When it comes to finding the perfect Maremma Sheepdog puppy for your farm or homestead and your family, many options exist. However, not all dogs are created equal when it comes to being able to do the critical work of protecting your livestock and becoming a faithful member of your family. If you're looking for a dog that is not only well-bred and properly trained to protect your animals but also great with children and family pets, a Prancing Pony Farm Maremma Sheepdog is just what you're looking for. At Prancing Pony Farm, we have been breeding and raising Maremma Sheepdogs for years. We genuinely believe that our dogs are like family. We breed puppies that will be excellent livestock guardians and loyal companions. And that sense of family extends to our puppy owners, as well. This post will explore how buying a Prancing Pony Farm Maremma Sheepdog is like becoming part of our family.

The last dog to be placed was Chico (formerly Guido). He went to my client and friend, Mayra, who lives in Missouri. Mayra owns four other Maremmas bred by me and 36 goats bred mainly by me. She also owns a lot of different types of poultry. She was thrilled to give Chico a new home and add him to her LGD team, even though the costs to get him to her were considerable.

Chico spent a few days at my farm, hanging out with my dogs and goats, getting ready for his trip. My vet came out to do his CVI appointment and give him vaccines and whatever he needed. I gave him a bath and grooming. Then Amanda, a new shipper Mayra had found, picked him up for the trip to Missouri. This was quite a trip for a 2-year-old dog who had lived on a quiet farm with his goats and other Maremmas since he was a tiny puppy. ​

Amanda did a fantastic job of transporting Chico to his new home. She was patient and gentle with this nervous dog who had never left his goats or seen so many strange sights and sounds. She sent frequent updates on how he was doing, with photos and videos. And he arrived at his new home safe and sound! I will be recommending Amanda to future clients. ​

***Update on the dogs. Marco and Henry have found new homes and been picked up! 💜 Remaining are Carina, Alesia, Massimo, Guido and Rico. Carina is Massimo's dam. I still own his sire, Olaf and the parents of Alesia (Simba and Polar) and Guido (Olaf and Genevieve). I also still own one of Massimo's littermates (ET) and one of Alesia's littermates (Titus). They are all excellent LGDs, trustworthy with all livestock, including poultry and baby goats.

​*** If you’re interested in these dogs contact Allison directly at +1 (559) 362-1294. Thanks!

If you would like a little more background on these dogs you can go to these pages below:

Carina born 2017, purchased from a breeder in San Diego

Alesia born August 2020, parents Simba x Polar

Massimo born September 2020, parents Olaf x Carina

Guido born May 2021, parents Olaf x Genevieve

Rico - Bred by another out-of-state breeder

My friend and client, Allison, and her family are selling their farm due to an out-of-state transfer. They are moving at the end of August and cannot take their goats or their seven Maremma Sheepdogs. Six of the dogs came from me, and one from another breeder. They are all unregistered. There are five males and two females. Most of the dogs are 2-3 years old, with one 6-year-old female. Their names are Carina, Alesia, Henry, Marco, Massimo, Guido and Rico.
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The dogs have been guarding Nigerian Dwarf and Mini Nubian dairy goats since they were puppies. The 6-year-old (Carina) does have experience with chickens, ducks, and horses. I believe both females have experience with alpacas. The dogs are used to children. All but one of them is intact, but I'm checking to see if my vet will spay/neuter the rest for a discount. The dogs are located in Hanford, CA. There are a couple of possible options for shipping the dogs out of state.
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That's all I know, but I will try to visit the dogs soon and learn more. If you want to adopt any of these precious dogs, please reply to this email or contact Allison directly. Below is her Facebook post about the dogs:
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​https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0FzHpdHfCY5vKsg1tkzok9CMXaxLfLntS4iUvUC6vtQvxQD7DCAL9GgrZyfiU5ggUl&id=816164838&mibextid=qC1gEa​
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Even if you can't take any of these dogs, please pass this info along and help us get these sweet dogs some great new homes!
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Thanks so much!

