Training Maremma Sheepdogs
At Prancing Pony Farm we are huge advocates of Positive Reinforcement training for all animals. Punishment based training only causes animals to mistrust and fear you, whereas Positive Reinforcement creates a partnership built on communication, love and respect with your animals.
LGD’s are not like your typical dogs. They were bred over thousands of years to be independent thinkers, guarding livestock from serious predators, often with little human and supervision. They had to make life or death decisions to keep their charges safe. These traits are still an integral part of modern day LGD’s, especially breeds such as the Maremma Sheepdog, who haven’t been overbred as pets and show dogs.
What’s more, LGD’s are big, strong, powerful dogs with the tenacity and ferocity to fight off apex predators. Humans who think they can “show the dog who’s boss” will likely get seriously hurt! And your dog will learn not to trust you and will not be safe to handle. And a wild, uncontrollable LGD is not an asset to anyone, it’s a liability.
Through Positive Reinforcement Training you will win your dog’s trust and loyalty, in a safe and fun manner. And while you can’t change a tiger’s stripes - or a Maremma’s independent nature - a dog that loves and trust you is a lot more likely to obey you. At least some of the time. 😆
Below are some of the resources we use and recommend for training all dogs, but especially LGD’s. And what’s really cool is that the basic concepts are very similar so once you understand these you can use what you learn with all your animals, be they cats, horses, goats or goldfish! No matter what kind of animals you have and love +R (positive reinforcement) is the way to go!
LGD’s are not like your typical dogs. They were bred over thousands of years to be independent thinkers, guarding livestock from serious predators, often with little human and supervision. They had to make life or death decisions to keep their charges safe. These traits are still an integral part of modern day LGD’s, especially breeds such as the Maremma Sheepdog, who haven’t been overbred as pets and show dogs.
What’s more, LGD’s are big, strong, powerful dogs with the tenacity and ferocity to fight off apex predators. Humans who think they can “show the dog who’s boss” will likely get seriously hurt! And your dog will learn not to trust you and will not be safe to handle. And a wild, uncontrollable LGD is not an asset to anyone, it’s a liability.
Through Positive Reinforcement Training you will win your dog’s trust and loyalty, in a safe and fun manner. And while you can’t change a tiger’s stripes - or a Maremma’s independent nature - a dog that loves and trust you is a lot more likely to obey you. At least some of the time. 😆
Below are some of the resources we use and recommend for training all dogs, but especially LGD’s. And what’s really cool is that the basic concepts are very similar so once you understand these you can use what you learn with all your animals, be they cats, horses, goats or goldfish! No matter what kind of animals you have and love +R (positive reinforcement) is the way to go!
Positive Reinforcement Training Resources
Recommended Books & Websites
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Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Foundations Online Course
Maremma Sheepdogs don’t respond well to punishment based training methods but they do respond very well to positive reinforcement training methods. There are lots of good books available but in order to really get a good understanding of how +R training works we highly suggest that our puppy buyers enroll in Karen Pryor Academy’s Dog Trainer Foundations course before bringing home their new puppy.
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Resources Specific to Training & Socializing Livestock Guardian Dogs
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