Olaf, the Dog Who Started it All. (How I Came to Love, Breed and Use Maremma Sheepdogs on my Farm.

Olaf and Alice, One of Our Original Nigerian Dwarf Goats

For anyone who doesn't know my story, I wanted to share a little bit about how I came to adore this wonderful breed called the Maremma Sheepdog, use them on my farm as Livestock Guardian Dogs, and eventually become a Maremma Sheepdog Club of America Code of Ethics breeder. 

Ever since I can remember, I have loved dogs. My first dog was a Boxer my parents owned when I was born. Oh, how I loved that dog, and oh, how I cried when he died. (My parents had him put to sleep because they said he was sick, and I was so mad at them. 😢 He was buried behind my grandparents' garden and I visited his grave regularly.)

After that, my family had many dogs, mostly strays and dog pound dogs. My dad would take my siblings and me to the local dog pound to "shop" for dogs every so often. Or he would bring home stray dogs he found on the road driving trucks for Exxon.

Unfortunately, my parents always got bored with these dogs after a few months or even a few weeks. They liked collecting dogs but not training them, so if the dogs began doing anything my parents didn't like back to the pound they went. They came up with one reason or another to get rid of them, breaking my sensitive little heart.

The last one to go was a spotted mutt named Bear that I absolutely adored. I was probably 12 or 13 and I loved that dog so much. I would spend hours outside with him. But my dad decided he didn't want the dog anymore and he wore me down until I finally gave in and let him take Bear to the pound. 😢

Bear was the last dog my parents ever got for me. After that I bought my own dogs. Made my own decisions about who left and who stayed and when. And those childhood experiences are the reason why I feel so strongly that a dog should be a commitment, not to be made on a whim. It's also why I have a lifetime commitment to take back any dog I ever bred if their owners can't keep them. I know that there are instances when someone truly can't keep a dog. But too many people see dogs as disposable, and that's not right.

My favorite book when I was a kid was a big, thick book with all the AKC dog breeds. I used to pore over that book, choosing all the dogs I liked. (You can buy the book above. It's a great book, but Maremmas are not included becuase they are not an AKC registered breed.)

​When I was little, I saw Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" and fell in love with Cocker Spaniels. Then when I was 14, I finally bought a dog of my own, with my own money, a Cocker Spaniel I named Cinder. Finally, this was a dog all of my own that no one could take away from me. It was only a short time until I began breeding Cocker Spaniels, which I did for many years.

My first Cocker Spaniel, Cinder, with my grandfather and me.

Around the same time I bought Cinder, I got a job in a dog grooming salon (in my hometown of Memphis, TN), bathing and brushing dogs and later learning to groom. I worked at that salon until I got married to a career Navy man, and after that, I worked at different salons all over the country. I even owned an in-home dog grooming salon while stationed in Guam. (I also bred one litter of Cocker Spaniels while we lived in Guam.) 

During my years of grooming, I encountered many breeds of dogs and admired the traits of many of them, but Cockers remained my favorite breed of all time. (Our last Cocker died about ten years ago, and I couldn't find another one until a couple of years ago. I now have another Cocker named Cinder.)

My current "Cinder", with my companion Maremma, Titus.

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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. 💜

Olaf and his chicken friends.

It didn't take me long to realize that these dogs are extraordinary. Think about it, a dog that would lay down its life to protect an animal of another species is truly incredible. Awe-inspiring. Even my husband, who had never liked dogs as long as we had been married, was won over by the Maremmas. This man truly hated dogs (he used to go around saying, "I hate a dog."), and he now loves all dogs. 

And if you ask him why he changed, he will tell you it was the Maremmas that changed him. When he saw what they do, he realized that all dogs are different and unique, and he found a new respect and admiration for them. He's now the one that goes and gets our three little dogs and ensures they are in our bed at night. (When before, he never wanted dogs in the bed.) ☺️
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As for me, I found my new favorite breed, a breed I loved enough to want to breed them. We soon added a female Maremma, Genevieve, to our farm and had our first litter in 2017. It was a "Let's see how it goes" thing. And it was incredible to watch those pups grow and mature into amazing little LGDs, and then place them in homes with other people whose livestock needed protection like mine did. (I'm still in touch with some of the owners of those puppies today, including Oliver's family. Oliver is the most fantastic chicken guardian ever, and his owner, Agnes, always tells me how much she loves that dog.)

Genevieve joined our farm a few months after Olaf, and they have been devoted friends ever since. They produced 4 litters of amazing LGDs, including Polar, my favorite and best LGD.

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I was hooked. I was utterly in love with these incredible dogs and on a mission to help others with animals that needed protection and who wanted a loyal, devoted family member. And the rest, as they say, is history. And it all started with a little fluffy puppy I named Olaf. (For my grandkids.)

​Olaf and Genevieve retired from breeding a few years ago, but they still live on my farm, guarding the goats and other animals and mentoring all the new Prancing Pony Maremma pups. 

Olaf and Genevieve have very important work to do, mentoring the next generations of Prancing Pony Maremmas.

Do you have a great dog story? Is there a special dog in your life, past or present? It doesn't have to be a Maremma. All dogs are wonderful! If you have or had a great dog in your life leave a comment and tell me all about them. 

Reserve Your Maremma!