This is a guest post by one of my Maremma clients, Violet Qu. Violet owns Cotton Candy (CC), a puppy from my May 2022 Sevro x Polar litter. Violet also owns a Great Pyrenese named Marshmallow. Violet took the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Foundations course before bringing CC home. She has been extremely succesful in training CC and a lot of the reason why is the excellent knowledge and skills the course gave her. I asked Violet if she would write a "review" of the course for my email newsletter and she did such an excellent job that I invited her to do a guest post on the blog. Enjoy!

A Tale of Two White Dogs, by Violet Qu

The big dog on the left is Marshmallow. He came to me as an 8-week-old fluff ball, with a mission to keep my chickens and barn cats from being picked off by the big bad wolves. He was my first dog. I didn’t know what I was doing. I watched a lot of Zak George videos and took a puppy training class over zoom (it was during Covid lockdown) where I learned to manipulate his body by using a lure. For the most part, things worked fine. Marshmallow learned to sit, lie down, stand up, shake, crawl, and so on. He even learned to fetch, which is somewhat unusual for a Great Pyrenees. But sometimes, when I asked him to do something, he would suddenly have this unbearable itch that he had to scratch, and then he would yawn, and then he would give a sideways glance at the ground before performing the task in slo-mo. I coined it “emergency itch” and sometimes asked with a sarcastic tone “really? must you right now?” For months, he was mouthy and I just ignored it. Everything I read said it would stop if I just kept ignoring it.


At the age of 1, Marshmallow’s guarding instincts kicked in in full force. He ran around the ranch barking and chasing coyotes at night, and often looked exhausted in the morning. However, the mouthiness remained. And he was also chewing just about everything I didn’t want him to chew on. Even though Marshmallow was doing all he could to guard my small ranch, I still had 2 chickens disappear without a trace and a barn cat mauled by what I could only imagine a coyote (the kitty fully recovered after veterinary intervention). The coyotes did not fear him. They kicked dirt at him from the other side of the fence. It was clear to me that Marshmallow needed a partner.


A few months later, Cotton Candy joined the family as a 3-month-old from the Prancing Pony Farm, where she had already learned many life skills as a livestock guardian dog. 


In preparation of CC’s arrival, I took the Dog Trainer Foundations online course from the Karen Pryor Academy. It turned out to be more helpful than I expected. Throughout Marshmallow’s puppyhood, I had been ransacking the internet for positive reinforcement dog training tips. But tips are exactly that: a melange of “do x” instructions. The DTF course provided me with the structure I needed to internalize the positive reinforcement training concept. I am not known for following instructions. So if a training tip says step 1: wait for behavior, step 2: click, step 3: treat, I’ll more than likely mess up the timing or order or skip a step. But if I understand the building blocks to positive reinforcement training, then I can “derive” my own instructions time and time again and always get it right. Other than the science and mechanics, I also found the chapter on understanding dog language really helpful. Marshmallow’s “emergency itch”? That’s stress. His yawning? That’s stress. Mouthiness? Yup, still stress. That poor pup! The whole time he’s been gently telling me that he could use a bit more support, and I’ve been an idiot trying to wait it all out. What also dawned on me, is that a lot of what I thought / was labeled positive reinforcement, wasn’t reinforcement at all. Dangling a piece of bacon to get a dog to sit is bribery, or non-contact coercion, if you will.


Now back to CC. She has received positive reinforcement training at Kim’s since the day she was born. By the time she arrived on my ranch, she knew how to mand and target really well. And that gave me plenty of opportunities to reinforce her and quickly build a trusting relationship. Eventually I taught her to shake, only because she looks incredibly cute doing that. But by golly she was so polite and never pawed me for attention like Marshmallow did when he was a pup. She knew that manding gets her attention and treats, and giving me her paw only when I ask gets her praise and treats. I haven’t intentionally taught her to come, but she figured it out because every time she comes to me she gets pets and she might even get to lick my face. She has a pretty good “go to bed” from a single training moment. It was her birthday and I had a serrano ham bone for her. I wanted to let her have it in the kennel without being bothered by Marshmallow. I walked towards the dog bed once we entered the kennel and she hopped on it. On the spur of the moment, I clicked, then gave her the ham bone. I later put it on cue, but really, the “go to bed” action was learned in just 1 event. 


