In October 2021 I had a litter of eight puppies born to two of my dogs, Unfinished Acres Sevro and Marcella of MoonAcre Maremmas. I later discovered that 4 of the puppies had umbilical hernias, or more accurately, delayed closures. An umbilical hernia is an actual hole in the abdomen which remains permanently open, allowing fat or intestines to slip in and out. An Umbilical Hernia can sometimes pose a risk to the dog, but usually only if it's severe and these types of umbilical hernias are rare. In a delayed closure the opening does eventually close, but takes longer than usual. Sometimes a little piece of fat can get trapped in the area when it does close, forming a "bubble" that can be felt under the skin, but there's no hole and no intestines or fat slipping in and out. The risk of danger from a delayed closure is extremely small.  ​

Hernias can be genetic or they can be mechanical - meaning damage was done to the puppy, usually by the mom chewing the cord too close or worrying it too much, or by human intervention (a breeder cutting the cords too close) or other causes. There's really no way to know 100% for sure what the cause is. But going by the evidence you see is a good starting point in making a rational, scientific and educated judgement. Do one or more of the parents have a hernia, or do any of their known relatives have one? That probably increases the odds that it's genetic. Did the puppy bleed excessively from the mom chewing the cord too close, or from a human cutting the cord too short? Or did the mom "over worry" the cord, licking and chewing obsessively? Then chances are high this is a mechanical defect.

Some females can be quite obsessive about chewing or licking the cords. In an effort to keep the pups clean they can inadvertently do damage to the umbilical area, causing hernias in some pups. This doesn't mean they are bad moms or shouldn't be bred. As with all things related to breeding dogs there are no perfect animals and each breeder must weigh all the traits a dog possesses to decide which animals are right for their program. Being proactive in managing the bitch and her pups during whelping may help prevent hernias in some cases, though this doesn't always work. Knowing your dog is helpful, but in reality some mechanical, non-genetic hernias may be inevitable in some cases, particularly with some dogs who are prone to worrying the cords. 

As far as whether or not a dog with a hernia should be bred people have varying opinions about that, too. Some feel strongly that breeding any dog with a hernia is an absolute no-no, no matter the cause. Others will breed a dog with a hernia if they believe it's mechanical and not genetic. Others feel that a hernia is a very small matter, even if it is genetic, especially in light of all the other factors that need to be considered when choosing breeding stock, and that culling an otherwise great dog from a breeding program based on a hernia is ignorant and backwards. This is a decision that each breeder should make for themselves based on what traits matter the most to them in a breeding dog.

When I discovered the hernias on the puppies I immediately suspected that the cause was mechanical, not genetic. Why did I think that? Because neither Sevro nor Marcella have hernias, nor do their parents, to my knowledge. Both Unfinished Acres Sevro and Marcella of MoonAcre Maremmas were bred by MSCA Code of Ethics breeders and these breeders would not knowingly be passing genetic defects on to their pups. I don't know if hernias are dominant or recessive but it makes sense that if the hernias in that litter were truly genetic at least one parent would have them. And likely one or more grandparent would, too.

From the moment I first discovered the hernias I strongly believed that I had inadvertently caused them. The spring before the litter was born I had several cases of Joint Ill (Or Navel Ill) in my dairy goat kids. Navel or Joint Ill is a horrible disease caused by bacteria getting into the umbilical cord site. It can travel into the joints, causing crippling pain and fever. In goats it takes at least a month of daily injections of very strong antibiotics (Baytril 100) and fever reducing medicine (Banamine) to cure. Kids can have lasting damage from the disease as well as the medications required to cure it. Preventing Navel Ill is serious business because prevention is much better than trying to cure the disease. Part of the prevention is spraying or dipping the navel area with a strong antiseptic solution to kill bacteria. I always spray the cords with Vetericyn Super Navel Spray but for some reason I still had a lot of cases that year. So after that experience I began being very diligent in spraying my baby goats thoroughly, not just once as I previously did, but several times over the first day or two. Thankfully this protocol worked and I have not had a case of Joint Ill in my goats since I made these changes.

