THE MAREMMANO-ABRUZZESE CHARACTER

As a breeder I have always informed potential buyers of a Maremmano-Abruzzese puppy that the breed is not everybody’s dog. In this breed the relationship between the owner and his dog is very rewarding, as the dog places himself on the same level as his owner. This means a challenge for the owner as the dog will be brought to obey and respect him only if the owner acquires an image of authority and prestige in the dogs’ eyes. The Maremmano Abruzzese has basically a very independent, that means not subservient character, and will not tolerate what he thinks to be a slight or injustice, even from his owner, and much less from strangers. To explain this, one must consider what the shepherds in Abruzzo mountains require from this animal. The sheep are very often completely alone during the day on the high slopes of the Appennines, and only the attentive company of the dog defends them from an attack from predators. At night, even if the shepherd is present in the primitive building adjoining the string net used for enclosing the sheep, the dog must keep constant watch, as if a predator were to come close to the pen, the sheep were to crowd in one side or corner, and quite a number of the sheep would be trampled or suffocated by the others. Thus, it is easy to understand that man requires from this dog a type of intelligence capable of taking immediate decisions by himself, in an emergency, rather than obeying the orders of an owner who may not be near at hand, or may even be absent for long periods. To curb this independent character, it is very important to train a puppy before he reaches six months of age to go obediently on a lead, to climb into the car and to go back to his enclosure if strangers arrive on the premises. In fact, as a puppy, the Maremmano Abruzzese will tolerate reproof, and even some punishment if necessary, whereas an adult dog will often growl and bite if treated harshly. He will only submit to an order he dislikes if used discipline, and if he has well understood from his early age that a firm command from his owner cannot easily be disattended. A Maremmano Abruzzese is essentially an outdoor animal. It is absolutely unsuited to live in a flat, and it is very wrong to let him stay in the house for more than a short visit, or to loll on sofas etc., as this will tend to put him “out of his place” which is the outdoor premises, where he is supposed to keep a constant attentive vigil over his owners’ possession by day and by night. That doesn’t mean that you will not leave him inside the house to guard it when you are away, or even during the night if necessary. The moment you come back, or in the morning after some patting an praising each will resume their roles; the owner in the house, and the dog outside. I always advise Maremmano Abruzzese owners to provide themselves with an outdoor pen, which needn’t be very big, where the dog can be confined when there are strangers, tradesmen or people with whom he isn’t used to having continous contact. In fact, especially an adult male will never be safe with strangers, because even their picking up one of the owners children or collecting an object may induce the dog to react to what he thinks may be a danger to his owners property. If you have two dogs, even of different sexes, you need a pen for each dog, because at feeding time they will quarrel fiercely. Chivalry does not enter a Maremmano Abruzzese’s baggage of values. In the pen, you must place a wooden hut, with a wooden floor and a watertight roof.

Its opening will be opposite the direction of the dominant wind. The typical Maremmano Abruzzese is general very sensible, and easily offended, so his owner must always try and understand him and try to obtain the utmost out of the most affectionate and unfalteringly faithful, but not always easy companion. The adult Maremmano Abruzzese is a calm dog. He will bark by day and by night only if he hears something unusual that stimulates his senses, which are keen; otherwise he will be lying in the shade of the house or in some cool place sleeping, or pretending to do so. Even when you travel on the motorway in the vicinity of Rome during the winter and in early spring, you will notice the sheep grazing, and the dogs lying not far away, generally on a hillock, looking bored. Thus, even his calory requirements are smaller than those of another breed of the same weight. Temperament in this breed is as important as its appearance, as dogs who have the wrong temperament can develop an unwanted aggressiveness which, besides being a problem to the owner, can do much harm to the breed. I have noticed that in badly tempered subjects, inbreeding was often present in their pedigree, which I have therefore always avoided, and advise other breeders to do the same. You will have noticed that in this talk I have always called the breed with its double name in Italian; Cane da pastore Maremmano Abruzzese. In fact in recent times, there has been growing in the Abruzzi Region, among all who are in any way involved in the breed, a sense of resentment of the dog being called ”Maremmano Abruzzese” or “Maremma” when not just “Maremmano”. The people of the Abruzzi cannot be contradicted when they say that, even the dogs in the past, and still today, spend the greater part of their lives in the plains, or “Maremme”, their traditional owners and breeders have always belonged to the Abruzzi Region. This issue hast become so exasperated in these last years that, also by means of political pressure, the people of Abruzzi have obtained from the Italian Kennel Club E.N.C.I, that it should promote a study to see if it is not necessary to officially recognise two breeds; the “Maremmano Abruzzese”, and the Pastore or “Mastino Abruzzese”,as the dog is often called in Abruzzo. A “Mastino” in the local sense, is a dog that is used more as a guard than a herder. From a technical viewpoint, it is absolutely impossible to distinguish two breeds of white long coated dogs in Italy , as the Kennel Club registered Maremmano-Abruzzese dogs in Italy have the great majority of their blood deriving from dogs imported in to the kennels directly from Abruzzi region. This fact nobody can confirm better than myself, who started using dogs coming from the region in 1956, and continued doing so until 1988, when I imported the Grandmother of my present dogs. Even the old Corsini and Chigi-Scaracini strains, which were the foundations of the breed in England before the second world war, were derived from Corsini and Chigi-Saracini Estates, who always spent the summer months grazing with their dogs in the mountains of Abruzzi . I believe and hope that the issue will wear itself out with time. During the time that I have been Secretary of the Club, I have endeavoured –alas, not with great success, to get the two worlds of the shepherds and the sport breeders in closer contact. I always tried to get the Abruzzi shepherds to regularly register their puppies. In fact, if the dogs that guard the sheep would, in the near future, be bred with a regard to exterior conformation, and not only following their guardian abilities, and would have a documented genealogy, it would be much easier for breeders from Italy, and from abroad, who are outside the sheep raising world, to include working strains in their breeding programmes. This is the only way to ensure that the proper character of this dog will remain in fact, even outside of its original surroundings. It is comparatively easy to organise working courses and competitions for herding dogs like the Collie and the Bergamasco, but it is very difficult indeed to test the working abilities of a Maremmano Aabruzzese, when he is not living with the sheep, and is not specifically required to be inoffensive with the animals in his custody, to follow and protect them day and night, and to be ready to face the wild predator, even at the cost of his life.

Francesco Giuntini – 1992

Published with permission of the CPMA (Circolo del Pastore Maremmano Abruzzese)
Source article including pictures: http://www.cpma.it/eng/standard.php?a1=8