She’s been here about a year now, and CC has never had an “emergency itch”. Now isn’t that interesting! More interestingly, Marshmallow’s “emergency itch” and chewing all but disappeared after CC’s arrival, which roughly coincided with the beginning of proper use of positive reinforcement on my end. Was it me? Was it CC? Only Marshmallow knows. What I do know is that with 2 happy relaxed dogs, my life has gotten easier. And we’ll just end the story here and live happily ever after.

So when one of my puppy owners or anyone else comes to me with a training issue with their dog, the very first thing I recommend is that they take the KPA Foundations course. Of course, if this is one of my puppy clients, I suggest they take the course before bringing their puppy home. Unfortunately, only some of them do. Whether it's the money or the time it takes or that they don't see the value in it, I don't know. 

I have considered requiring prospective puppy buyers to complete the course before they can buy a puppy from me, but someone has to want to learn this information for it to be effective, and unfortunately, not enough people understand the value of this program to them and their dogs.

I do require my breeding candidate owners to complete the course before they can get breeding rights on their puppies, and I am firm on this requirement. If you are a breeder, you are also a trainer, and this program is step one to being a successful trainer of little Livestock Guardian Dog puppies. Unfortunately, most people who take the course to get breeding rights choose to wait until their dogs are of breeding age to do so. Better late than never, but it's sad that neither the dog they bought from me nor the owner themselves benefitted from the program when their puppy was little. 

Of all the puppies I have sold over the years, the owners who have been the most successful and had the fewest problems training their pups are the ones that have taken the KPA Foundations Course. The puppies who have benefitted the most from an owner who truly understands their dog and how to communicate and train in a kind, fun, science-based way are the puppies whose owners have taken the Foundations course. This course truly is Step One in your success as an LGD owner. 

A Livestock Guardian Dog is a huge investement. The safety and security of whatever you value are riding on that dog, be that goats, chickens, horses, or the family cat. (This course is just as vital for companion Maremmas.) Livestock Guardian Dogs have a high failure rate, and that is because most people are ill-equipped to train their dogs. The Karen Pryor Acedemy Dog Trainer Foundations course gives you the vital first step towards success with your dog.

​Think of it as insurance on your investment. Most people wouldn't forego insurance on a new car. That would be too risky. Don't skip on insurance for your LGD! Take the KPA Foundations course before you bring home your new Maremma puppy. Or if you've already got that adorable pup, start the course now. Your dog will thank you for it, and you will thank me for this advice!

I also owned a few other breeds (St. Bernard, Husky, 2 Boxers, Pekingese) when I was a teenager, and later our family tried a few different breeds (Yorkie and Boxers) after our last Cocker passed away. (Besides the Maremmas and Cinder, we currently own a Shih Tzu and a Boxer.) I loved all of these other dogs, but there was never a breed I loved enough to want to breed them until I got my first Maremma Sheepdog.


I had a lifelong dream from when I was a child to live on a farm. When I was 19, I married that career Navy man I mentioned earlier. Little did I know that meant my dream would be put on hold until I was fifty and my husband retired from his 40-year Navy career. But some dreams are worth waiting for. We bought our farm in late 2015. I also bought 6 Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats to add to the horses we already owned and the chickens and other poultry I planned to get. 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐


