Hi, Just got our rescue dog before Xmas and she's coming on leaps and bounds. Shes two and is a maremma sheepdog.

We have a few areas we need to work on with her but in the main she's doing fine and getting on much better with our golden retriever dog.

I've emailed a breeder and have asked her for a few pointers but was wondering where you find classes aimed at bigger slightly older dogs.

All classes are aimed at puppies. 

Although an independent breed by nature she snaps and growls at other people and dogs when out on the lead so we know we need to work with her gently with other dogs and passers by.

Anyone know of trainers in edinburgh or just experienced dog lovers who would be up for a meeting with the dogs sometime?

She is a nervous dog and not sure if she's been smacked in the past so any pointers please?
We know this will take time and are not worried but want to make sure we do best possible for them both.
(He's now copying some of her behaviour and growls at our neighbours dog now)

ps She was neutered two months ago as she'd had a phantom pregnancy and nipped one of the kids in the home.

Am unsure tho if this was a one off tho as we've had to remove all toys in the house as she's very possessive and quick to guard.

She has snapped and growled at all of us but we just remove her from the room or leave her alone for a few minutes.

Hi Julie,

Think you might have been better posting this under a different heading - probably behaviour ;)   Advice on the behaviour above is difficult to give on the web as without seeing what causes an animal to react and exactly what that reaction is it could be quite misleading.

However, hopefully someone with this breed will be on line soon - I always think breed specific advice is far more beneficial when dealing with an older dog - particularly of unknown origins.  In the meantime, why not try to find the Maremma website, either through our KC or doing a search on Google?  You might find some useful info there.

Good luck & well done you for giving a dog a second chance
Teri :)

Thanks, id actually thought that myself but as im not pc minded i didnt know how to change the heading.

I've contacted three breeders in uk as they're quite rare when we were thinking of getting a maremma.

As uve pointed out they are quite specific in their instincts and behaviour.  This is harder as your trying to undo some of the issues that may have been brought on by their first owners.

Thanks

Hi Julie, if she is unhappy at meeting other dogs and people outside, would you consider having a behaviourist asessing her one to one to check that a class wouldnt be unhlepfully stressful? I live in Edinburgh, so if you Pm me I can give you a couple of good numbers.

RE training classes, i assist at an APDT class  specifically for "Good Manners" and we have had plenty of adult dogs including rescue greyhounds, ridgebacks,  many other sorts of pet dogs and some quite difficult dogs. (Also a few very badly mismatched dogs and owners!! <g>).

The apdt was set up specifically for training pet dogs, hence most classes tend to emphasise pet training and not the accurate obedience type (so recall means calling Come and dog is taught to be happy with a collar grab, rather than do an obedience style recall and front). Take a peek at www.apdt.co.uk and you may find a trainer near you who can provide the sort of class you would like. Some will also do one to one stuff.

Hth
Lindsay
x

Kool, will check out website tomorrow. Thanks

Perhaps joining a breed-specific forum would help? If you type maremma+group into Google you will come up with a few.

Thanks I will, I checked out the other website yesterday so will do the search today.

She's not food motivated and quite independent so maybe a few more weeks of bonding will help as well!

Hi Julie

Have PMed you some suggestions before I read this. Best group for Maremmas is MaremmaSheepdog at Yahoo - subscribe at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MaremmaSheepdog/join - 380 odd Maremma owners very willing to give help and advice.

best wishes
Janet