Prancing Pony Farm Maremma Sheepdogs and Mini Dairy Goats
  • Home
    • Contact us
    • About Us
    • Farm Visits
    • Prancing Pony Farm Families FaceBook Group
  • Maremma Sheepdogs for Sale
    • Maremma Testimonials
    • Available Maremma Puppies and Adults >
      • Puppy Questionnaire
      • Maremma Sales Policies
      • Puppy Placement Policies
      • Shipping Maremma Puppies
      • Breeding Candidate Puppy Program
    • Maremma Visitor Policy
    • How we Raise and Train our Maremma Puppies >
      • Our New Puppy Parlor
      • The Importance of Early Socialization in LGD Puppies
      • How Many LGD's do I Need?
    • Our Maremma Sheepdogs >
      • Our Breeding Maremmas
      • Reference Maremmas
    • Maremma Litters - Past & Present >
      • May 2022 Litter Polar x Sevro
      • May 2022 Litter Marisa x Simba
      • February 2022 Litter Celeste x Sevro
      • December 2021 Litter Gianna x Simba
      • October 2021 Litter Marcella x Sevro
      • May 2021 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • February 2021 Litter Simba x Marcella
      • February 2021 Litter Sevro x Polar
      • December 2020 Litter Sevro x Gianna
      • September 2020 Litter Olaf x Carina
      • August 2020 Litter Simba x Polar
      • January 2020 Litter Olaf x Carina
      • 2019 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • 2018 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • 2017 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • Our Puppies in Their New Homes
    • About Maremma Sheepdogs >
      • Training Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Maremma Sheepdog Forum
      • Maremma Sheepdog Open Forum Facebook Group
      • Maremma Sheepdog FAQ's
    • Maremma Sheepdog Care >
      • Feeding our Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Goat Milk for Healthy Dogs and Puppies
      • Vaccine and Parasite Protocol for Our Maremma Puppies
      • Grooming Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Housing Maremmas
      • Favorite Dog Products
      • Whelping Supplies for LGD's
  • Maremma Blog
  • Goats for Sale
    • Baby Goats For Sale
    • Adult Goats for Sale
    • Nigerian Dwarf Kids 2022
    • Mini Nubian Kids 2022
    • Breeding Plan Goats
    • Goat Questionnaire
    • Shipping Goats
    • Goat Sales Policies
    • Goat Stud service info
  • Dairy Goat Blog
    • Our Prancing Ponies
    • Fun Farm videos
  • Our Dairy Goat Herd
    • Mini Nubian Does
    • Mini Nubian Bucks
    • Reference Mini Nubian Does
    • Reference Mini Nubian Bucks
    • Standard Nubian Does
    • Nigerian Dwarf Does
    • Nigerian Dwarf Bucks
    • Reference Nigerian Dwarf Does
    • Reference Nigerian Dwarf Bucks
    • Past Kidding Seasons >
      • Fall 2021 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • Spring 2021 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • Spring 2021 Mini Nubian Kids
      • 2020 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • 2020 Mini Nubian Kids
      • 2019 Fall Kids
      • 2019 Spring Kids
      • 2018 Fall Kids
      • 2018 Spring Kids
      • 2018 Mini Nubian kids
      • 2018 Nigerian Dwarf kids
      • 2017 Spring Kids
  • Goat care & Info
    • Goat care articles
    • Useful Animal Products & Links
    • Supplies for Goats
    • Favorite Goat products
    • Annual Disease Testing of Goats
    • Bringing Home Your New Goat
    • Health concerns of your new goat
    • Feeding Our Mini Dairy Goats
    • Feeding Mini & Dwarf Baby Goats
    • Housing Does & Kids
    • Goat Parasites
    • Pneumonia in Goats
    • Goat Hoof Trimming
    • Milking Dairy Goats
    • Our Dairy Goat Milking Parlor
    • Clicker Training Goats
    • Disbudding Mini & Dwarf Goats
    • Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    • Mini Nubian Goats
    • Mini Nubian Ears
    • Dairy Goat FAQ's

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!

Positive Reinforcement Training Resources

Recommended Books & Websites

  • Puppy Culture for Breeders and Dog Owners
  • Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Foundations
  • Livestock Guardian Dog Training Manual by Cindy Benson
  • Benson Maremmas Blogs by Cindy Benson
  • Maremma Sheepdog Forum
  • Patricia McConnal books
  • On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals​​
  • Karen Pryor Clicker Training website (positive training for dogs and other species)​​
  • When Pigs Fly - Training Success with Impossible Dogs
  • Clicker Training for Dogs (Karen Pryor)
  • Reaching the Animal Mind (Karen Pryor)
  • Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor
  • The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell
  • ​For the Love of a Dog by Patricia McConnell

Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Foundations Online Course

Picture
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.