Because we have a lot of coyotes in the area, I knew I would need a Livestock Guardian Dog to keep my animals safe. I only knew a little about LGDs, so I began reading whatever I could find, which wasn't much. Then I started my search for an LGD of my own. I found two breeders on Craigslist. One bred Great Pyrenees, and one bred Maremmas. The GP breeder told me how it "only took six strands of barbed wire to keep her dogs in" and how "sometimes they killed her stock." Not very reassuring. 😳


The Maremma breeder, who raises Angora goats, told me how Maremmas are better at respecting fences and staying with the stock than Pyrs, that they haven't lost their guardian instincts as so many Pryrs have, and how he has never lost any goats to predators since getting his Maremmas. Let's see, should I choose the dog that will be hard to contain and might eat my goats and chickens or the dog that will stay home and be more trustworthy? 🤔


The Maremma breeder was much more convincing and reassuring. And five-month-old Olaf soon joined our farm's six goats and 11 horses. Olaf came into the barn and settled in with my goats like one of them. He soon won over the horses, too. And he also won the hearts of all the humans in the family. 💜

In addition to the portable automatic waterers described above, I love a great tool called a Lixit. You can find these on Amazon and sometimes at pet stores or hardware stores. They attach to the faucet, and the animal learns to lick the end of it and make the water come out. I install Lixits in all of my pastures so that the animals can always access clean water in addition to the water provided in other containers. My goats, in particular, love these and prefer them over drinking out of buckets. (Remember what I said about goats being picky about clean water? 🐐) Most of my pasture faucets are 5' off the ground, so I use a 3' leader hose to bring the Lixit to a better height for drinking and zip-tie it to the nearby fence. ​

Another really great option we use for water is a product called a Nelson Waterer. These stainless steel automatic waterers are a bit expensive but they hold up very well to the wear and tear of dogs and livestock.

In hot weather, electrolytes are crucial for animals. They help by replenishing fluids, balancing hydration, facilitating muscle function, supporting nerve signaling and cooling mechanisms, and maintaining organ function. Adequate electrolyte intake helps animals cope with heat stress and stay healthy.


Electrolytes are especially beneficial for goats (sheep, cows, or other dairy animals) if they are in milk. They can help prevent production from dropping due to dehydration. There are species-specific electrolytes for different animals. You can use them interchangeably, or you can get an all-species electrolyte. These powders look like Kool-Aid, and you mix them into the water. 


The brand I like best for my goats is Goat and Sheep BlueLite, from Premier 1 Supplies. This brand is the best one on the market, and the goats go crazy for it. For horses, I usually use Red Cell or a similar brand. For poultry, I use a poultry-specific brand.


There are electrolytes made for dogs, but I only use them if I have a sick dog, and it won't hurt the dogs to drink the ones for goats or other livestock. But they may or may not like it. Whenever I offer electrolytes, I put them in a separate bucket and offer them plain water in addition to the electrolytes. I do this to ensure the animals still drink even if they don't care for the electrolytes, and so the automatic waterers don't dilute the electrolyte solution.

​If the weather is especially hot you can use cooler ice packs and float them in the water. You can make homemade ice packs out of empty soda bottles or milk jugs. Before we built our puppy parlor we used the ice packs in the whelping box to keep puppies cool in the summer. It was still too hot, which is why we built the Puppy Parlor.

You can also make "popsicles" for your animals, using things like frozen broth or goat milk for the dogs and some combination of fruit or vegetables for goats, sheep, horses and poultry. Lay the "popsicle" in a dog dish or feed bucket so it doesn't all get wasted as it melts.

Don't let the summer heat endanger your Livestock Guardian Dogs and their charges. It's easy to keep them cool and comfortable if you follow the tips shared in this blog post. Provide shade, fresh, clean water, and consider scheduling activities for cooler parts of the day. By taking these measures and being proactive about your animals' well-being, you'll ensure that all of your animals remain happy, healthy, and protected all summer long. ​

​Growing up as a city kid in Memphis, Tennesse, one of my favorite places to go was the Memphis Zoo. Later as a mom of six kids, visiting the Zoo was a favorite family activity. As a Navy family, we have visited big and small zoos all over the United States. And as grandchildren started coming along, going to the Zoo with them was also lots of fun. Zoo memberships are a great way to support your local zoon and enjoy many visits throughout the year without breaking the bank. 

