Starting Your Maremma Pup
By Nancy Joyce Simmons, Hope’s Farm LLC
Unlike other dog training, the raising of a Livestock Guardian Dog involves working with and encouraging their strong instincts. This involves establishing and growing a profound bond with livestock, and the most important period of time for this bonding is between 4 and 16 weeks.
My pups are moved to the barn with their mother when they are 4 weeks old. Mom keeps them safe, teaches them to be kind to their stock, and most importantly, shows them the basics of guarding: watching the sky for birds of prey, racing to ward off coyotes, bears, foxes and mountain lions to prevent them from breaching the fence, and keeping a keen eyes on the livestock at all times as they forage for food and wander about oblivious to danger.
When the pups go to their new homes, I advise my clients to pen the pup in a very small pen with 3 or 4 docile ewes, does or a few chickens, depending on their livestock, for at least a week to bond. This advice is based on how shepherds have raised these pups for centuries and on current scientific inquiry.
The reason for this is that while my pups are bonded to my stock, they are not yet bonded to their new family. Penning closely ensures bonding and prevents any chasing. The pup lives quietly and peacefully with his new family and is rewarded with praise for being good. Feeding the pup and livestock closely together really enhances bonding because they immediately begin to associate one another with pleasant feelings – being fed.
Of course the pup must be handled and given affection, but it should be done in the pen while the pup is with his livestock, so he never develops the habit of wandering to seek attention or excitement. You should praise him for being good to his stock and living quietly with them. You want to establish this as his default behaviour and have him clearly understand that this is how he should work and that it feels good to be with his stock. This ensures that the pup understands his role and is properly bonded to his stock.
After about a week, depending on how the pup is doing, more stock can be introduced and the area can be more of a medium size pen. If the pups gets rowdy, then back to the smaller area.
Once the pups is used to the medium pen, he can be moved to an even larger area, or the full flock, depending on the size of your operation.
The strong bond from the close penning with a small number of stock will help the pup bond with the entire flock once they are rejoined. Again, if the pup seems confused or is being naughty, you can back up to a smaller area. Generally, this only takes a few months depending on the size of your farm, and you will have a young dog who is very happy in his work. Always remember, the key is that a pup is happy in his work. When he is bonded with his stock and understands his job, there will be far fewer behavior problems. In addition, if the pup does need a verbal correction, it is much more powerful because he has experienced being praised for living quietly with his stock as his default and he will understand that being rough is unpleasant for everyone.