Marcella's October 2021 litter was the first Maremma litter born after that spring kidding season, so I decided I should be just as cautious with the puppies to prevent a navel infection in them.  As each puppy was born I sprayed it with the bright orange navel spray. Then every time a new puppy was born I sprayed all of the puppies again. The reason I did this is that unless I was watching very closely I couldn't tell which puppy was the new one each time another pup was born. And rather than accidentally miss one, I just continued to spray them all each time. If you look at photos of that litter you'll see the orange spray all over the puppies and Marcella. The earlier born pups got more doses of the spray and their stains took several weeks to fade compared to the later born pups, who only got a few doses of spray. Spraying the pups so much turned out to be a big mistake because each time I sprayed the pups, Marcella continued to lick them over and over. In her efforts to be a good mom she was inadvertently causing damage to some of the pups' umbilical cords, most likely the ones that were born first and got sprayed more times. Of course, I didn't realize all this until the puppies were several weeks old and I discovered the hernias, and by then it was too late.

Once I realized that half the puppies had hernias (Three females and one male.) I explained the issue to all the puppy buyers and told them my belief that the cause was mechanical, not genetic, but that I couldn't know this for sure. I also explained to the clients that were waiting on a breeding candidate puppy that there were different opinions about whether a dog with a hernia should be bred or not. I told every client that they should do their own research and let me know what they decided. They could take a puppy with a hernia or without one from this litter, or wait for a puppy without a hernia from the next litter, that had been born in December. Some chose a puppy with a hernia, some chose a non-hernia puppy from this litter and some chose to wait for the next litter. I had planned to retain one of the puppies with a hernia, because I felt that overall she was the best quality puppy in the litter and had the best temperament. But because I didn't want to unduly influence any of the buyers I made all the puppies from the litter available and didn't retain one for myself.  

I knew that Marcella would be having another litter in 2022. Even though she had produced 4 hernia puppies in her previous litter she's a fantastic Livestock Guardian Dog with great conformation, excellent PennHip scores, a diverse pedigree and a trustworthy, gentle temperament. She has a lot to offer my breeding program and the breed. She doesn't have a hernia herself, and I strongly believed the hernias were mechanical, not genetic, so I was willing to try again. I was originally planning to breed her to Benson Ranch Pax, or perhaps to my newly imported Italian stud dog, Pegaso, but after thinking it over I decided instead to breed her back to Sevro. I did this for two reasons. First because I had wanted to keep a puppy from the last litter but hadn't done so and I wanted to repeat the breeding in hopes of getting another puppy as nice as the one I had let go. And also because I wanted to repeat the exact same breeding that had produced hernias last time and see if I would get the same results. I wanted to see if my theory about the cause of the hernias was true. I expected that I might get one or two hernias. Marcella is a super attentive mom and does have a tendency to sometimes chew the cords too short or lick them a lot. I knew that despite my best efforts she could cause a hernia in this litter, but I was hoping she wouldn't if I was very diligent. So I repeated the breeding and hoped for the best. And I promised myself I would be very careful not to overspray the cords this time!

​The puppies were born on October 4th, 2022. Ten lovely pups, 6 males and 4 females. As each puppy was born I very carefully sprayed the cord one time only and then marked the puppy on the head with a tiny dot of sheep dye, so I would know that these pups had already had their cords sprayed and wouldn't spray them again. I also kept notes as each pup was born of any issues as far as the cords or anything else. There were two puppies that Marcella bit the cords too close on before I could stop her. These pups bled profusely and I thought for sure they would herniate. But I quickly clamped the cords and tied them with dental floss and hoped for the best. (I took photos and marked these pups so I would know which ones they were later.)

Fast forward to the day the pups turned 10 weeks old. I had been casually inspecting the pups whenever I handled them but hadn't done a thorough "belly button exam" until that day, when I microchipped the puppies. On that day I took the time to carefully and thoroughly examine each puppy's navel area. And lo and behold there isn't a hernia on any of the pups! Not even the pups that had bled a lot. The pups are 12 weeks old, as of this writing, and still no hernias. And if there are no hernias at this point there won't be any hernias.