Undoubtedly my favorite part of any zoo is the petting zoo. I know most people go to the Zoo to see wild animals and I enjoy that, too. But since I wanted to live on a farm since I was a little kid and didn't achieve that dream until I was 50 years old, the petting zoo was an excellent way for me to get a little up close and personal time with the types of farm animals I hoped to one day own. And without a doubt, my favorite animals in the petting zoo were the goats. I could have spent hours watching and petting those fascinating creatures. Of course, my family usually had other ideas, so I didn't get to spend that long with the goats, but I took whatever time I could!

Now that I have a farm of my own and more goats and other farm animals than I can count, I tend to spend more time visiting the wild animals when I visit a zoo, but I still believe petting zoos are lovely places. Where else can city kids like me meet, pet, and interact with real farm animals? How many of those kids grow up, like I did, to own farm animals of their own?

A few weeks later, the exciting day arrived when two staff members, Kristen and Patrick, drove from Santa Barbara to pick up their new kids! Seeing the SUV covered in painted butterflies and Zoo signs pull into my driveway was beyond exciting. Then meeting Kristen and Patrick and showing them around my farm was so cool. We drove around on my golf cart so they could see the herd in the back pasture without disturbing our Maremma Sheepdog Livestock Guardian Dogs at work or risking biosecurity. Then we went to the pick up area near the Puppy Parlor, where the Zoo kids were waiting to head off on their new adventure. Kristen Facetimed Dr. Barnes so she could inspect the kids while Patrick got things set up and ready for them. Of course, I took lots of photos as we got the kids ready to go. Then they were loaded up for the trip and on their way back to the Zoo! 

​If I feed my goats alfalfa hay, will it cause Urinary Calculi (kidney stones)?

This is the number one question I get asked by new goat owners. I get this question in one form or another so often that I have been meaning to write a post about it for years, but I kept forgetting. But when two clients recently asked me the same question two days in a row I finally decided I needed to write that post. So here goes!

Most people believe that the answer to the question is yes. Most of them are terrified to feed alfalfa, or at least to feed too much of it. Even veterinarians will often say alfalfa causes Urinary Calculi. But that is one of the biggest urban legends out there about feeding goats, and one that truly drives me crazy!

The simple answer is that feeding alfalfa hay to goats doesn't generally cause Urinary Calculi. Urinary calculi is primarily caused by too much phosphorus in the diet. Grain, grass hay, and forage hay are all high in phosphorus. Feeding grain is the fastest way to cause stones since it is very high in phosphorous. Here at Prancing Pony Farm, we only feed grain to does when milking them. Bucks, dry does, and kids do not get any grain except for an occasional treat or bribe to get them to come into the barn. 

​Alfalfa is really good for goats, especially dairy goats. It's rich in calcium, with a ratio of 4:1 on average. Ideally, you want a balance of at least two parts calcium to one part phosphorus in the diet. Adding alfalfa can supply this needed calcium and help prevent kidney stones from forming. It's high in protein, calories, and other nutrients, eliminating the need for grain to put weight on most goats. Goats love it so they readily eat it. The only problem with feeding too much alfalfa is that some goats will get fat. But that's from overfeeding more than the type of hay used. When my bucks start looking pregnant I know it's time to cut back on the alfalfa! 😂

I have been feeding straight alfalfa for seven years and have never had a goat with kidney stones. I heard the same thing about horses long before I had goats. I heard that if you fed horses too much alfalfa, they would get kidney stones. But most of my horses have eaten nothing but alfalfa most of their lives. And most of them have lived into their 30s. None of them have ever had kidney stones, either.

