Puppy Questionnaire

Thank you for taking an interest in our Maremma Sheepdog puppies. At Prancing Pony Farm we are dedicated to raising happy, healthy, well adjusted Maremmas that will be excellent working Livestock Guardians and devoted family members in their future homes. We do not generally place our puppies in companion homes as we feel that having livestock to guard, even if it’s only a few chickens or a horse, is vital to the happiness of our dogs.

Currently we breed both unregistered and registered puppies, though we will be phasing out the unregistered puppies soon. Our registered puppies are sold with Limited Registration (no breeding rights) unless specified otherwise. If you are interested in purchasing a puppy on a breeding contract please contact us to discuss your breeding program and to see if we have a puppy to suit your needs.

The following questions will give us insight into what your needs are so that we can match the best puppy for each owner, keeping in mind the temperament of the puppies, type of livestock to be guarded, farm size, family situation, etc, as well as your desires and expectations for your puppy. Don’t worry, this isn’t a test and there are no right or wrong answers! It’s just a tool to make our job of helping you a bit easier. The more information you can share with us the better we’ll be able to match the right puppy to your family and livestock. We will refer back to your answers as we evaluate the individual puppies within a litter, matching them with their prospective families.

Feel free to add anything that you think we should know and that will help us help you! Completion of this questionnaire doesn’t guarantee that a puppy will be available to you but it’s an important step to getting you there. Once we’ve reviewed your answers and discussed your needs you may make a reservation for a puppy from a current or future litter by paying a $200 non-refundable deposit if you wish. We will then work with each buyer to match the best puppy to their individual family and working situation.

*Please note that we do not take reservations for puppies of a specific gender unless the puppy is bought on a breeding contract, which is a separate waiting list and a different (higher) price. Both males and females make excellent LGD’s and gender is only one consideration when placing puppies. If you have a gender preference we will do our best to accommodate your wishes but can’t guarantee one gender or another for a working dog placement. You may, however, transfer your deposit to the next litter in order to get the gender you prefer.

It is our strong belief that Livestock Guardian Dogs work best in teams of two or more. (We always work our dogs in pairs or groups.) Two or more dogs protect the stock better, are happier (a happy dog is a good guardian) and engage less in inappropriate play with the stock. While we don't require it we do highly encourage buyers to purchase two pups unless they already have a LGD. Please choose the option below that best describes your situation: *

I don't believe that LGD's need to be kept in pairs and don't intend to do so. I already have another LGD who will work as a team with my new puppy. I already own another LGD but it will patrol a separate area and/or group of stock than my new puppy. I acknowledge that LGD's do best in groups of two or more but I am unable at this time to own two LGD's. I will devote extra time and attention to my dog to attempt to make up for this situation.

Maremma Puppy Reservation Info and Questionairre