So that begs the question. Were the hernias in the other litter genetic or mechanical? The same parents (who themselves do not have hernias, nor do they have hernias in their lines) produced 4 hernias out of 8 last time and 0 out of 10 this time. The difference? Not the parents. They are exactly the same for both litters. The difference is the management of the whelping situation. My management of the situation. And in my opinion, the evidence shows that the hernias in the last litter were mechanical, not genetic. Of course, in the end there's no way to know 100% for sure which is true. Bit in my opinion, two dogs without hernias, managed differently this time and producing no hernias, is pretty convincing for the mechanical cause theory.

Ultimately breeding dogs is full of unknowns. Full of risks and chances. We can't input everything we want into a computer and get a "perfect" dog out of a 3D printer. No dog is perfect and expecting perfection leads ignorant people to make rash decisions, possibly removing dogs that have a lot to offer from the already limited Maremma gene pool over trivial things. They focus on things like hernias or coat length or other coat traits. Or size. (Some people are obsessed with big dogs. Big dogs are not necessarily better guardians. I have big and small dogs and they all have much to offer.) People will cull a dog over a hernia or a curly coat without even considering more important traits. That dog could have had stellar hip scores or could have matured into an outstanding LGD. Was a tiny bubble on the belly really more important? Ultimately each breeder (or potential breeder) must decide what matters to them. And maybe to some breeders (or puppy buyers) belly buttons and curly coats really do matter more than other traits.

But ultimately each breeder or aspiring breeder should decide what is right for their own program, based on thorough, careful, scientific research. Of course we will all make mistakes and we learn as much from our mistakes as from our successes. But what truly matters is how we handle those mistakes. Some are quick to blame others while others try to figure out what they could have done differently, so that they will do better next time. It is the latter type of people who will truly make an impact for good on the breed. These are the breeders I seek when choosing breeding stock. And this is the type of breeder I aspire to be.

And what traits matter to me as a breeder? A dog that is absolutely safe with livestock - no chasing or harassing once mature. (A LGD isn't considered fully mature until around 2 years old. Anyone who judges a puppy or young dog for normal adolescent behavior has unrealistic expectations.) A dog that is fearless in the face of threats to that livestock. A dog that's safe with humans - has an affectionate, friendly temperament with people it knows. (It's ok for a LGD to be wary of strangers.) A dog that isn't overly dominant and gets along well with my other dogs. A dog with excellent PennHip scores and good results on other genetic testing. (A breeder or potential breeder should educate themselves on how to properly interpret these results.) A dog with correct conformation. A dog with a good pedigree full of other great dogs that went before them. A dog that brings diversity to the breed, which has an already too limited gene pool. Sevro and Marcella check every single one of those boxes. And with no hernias in this litter of ten, to boot. That's a bonus. So I will very happily and proudly be retaining one of these four lovely female pups for my breeding program. And she will carry on her parents' legacy, producing more fantastic Livestock Guardian Dogs.

The puppies turned 4 weeks old in early November. They are now in their prime socialization period and curious about the world. This is the best time to introduce them to new people since they haven't entered their first fear period yet. Waiting past the first 12 weeks or so is too late to have the best impact on their development so we take the opportunity to invite people over to visit the puppies during this time. On this day it was my friend, Allison, and her daughter, Abigail. Their family owns seven of our Maremmas so they are excellent puppy socializers! It was raining when I woke up that that day so I was worried we would have to cancel, but luckily we have the Puppy Parlor so the Puppy Playdate could go on as planned, just indoors instead of outside. There were lots of giggles and puppy breath kisses for them everyone! And baby goats to play with, too!

Life with Maremmas is always exciting, especially when they are young and energetic Maremmas. Parma at almost two years old is petite, faster than a gazelle and full of energy. And did I say petite? Earlier today my son, Noah, and farm hand, Ethan, were trimming goat hooves. We went into Pax's and Parma's pasture to do their goats. I thought I would make things easier by putting the dogs in the corridor between their pasture and the Puppy Parlor pasture. There's a gate across the road, which I had closed and latched. But not tightly enough to keep tiny little Parma in! Busy catching a goat, I looked over just in time to see Parma squeezing through the gate, with Pax close on her heels! I'm not sure if Pax would have fit through the gate but I wasn't taking any chances. I got him back into the pasture, handed Madeline (the goat) to Noah and went off to try to catch Miss Parma, with Ethan's help.