Resources Specific to Training & Socializing Livestock Guardian Dogs

  • ​Livestock Guardian Dog Training Manual by Cindy Benson
  • Benson Maremmas Blogs by Cindy Benson​​
  • Maremma Sheepdog Open Forum
  • Livestock Guardian Dogs Association ​​
  • The Way of the Pack​
  • ​​Maremmano.com (Maremma website)​​
  • Livestock Protection Dogs - Selection, Care and Training
  • Livestock Guardians (Storey’s Working Animals)
Picture

Training Treats we use for Puppy Culture & Clicker Training

  • Canine Carry Outs
  • Amazon Brand Wag Training Treats
  • Alpo Tbonz Treats
  • Milk Bone Marrow Snacks
  • Milk Bone Mini Treats
  • Milk Bone Soft & Chewy Treats
  • Gerber Meat baby food
  • Baby Food pouches with meat, any variety
  • Pup-Peroni
  • Human food such as cheese, meat, peanut butter, etc

Training Equipment

  • Clickers
  • PetAmi Training Pouch
  • Silicone Treat Pouch
  • GoToobs
  • Karen Pryor Balance Harness
  • Karen Pryor Multi Function Leash

Useful links and info:

Low Value versus High Value Treats
If you are interested in our Dairy Goats or Maremma Sheepdogs please fill out our Goat Questionnaire or Puppy Questionnaire. We are located in Lemoore, California.
Goat Reservations
Puppy Reservations
  • Home
    • Contact us
    • About Us
    • Farm Visits
    • Prancing Pony Farm Families FaceBook Group
  • Maremma Sheepdogs for Sale
    • Maremma Testimonials
    • Available Maremma Puppies and Adults >
      • Puppy Questionnaire
      • Maremma Sales Policies
      • Puppy Placement Policies
      • Shipping Maremma Puppies
      • Breeding Candidate Puppy Program
    • Maremma Visitor Policy
    • How we Raise and Train our Maremma Puppies >
      • Our New Puppy Parlor
      • The Importance of Early Socialization in LGD Puppies
      • How Many LGD's do I Need?
    • Our Maremma Sheepdogs >
      • Our Breeding Maremmas
      • Reference Maremmas
    • Maremma Litters - Past & Present >
      • May 2022 Litter Polar x Sevro
      • May 2022 Litter Marisa x Simba
      • February 2022 Litter Celeste x Sevro
      • December 2021 Litter Gianna x Simba
      • October 2021 Litter Marcella x Sevro
      • May 2021 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • February 2021 Litter Simba x Marcella
      • February 2021 Litter Sevro x Polar
      • December 2020 Litter Sevro x Gianna
      • September 2020 Litter Olaf x Carina
      • August 2020 Litter Simba x Polar
      • January 2020 Litter Olaf x Carina
      • 2019 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • 2018 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • 2017 Litter Olaf x Genevieve
      • Our Puppies in Their New Homes
    • About Maremma Sheepdogs >
      • Training Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Maremma Sheepdog Forum
      • Maremma Sheepdog Open Forum Facebook Group
      • Maremma Sheepdog FAQ's
    • Maremma Sheepdog Care >
      • Feeding our Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Goat Milk for Healthy Dogs and Puppies
      • Vaccine and Parasite Protocol for Our Maremma Puppies
      • Grooming Maremma Sheepdogs
      • Housing Maremmas
      • Favorite Dog Products
      • Whelping Supplies for LGD's
  • Maremma Blog
  • Goats for Sale
    • Baby Goats For Sale
    • Adult Goats for Sale
    • Nigerian Dwarf Kids 2022
    • Mini Nubian Kids 2022
    • Breeding Plan Goats
    • Goat Questionnaire
    • Shipping Goats
    • Goat Sales Policies
    • Goat Stud service info
  • Dairy Goat Blog
    • Our Prancing Ponies
    • Fun Farm videos
  • Our Dairy Goat Herd
    • Mini Nubian Does
    • Mini Nubian Bucks
    • Reference Mini Nubian Does
    • Reference Mini Nubian Bucks
    • Standard Nubian Does
    • Nigerian Dwarf Does
    • Nigerian Dwarf Bucks
    • Reference Nigerian Dwarf Does
    • Reference Nigerian Dwarf Bucks
    • Past Kidding Seasons >
      • Fall 2021 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • Spring 2021 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • Spring 2021 Mini Nubian Kids
      • 2020 Nigerian Dwarf Kids
      • 2020 Mini Nubian Kids
      • 2019 Fall Kids
      • 2019 Spring Kids
      • 2018 Fall Kids
      • 2018 Spring Kids
      • 2018 Mini Nubian kids
      • 2018 Nigerian Dwarf kids
      • 2017 Spring Kids
  • Goat care & Info
    • Goat care articles
    • Useful Animal Products & Links
    • Supplies for Goats
    • Favorite Goat products
    • Annual Disease Testing of Goats
    • Bringing Home Your New Goat
    • Health concerns of your new goat
    • Feeding Our Mini Dairy Goats
    • Feeding Mini & Dwarf Baby Goats
    • Housing Does & Kids
    • Goat Parasites
    • Pneumonia in Goats
    • Goat Hoof Trimming
    • Milking Dairy Goats
    • Our Dairy Goat Milking Parlor
    • Clicker Training Goats
    • Disbudding Mini & Dwarf Goats
    • Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    • Mini Nubian Goats
    • Mini Nubian Ears
    • Dairy Goat FAQ's