE PARENTS:
Molly, the mother of four great puppies; two boys and two girls, is a purebred Maremma. Her previous owners also had four children much like our family. She was a livestock guardian and in the previous owner’s words, “we made the mistake of letting our kids play with her too much, she is no longer a good sheep dog”. She only wanted to play with the children as a puppy herself (
5 months). They had to let her go and we were the active recipients and her new lucky family. Henry Ford, also known as Hank, is Molly's pal and lover. We got him from a farm in Richland Center. He is a purebred Great Pyrenees. Hank has been known to sit idly with his large head on the edge of the hot tub waiting for as long as ten minutes just to be next to us and get some attention. Hank and Molly are known to put the pups to sleep and take long walks together around the perimeter of our property (our family, chickens and Hank even tolerates the cats). Hank and Molly are both great protectors of our house and they may be some of the sweetest animals we've ever owned. These two dog breeds have been guarding people and livestock for centuries and there have been many instances where they have been known to fend off full grown grizzly bears with the assistance of a studded collar. Hank is not quite fully grown yet but based on his father he is projected to stand about 6 foot tall and be about 150 pounds. We came up with the new name of these breeds together and will be called the Great Maremma. ABOUT THE BREED:
Dogs have been living and working with people for centuries. One of the earliest jobs that our ancestors trained and used their canine friends to do was to work as livestock guardians. The role of the livestock guardian dog (LGD) has remained largely unchanged. While the task carried out by LGDs may not be as complex as that of some other working dogs, it’s not something that just any dog can do. There are several specific traits that LGDs need to have. For starters, LGDs are typically large or giant breeds. In this instance, they have thick all-weather coats that make it possible for them to spend most of their working lives outdoors. They also need to get on with or at least tolerate the constant presence of the livestock, and they need a calm, patient, and alert manner and strong guarding instinct.