Oh boy did she have fun! Round and round the haystack she went, stopping for mere moments to check out everything she saw. Barking ferociously at the other dogs in the adjacent pasture to hers, sending the Call Ducks flying every time she ran through.  (Literally flying. They're one of the few domestic duck breeds that can fly.) She wasn't chasing the ducks. She was bowling with them! Every time Ethan or I got near her she zoomed right past or headed the other way.

Teaching recall to a Maremma is important and I work on it regularly with my dogs, but coming has to be more rewarding to the dog than not coming. Recall is pretty easy in their pasture. They're always happy to come see me because they know they will be rewarded. Always. Usually with treats and at a minimum with my attention, which some of them love more than the treats. They can count on it. But out free in the open is another matter. There are lots of more interesting things than me out there. And despite the fact that I had dried chicken (which I try to always have in my pocket) in my hand and was waving it at her and calling her name, the merry chase Parma was leading us on was more rewarding than the chicken. Or more likely she was so focused on seeing everything outside the pasture gate she didn't notice the chicken. 

We should have just let her run and get it out of her system, but there's something about a loose dog that scares me, so chase her we did. For probably 15 minutes. Finally she paused long enough to notice the chicken and came over to get it. I gave her a piece and immediately placed one of the slip leads I keep in my pocket over her head. I had 100 of these printed with my logo for myself and my customers because I use them so much when I need to catch or move dogs or goats. They are a valuable safety tool and I already had it ready for her as soon as she bolted. Once I had her secure I gave her lots more chicken, petting and praise and told her what a good girl she was. Then we walked back to join Pax and the goats.

But wait? Good girl? For running away? For ignoring me? For scaring the ducks and fighting through the fence with the other dogs? Surely she didn't deserve chicken for all that? No, but she ultimately did what I wanted her to do. She came to me. And you NEVER, EVER punish a dog for coming when called. Instead you reward them, be it with treats, verbal praise, affection, playtime or whatever. I know people who will yell and yell for their dog to come and then scold or even punish them when they finally do come. And then wonder why the dog gets harder and harder to get them to come when called. The dog can't make the connection between your calling them, their delay and your punishment. They don't understand why you're scolding them. But they can and will learn that coming results in consequences they don't like if you punish instead of rewarding them.  So always, always reward your dog when you finally get them to come. And I suggest you always have treats and a slip lead handy!

I had 100 of these slip leads made at JH Tackett, my local marketing store. (I have had a lot of great stuff for my business made there.) I used to get them from my vet but I use them so much for both my Maremmas and my goats that I finally decided to get my own printed, so I can give them to my goat customers. I train my puppies using aBlue 9 Balance Harness (which we sell in our store) and long lines, but eventually I also train my dogs to be led with a slip lead, so I can use it for quick moves from place to place and for emergencies. I always keep at least one in my pocket. Usually more make their way there, as well as in my Cricket Mini Golf Cart.

Cindy Benson of Benson Maremmas Training introduced me to dried chicken and it's the most ingenious training and emergency tool ever. It's just dehydrated chicken. That's it. The dogs absolutely adore it and it's dry and not at all messy to work with. I use regular treats for basic training but use either real meat or cheese or the dried chicken as a high value treat for when I really need to motivate the dogs. And I always keep a few pieces in my pocket for emergency dog catching sessions! It's expensive but a little goes a long way and it just might save your dog's life if you have a little escape artist like I do! 