All my goats get alfalfa hay and Craftsmin organic loose minerals from Holistic Livestock Supply. I also add Premier One Supply's vitamin A, D, and E premix, to combat vitamin E deficiency. Because of the California droughts and our general weather patterns (we get rain only a few months of the year), we don't have green forage here most of the year. Even alfalfa can't supply enough vitamin E so adding the premix in helps. If I feed any grain to my milking does, it's usually whole oats, crimped barley, or COB, and used sparingly.

And that's how I feed my herd. Of course, wethers are more at risk for Urinary Calculi than does or bucks. I don't own any wethers so I can't share any experience there. I can only share what I do and how I feed my herd of bucks, does and kids. I urge everyone to research and do what works for them and their goats. ​

I will probably ruffle some feathers with this post, but something has been bothering me for a while, and I need to share my thoughts in my own rambling way. As a breeder and trainer of Maremma Sheepdogs and an advocate of the breed, I have been very vocal in how I believe Livestock Guardian Dogs should be raised and socialized as puppies. I firmly believe that LGD puppies should get a very early start with livestock and continue that way until they are grown. Puppies have critical socialization periods in the early weeks, and taking advantage of those periods by having them immersed with livestock at that age can ensure their future success as LGDs. 

I feel strongly about this issue because I have acquired puppies from breeders who raise their dogs as companion dogs in those first weeks and months. These pups were raised in houses, backyards, and patios, with no livestock exposure until they came to my farm at 3-4 months old. I have seen the effect of this lack of early livestock exposure on their training (it's a lot more work to train them) and how those dogs turned out compared to how my puppies turned out. I firmly believe that how I raise my pups is the best practice for LGDs, and what is advocated on some Facebook groups is terrible advice. I even wrote a blog post entitled "Debunking the Shepherd Way Myth of Livestock Guardian Dog Training."

I stand behind what I said in that post. However, I need to clarify what I mean by how I raise my puppies. I also have probably not understood what others mean when they refer to themselves as "shepherds."

After I wrote that blog post, I had an interesting discussion with someone in my Maremma Sheepdog Open Forum Facebook group who advocates the "Shepherd Way" of training. And I found that she and I had a lot more in common than we thought. So there is more of a communication issue than a conflict of beliefs here.

I have one adult Maremma named Titus, who is a companion dog. He lives inside my house full-time with my other three companion dogs. I bred him, and he was raised outside with the stock until he was 5 months old. He's been a house dog ever since. He is perfectly house-trained, leash-trained, and crate trained. He has gone on many walks in regular neighborhoods, to the dog park many times, to the vet, to the groomers, and on long car trips. None of this happened before he was 5 months old, but he quickly adjusted to this companion dog life.

​The "companion home" discussion is an issue for another post, which I hope to write soon. For years I turned down any requests for companion homes for my puppies. I did this primarily because of what other breeders said or what I read on Facebook. I now realize I missed out on many great homes for my pups for no good reason. And since I started saying "yes" to the occasional request for companion puppies, I have learned even more about these fantastic dogs. Choosing to keep one of my puppies as a companion dog has taught me even more. They really can thrive in pet homes. In the right home with a dedicated owner. Just like in working homes. It's primarily the commitment of the owner that matters. But again, that's a topic I plan to expand on another day.

Other than Titus, the rest of my Maremmas live outside with the livestock 24/7. They never come inside my house. But that is mainly because my house is several hundred feet from my barn and not attached by any fence. I would have to put them on a leash and walk them to my house to bring them inside. That is too much work when I am busy caring for a farm and running a business. But if my property were set up differently, I imagine my other Maremmas would come in to "visit" occasionally. Probably the goats, too. 😆

But because my dogs live outside, does that mean I'm not "shepherding" them? While I'm not too fond of the term, it's probably a relatively accurate description of my role with my dogs. I don't have an "off-farm" job. I run a business breeding dairy goats and Maremmas. I spend several hours a day outside taking care of my animals. I even sleep outside sometimes if puppies or goats are being born. Therefore I spend plenty of time bonding with my puppies and my dogs. I have no need to bring them into the house to bond with them because we bond outside. That is probably the main area where I differ from the "Shepherd Way" advocates.

