IS A MAREMMA SUITABLE AS A FAMILY PET?
The Maremma Sheepdog Club of America does NOT recommend the Maremma as a pet. The Maremma actually never considers itself a 'pet'. It is a working dog, with 2000 years of genetic background of livestock guardianship behind it, and it needs a job to keep it occupied. If it is to be in the house with a family, it must be temperament-tested and heavily socialized from the time it is a small puppy. A puppy should be outgoing and friendly with everyone, but its rowdy behavior needs controlling; after all, a 10 month old puppy may weigh 100 pounds! It must also get used to meeting strangers. By the time it is two years old, it will be less outgoing with strangers, and may even decide it doesn't want ANY stranger to touch it, its master, or its property. To limit this future possessiveness, you must get your dog used to being handled by many friendly strangers when it is very young, and KEEP AT IT. But even then, you must personally introduce your dog to all new strangers who enter its territory (your home and property), and you may have to be present each time that they return.
HOW DOES THIS TEMPERAMENT DIFFER FROM THE MORE USUAL GUARD DOG, LIKE THE GERMAN SHEPHERD, THE ROTTWEILER OR THE DOBERMAN?
These breeds were developed as personal protection dogs, and they look to their master for instructions. They excel, for example, in formal obedience trials, and they may be suitable for attack training and schutzhund work. Maremmas, and other livestock guarding breeds, have been selected to take responsibility and to make their own decisions in the absence of a master. This means that they want to make up their own minds, and decide for themselves, how best to deal with a potentially dangerous situation. To give examples: they are likely to think the garbage man is stealing from you; they may think a plumber with a tool in his hand plans to attack you or your property; they may think your Uncle Bob, who is a stranger to the dog, is accosting the children if he grabs one suddenly to give a hug. In other words, to live easily with a Maremma you have to be able to foresee situations which look "potentially dangerous" to your dog. It is strongly recommended that you have a place to put your dog out of harm's way if someone the dog does not like has to be in your house or you have to be away. This can be an escape-proof room, dog run, fenced yard, or a crate. The Maremma is not suitable for attack training.
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