The other day I posted a cute photo of one of my 8 week old Maremma puppies (these puppies but not this photo) with my goats. It was just a chance photo I caught and it was cute, so I did a quick IG/FB post, captioning it "Where an 8 Week Old LGD Puppy Belongs". I took it a step further and shared it on a few LGD groups. As I was doing so I was already deciding that this needed to be a blog post because the topic was too in-depth for just a social media post. So I started working on the blog post but went ahead and put the "readers' digest condensed version" on social media. Here is the post:

As expected I got immediate push-back on Facebook. Most people agreed with me but a couple didn't. Here are some of the comments I received. Instead of getting into a Facebook war I decided to address the concerns here:

Comment: "The way you phrased it, every LGD puppy belongs in with the livestock, even if they just got picked up by their next owner at eight weeks."

Reply: I hear over and over that it's "unsafe" for an 8 week old puppy to be alone in a barn. And of course I agree 100% with this. Where an 8 week old puppy belongs is in the breeder's barn or pastures with its parents, litter-mates and/or other mentor dogs, and with livestock, not with an inexperienced new owner, especially if this is a single puppy, being placed without either a partner or a mentor dog. The answer to this issue is simple. Don't buy puppies from breeders who send their pups home at 8 weeks old. Don't enable this lazy and irresponsible style of dog breeding and puppy rearing.

​I plan to write an entire post about this topic but the answer is that in most cases 8 weeks is too young for LGD puppies to go to new homes. Most LGD puppies are bought by first time owners who have no clue how to either properly socialize a puppy to livestock or how to keep the puppy safe and supported while doing so. Having the puppy stay in training with the breeder a few more weeks can make a huge difference both in the success of the puppy as a LGD and in its safety when it is brought home.

These 8 week old puppies are still babies. Their place is here, on my farm, with their litter mates and learning from their parents and other mentor dogs as well as my experienced puppy trainer  livestock for at least a month or two more.

As the pups grow we utilize other dogs besides their dams as puppy mentors. We are very careful to only choose dogs that are patient and gentle with the puppies and do not encourage or allow our dogs to "correct" the puppies. Puppies who are treated harshly by adult dogs can become aggressive or fearful and neither makes a safe and trustworthy LGD.  

The Real "Backyard Breeders"

Of course if the breeder isn't properly socializing the puppies to livestock in the first place then you're better off bringing home that puppy ASAP, if you are determined to buy from that kind of breeder. (I don't recommend it.) Cindy Benson wrote an excellent blog post about that titled "The Age of Placement for Pups Depends on Who is Doing the Training". That's a must read post!

There's a lot of criticism for "Backyard Breeders" out there. Usually this refers to breeders who are raising unhealthy, uncared for puppies from poor quality breeding stock, but often times the term is used as a weapon by breeders to judge other breeders. In my opinion the real "backyard breeders" are the people raising Livestock Guardian Dog puppies in their backyard (or in their home) instead of with livestock.  If the breeder is raising their puppies in their home, backyard or on the patio then it's best to get that puppy home and with your stock ASAP.

​But the REAL answer is not to buy from these "Backyard Breeders" in the first place, because even by 8 weeks old you have lost at least 3-4 weeks of vital socialization time with livestock and to be perfectly honest your puppy will never be the same as a puppy who was "raised in a barn". Puppies have critical developmental periods and where your pup spends even the first 8 weeks makes a huge difference in how they turn out. Breeders who raised their LGD puppies like companion dogs either don't understand puppy development or don't care about the impact it has on the future of the dog and the stock it's intended to guard. Ignorance or apathy, it doesn't much matter. Do yourself a favor and just say no to Backyard LGD Breeders.

Comment: "...if they are going to new homes, once they get there they need to spend time in the house to bond with their shepherd, learn how to behave in a house, how to ride in a car, walk on leash, and a whole lot of other things that will make them much better rounded LGD in the long run. 

Reply: I totally agree that LGD puppies need to be exposed to experiences and skills that will make them well-rounded dogs (leash walking, exposure to lots of sights, sounds and people), and these experiences should be started by the breeder during their critical learning period, in the first 12-16 weeks. The more things the puppy is exposed to during this time the more well-rounded and resilient they will be. Again, waiting until the puppy goes to their new home is not going to be as effective as having the breeder do it, because by that point the Critical Socialization Period is ending.