I am NOT an advocate of the "hand-off" method of LGD training. Not at all. I utilize and advocate only positive training methods with my puppies. I also raise my puppies using Puppy Culture and Badass Breeder methods. I have a very carefully laid out puppy socialization program, exposing the puppies to sights, sounds, new people, and activities. This ensures that the puppies will be resilient and well-adjusted and thrive in various homes, including working or companion homes or something in between.

Another point I should make is that I sell puppies at 12 weeks or later. Most are in the 4-8 month range when they leave here. And I primarily sell puppies in pairs or to homes with another LGD, so there are no "8-week-old puppies alone in a barn" coming from my farm. Most of my pups are 50-60 lbs or more when they leave my farm. They aren't tiny babies.

​And if someone insists on owning a single LGD, I make it very clear that they will have to spend a lot of time with their puppy to compensate for the deficit. All of my dogs work in pairs or teams so I do not advocate single dogs alone with the livestock.

There is a person in the Maremma industry that I used to have a lot of respect for. I will call her "the Maremma guru" because that describes what she seems to believe she is. She is always talking about "what is true for white dogs" as if she is the only one that knows that truth. She seems to think she speaks for the Maremmas in much the same way that the Lorax speaks for the trees.

There are a lot of people in the LGD community that don't agree with her; people who have a much longer history and more experience with these dogs than she has. But she came onto the scene and declared herself the expert, refuting what people who had decades of experience said. I foolishly believed everything she said for a long time. I drank deeply from her particular brand of koolaide.

I used to tell people she knew more about the breed than anyone in the US. I promoted her tirelessly, referred many people to her for help and even had many links to her business on my own website. We had a lot in common and a lot we agreed on. There are still things we agree on.

But the more I got to know her, the more I realized that there was a lot that we disagreed on. There was a lot I felt like she was dead wrong about. (Like the Companion Maremma issue.) I no longer believe she knows as much as either of us thought she did. No one is right about everything. Being able to admit that is important. Eventually we parted ways and we are both better off for it. I know I am, anyway.

One thing I thought I had in common with her was this belief that the "Shepherd Way" was wrong. But as I talked to other people, I realized that I had more in common with advocates of the Shepherd Way than I thought and less with her. And I realized that being a shepherd is not a bad thing or a good thing. It's simply how some people describe their interactions with their dogs. It's a funny term, but I don't have a problem if people want to use it.

When the Maremma guru and I were still friends, she used to refer people to me occasionally to buy puppies. In almost every instance, she told me that she was "sending someone my way" because they were "not good enough" for her dogs, but they would be "fine" for me. I was always unsure about how I should take that. 🤔 It seemed like a backhanded compliment. But I appreciated the referrals.

Most of these people she "sent my way" never contacted me, but a few did buy dogs from me. The first time it happened, she later told me, "I can't believe you sold him a puppy." She didn't like the guy, and I think her referral was a test. Apparently I failed the test. I told her he was a very nice guy with a lovely farm, his other LGD needed a partner, and his sheep required protection. And I told her she shouldn't have referred him to me if she didn't want me to sell him a puppy. 🤷🏻‍♀️ That ended the discussion.

Another time she referred someone to me to buy a puppy as a partner for her adult LGD. She told me the client used an invisible fence, and I "would have to discuss what to do about that" with her. Again, this seemed like a test. I talked to the client. She told me she has an easement that requires her neighbors to drive through her property to get to their house. This means she can't have a gate across her road. She uses only positive training with her dogs and cats but uses an invisible fence to keep them safe. I have a couple of fence jumpers, so I understand that dilemma. A hotwire at the top of my fence was the only solution I found that worked. And an invisible fence makes sense for this client. It certainly is better than a dog getting out. Being hit by a car is as aversive as you can get. 😢 I gladly sold her the puppy, and she's been one of my best clients yet. I hear from her almost weekly, with frequent photos and updates. I may have failed the Maremma guru's test, but my puppy won, big time, in getting a wonderful home, invisible fence and all.

