Hi All

Just after a wee bit of advice.

We have a 12 month old Maremma in our rescue at the moment. 

I don't know the breed that well, and just wondered, (in your experience) how they are with very young children, etc.

General temperament questions really.
He seems to be quite aloof, and generally only interacts with whomever HE chooses :)
I have read that they can be pretty wary of strangers/new people too.

Any further info. would be gratefully received.

Thanks :)

edit: to change age of 'Chopper' (the Maremma!)

There's a lot of useful information about them on the Breed Club site.

Has his breeder been traced.  This is a very low neumber registration breed, in fact they have had their CC's taken away as numbers bred were so few.

Thanks JG, I did have a read of that, but wanted some 'first hand' experience too.

Hi Brainless

No chance of that I'm afraid.  He came into us after being found as a stray.  No microchip, etc.  :(

No chance of that I'm afraid.  He came into us after being found as a stray.  No microchip, etc.

Even so if you have an idea of his age half a dozen phone calls should find the breeder

Sorry just noticed you are not in the UK

Not checked but is there a breed club in Oz? Maybe they can help or get more info by contacting other owners/breeders out there? I'm guessing there is no breed rescue for them over there either?

Not that I'm aware of Sue, but must admit I haven't checked that.
Thanks :)

They are kinda aloof tbh, take a while to bond with people ect. Generally reasonable once well socilised with other dogs people ect. Meant to be good with kids, but big so be careful. I'd of thought you could find him a home through the breed society tbh. There a small (numerically) breed and must be quite unusual to have one in rescue.
I believe they are fairly easy going compared to other flock guardian breeds.

Adam

Thanks for your responses.

He is already up for adoption, so I guess the idea of contacting breed rescue isn't always something our place thinks about.

He's our 2nd Maremma in the space of about a fortnight sadly.  From previous information, it seems we do get quite a few through.

Basically the story is, a chap is interested in rehoming the dog, and he has two young children aged 1 and 3 years.

The dog was brought in as a surrender for excessive barking, which seems very much part of the breed.

My/our concerns obviously are that he is rehomed to the absolute right home.

It's important that anyone taking a Maremma on understands that they are not the most obedient of dogs because they are bred to be independent thinkers. If you want more information on children etc I'd suggest contacting the lovely Sarah Fisher who has a Maremma on her own farm. You will be able to find her contact details under TTouch/Tilley farm google :)
She is always extremely helpful.

Lindsay
x

Here are a few links and contacts for breeders etc in OZ.
http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/puppies/maremma-sheepdog.asp

http://mononmaremma.com/

http://www.maremmano.com/amarcord.htm

Hope maybe these people could help, especially as very low numbers are being bred over there too..
Can't find a breed club over there, let alone a breed rescue. So possibly maybe able to trace breeder direct? Unless BYB/PuppyFarmed dog...

I'd just try him with the kids and see. They can be a vocal/stubborn breed but are usually pretty ok with their family members. As long as the dog is basically used to kids and the guy is sensible about it and the dog has no issues (food guarding ect) I would go ahead.

Adam

It's a matter of socialisation! No-one on a forum can say whether a particular dog is good with children. For all you know, this dog may have been taunted by children, may have never met children, may just not like children etc. You can only say for sure once the dog has been child tested with dog savvy children... personally, I would not rehome a dog with unknown background (though first you say he was a stray, then a surrender... so not sure which) into a  home with small children - especially not a giant breed like that.

Vera

> I'd just try him with the kids and see. They can be a vocal/stubborn breed but are usually pretty ok with their family members. As long as the dog is basically used to kids and the guy is sensible about it and the dog has no issues (food guarding ect) I would go ahead.

Bit of a dangerous generalisation. Surely you know so many dogs are OK with "their" family cat but not others... well the same is often extended towards children.

Thanks again for your input all.

As I said before, the dog came to us as a stray, so we have no previous history.  I purely was after information as to temperament in general of this particular breed, which I have to say are lovely imo.

No he wasn't, sorry - couldn't edit my last post, he was surrendered for excessive barking! lol
Sorry - getting myself confused, as we have a BT that WAS a stray that I'm trying to sort too.  Duh!