Just simply housing the puppies in a stall in the barn (or on a patio or in a house or yard) with no mental stimulation is not good enough. The puppy will be mentally and emotionally stunted and may suffer from all kinds of problems as adults, including aggression and fear, both of which are unsuitable in a LGD. If you instead buy a puppy from a breeder who uses a comprehensive puppy socialization plan like Puppy Culture, in addition to an intensive livestock socialization plan, your puppy will be well-prepared for its future as a LGD and as a well-rounded, stable dog and part of your family. 

Debunking "The Shepherd Way" Myth

Spend any time on LGD groups on Facebook and you'll likely encounter the "Shepherd Way of LGD Training" method. This ridiculous theory is heavily promoted on social media by self-described "experts" with no actual training or experience with LGD's. (What professional dog training or behavior courses have they taken? What scientific documents or books have they read? What is their experience with dogs in general and LGD's in particular? Are they a breeder or trainer of LGD's? If they are a breeder how long have they bred LGD's and how many puppies have they successfully placed in working homes?)

These "experts" make the claim that shepherds spent hours a day intensively interacting with and training their LGD's and overseeing their interactions with the flocks. So Livestock Guardian Dogs are independent natured because they historically spent so much time alone with the stock but they also spent every waking minute with the "shepherd"?! That is what we call and oxymoron. 

Maybe these people are confusing herding dogs with LGD's but if there's evidence for this "Shepherd Way Theory" I haven't found it. And that idea is refuted in this National Geographic video on Maremmas, where the "shepherd" clearly states that the dogs, for the most part, take the sheep out all day long, by themselves, and then watch them all night, by themselves. The shepherds mainly see them in the morning before the animals go out to pasture and when the dogs bring the sheep back in for the night. No snuggling on the couch in front of the TV for these dogs. The point of LGD's is that they can and do work largely independently. (This video, by the way, was made by the uncle of the breeder of Pegaso, our imported Italian dog.)

Even if ancient Shepherds did spend hours a day interacting with and supervising their dogs those shepherds and dogs lived out on the open range with the sheep. They didn't live in warm, cozy houses with cable TV and internet. You can't take an old world, ancient way of managing LGD's and just plunk it down in our modern world and expect the results to be the same. Sitting on the couch watching TV with your LGD puppy for hours a day and then taking them out to do the farm chores for 30 minutes to and hour, or even a couple of hours, is not going to be enough to train that puppy how to be a Livestock Guardian Dog. You are training it to be a companion dog. Which is fine if you want a companion dog, but not if you need a LGD.

Yes there are adaptations and compromises that have to be made in order to keep a puppy safe while also ensuring the proper early socialization with stock, but if someone wants to be the "shepherd" to their LGD puppy the answer is NOT turning the puppy into a couch potato with token "livestock exposure" for an hour or so out of a 24 hour day. The answer is for a safe place to be made for the puppy in the barn or pasture so the puppy can be properly immersed with the livestock and for the "shepherd" to get outside and spend more time with the puppy, in their natural LGD setting. And for the puppy to have a working LGD partner or mentor, (or both) too.

The Best Place to Get Advice is From Real Experts

If you want to hear from an actual expert on Livestock Guardian Dogs you should read some of the books on the subject by Raymond Coppinger, professor emeritus of biology at Hampshire College, and his associates. ​In 1976, Ray and his wife Lorna founded the Livestock Guarding Dog Project at Hampshire College, where he conducted a long-term study of LGD's involving Maremma Sheepdogs as well as other breeds. For ten years the Coppingers compiled data from over 1,400 dogs in research that is still the single largest, long term study of LGDs in the world. They actually started a Maremma Sheepdog registry that predates the MSCA and many Maremmas in the United States are descended from dogs that were imported for the project.

Here's a quote from the Hampshire College website on Coppingers' work: "This long-term investigation into the behavior of a new kind of dog for farmers and ranchers in the United States has resulted in greater understanding of early developmental behavior of dogs, and how early experience (or lack of it) can affect adult behavior."

I don't know about you but I would rather get my LGD advice from real scientists and experts on the subject than from people on social media with no actual credentials, training, education or experience in the field.