​Another person was referred to me by the Maremma guru around the same time as the invisible fence client. The Maremma guru had sold dogs to this new client's neighbors and repossessed them later. (She did this frequently whenever a new owner did something she disapproved of.) I knew about that situation because the Maremma guru told me about it without remorse. And why, you might ask, did the Maremma guru repossess the dogs? What terrible thing did the clients do? She told me they "made the dogs into pets." Meaning they let them in the house occasionally. Shocking, I know.

When my new client came to me, she was extremely nervous about buying dogs, partly because she had seen what the Maremma guru had done to her neighbors. She told me it was traumatic, with lots of begging, crying, and screaming when the dogs were taken away. I was later told by another party that those people had bought the dogs from the Maremma guru in the first place because their previous dog had died. Of course, that made the whole situation all the more traumatic. I can't imagine inflicting that kind of pain on people without just cause. And just cause would be something like abuse of the dogs. That was not the case here, from what I've heard.

My new client had already placed a non-refundable $1000 deposit on two pups, but when the dogs were ready to go, she was still having second thoughts. Until the day she took them home, she debated backing out on the sale. She was apprehensive that something would go wrong. And a lot of the reason why she was so worried was because of her neighbor's experience with the Maremma guru.

The client lives in Oregon, so she drove to my farm in California "for a visit and to maybe get the pups." Her visit required two days and an overnight hotel stay. On the first day, she spent five hours at my farm, interacting with the puppies and asking me a million questions. She asked me what she should do if she wanted to go on a trip. Could she take the dogs? Her husband races cars, and they go out of state for his races. She wanted to know if it would be ok if they brought the dogs along. I told her that as long as her livestock would be safe at home, there was no reason not to take the dogs if she wanted them to go. 

This client spent five hours asking me one question after another like she was testing me to see if there would be something I would say that would be a red flag to her. She was worried that she would do something wrong and that I would repossess the dogs like the Maremma guru had done to her neighbors. 

I finally told her that while the Maremma guru and I agreed on a lot and respected her very much, I was not her. I did things very differently and I was not going to repossess her dogs. I told her that once the dogs left my farm, they were no longer mine, and it was not my business or choice what she did with the dogs. I told her what I always say to my clients. "They are your dogs; you can do whatever you want with them. You don't need my permission or my blessing." 

She went to her hotel to think it over. Then she called the following day to tell me she was buying the puppies. She came and got the two she had liked the best and took them home. And she has been a wonderful puppy owner. I don't know if the dogs ever go on race car trips with her and her family. It's not my place to ask. They are no longer my dogs.

Now I would not advocate anyone doing anything to harm their dogs, and that includes using aversive training methods. But if somebody wants to take their dogs on outings or on vacation or let them sleep in the house with them every night, that is their business. Truly.

This is not to say that I don't believe that my way of training is not superior to how a lot of people manage their dogs. I do. How I train works best for me as a breeder, and it's what works best for my livestock. Having owned dogs raised my way and the opposite way, I would never again buy a puppy from anyone who doesn't raise puppies the way I do. No more patio puppies for me! But that's my personal choice, based on what works for me. 

And I will continue to raise my puppies the way I do while they are under my care because it's the ideal way to raise, train and socialize LGDs. The proof is in the dogs I have produced over the years. But once those puppies leave here and go to their new homes, they are no longer my dogs. And my puppy owners need to do what works for them and their new dogs. 

So don't worry. If you buy one of my puppies and want to do things differently from the way I do, I will not be mad at you. I'm not going to tell you you're doing it wrong. Instead, I will do my best to support you. Because it is not my dog anymore. It's your dog.