Nature Versus Nurture

Comment: "Dogs with good breeding will learn from you modeling the desired behavior, because that’s how they’ve been raised for centuries"

Reply: Another non-science comment. First of all, dogs don't mimic the behavior of humans, or of other species. To a degree they mimic other dogs but even that is minimal. If it weren't then  all I would need to do would be to pair one of my excellent adult LGD's with my puppies and juvenile dogs and the training would be done for me. I wish!

And no matter how much I pet my goats and tell the dogs "nice goat" it doesn't stop the chasing. Dogs don't do what they do to please us or because they love us. They do what their instincts, developmental stages and environments dictate. In order to stop the chasing the environment needs to be matched to their developmental stage (appropriate stock and conditions) and conducive to getting the behavior I want. And they need to be rewarded for the behavior that's desired to encourage more of it.

As far as the assertion that dogs with good breeding will naturally figure things out by curling up on the couch and watching TV, that is pure hogwash, not at all "how they've been raised for centuries" and not scientific at all. Again, in the words of an actual expert:

And I for one prefer science over urban legends. What about you?

To learn more about Raymond Coppinger, his writings and his work with LGD's and this important topic, please read the blog post below by Cindy Benson. (Another actual expert on LGD's in general and Maremmas in particular.)

The Essential Window of Bonding for Livestock Guardian Dog Pups, by Cindy Benson

**Disclosure - I am one of the Admins on a Maremma Sheepdog training and discussions Facebook group called Maremma Sheepdog Open Forum so maybe it seems a bit ironic that I am warning people to not get their training advice on Facebook. However our group is science based and run by people with real training and experience with the breed. The admins all have businesses as Maremma breeders and/or trainers and have invested in professional training and education on the breed and on dog training and behavior. We have our own websites and blogs where we do most of our writing about the breed, with social media used as a way to educate and encourage those who love the breed, but not as our main or only platform. We do not allow the promoting of unscientific claims or urban legends on our group or anything that harms or endangers dogs. Our mission is to make the world a better and safer place for Maremmas, their owners and the livestock they guard through true education and encouragement. Our group is the only place on Facebook I recommend for training advice.

**I posted this on Facebook and as usual, got some pushback from people. There were a few comments as well as a long private conversation I had with someone today about the post so I wanted to clarify something that came up. When I refer to “The Shepherd Way” it has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with how real shepherds in Italy managed their dogs or still do. What I am referring to is Americans who cherry pick aspects of what I have been told Italian shepherds did/do without doing the whole thing.

For instance, I was told that Italian shepherds basically have house/barns, where the dogs can come and go freely between the part where the animals live and wher the humans live. I do not know if that's true but if it is that is nothing like what I see advocated on social media because most Americans don't have that kind of set-up. Do YOU have a barn attached to your house?

What’s more I don't think most Americans live anything like the ancient or even modern Italian shepherds did/do. Again, I don't know, but I would guess shepherds did and do spend hours a day outdoors with their dogs and stock. Most Americans spend the majority of their hours indoors, in front of some kind of screen, with very small amounts of time outdoors, even if they have a farm or homestead. And most people with farms have an off farm job. So where is this house puppy while the “shepherd” is at work?

My point is not that the real “shepherd way”, whatever that really is, doesn't work. I have great respect for these real shepherds. I just don't believe that's what is being promoted by most people who advocate this on social media. From my conversations and observations on these groups I only see people telling other people to “bring the puppy inside and be the shepherd” without clarifying or teaching them how to really do that. And that is what I have a problem with. I love real shepherds. Fake ones not so much.

And I also do not have a problem if people want to allow their LGD’s in the house. I still believe they should spend the majority of their time outside with the stock, but I doubt a visit to the house now and then will ruin a well started dog. (An improperly started one is another matter entirely.) I have clients who allow their pups in the house and I support their right to manage their pups as they see fit. My dogs might visit my house if I had a different set up. But my house is 300’ from my barn, with an unfenced area between them. I couldn’t have my dogs come in my house without putting them on a leash and walking them over, and if I did the animals would be unprotected. But if you want to bring your Maremma in your house more power to you!