What to Look for in a Reputable Maremma Sheepdog Breeder
There are a lot of people out there breeding Maremmas, both registered and unregistered. Sadly a lot of these people are doing a disservice to the breed, the unsuspecting people who will buy their puppies and the livestock they are intended to guard.
First there are the "puppy mill" breeders. They are truly just lazy and greedy and are churning out pups without any real effort and with the least expense in order to maximize profits. Often these pups are of questionable parentage and health. Unvaccinated, fed cheap dog food. These are the Craigslist dogs. Breed them, house them for 8 weeks (or less) and sell them quick and cheap. Repeat, repeat, repeat... These are the people that give breeders a bad name and they should be stopped. They should be arrested.
Then there are the "estate guardian" breeders. They are usually well to do and live in beautiful, high dollar homes with acreage. They may have a few token sheep, horses or chickens but they aren't serious farmers or homesteaders. They just like having a "cool" or "rare" breed to lay around looking pretty and keeping coyotes from pooping on their fancy lawns. They usually have beautiful, well bred, healthy dogs, which are registered and health tested but they aren't really LGD's. They are pool and patio guardians. These breeders put little to no effort into socializing their pups to livestock. Maybe they just don't understand puppy development and critical learning periods. They believe it's reasonable for them to raise the pups on their patio or in the comfort of their own home for 2, 3 or 4 months and then the new owners can take the puppies home and do the rest. And this works great if the new owners need their pool or patio guarded. Not so much if they need their goats, sheep or chickens guarded.
Both of these types of breeders produce puppies that are likely to cause lots of problems, stress and heartache for their new owners. It could be health problems, bad temperaments, inappropriate behavior with livestock or other issues. In order to maximize our chances of success with LGD's we have to be discerning consumers when it comes to choosing a breeder. Don't just buy that cute fluffy puppy you saw on Facebook or Craigslist. But the beautiful litter of puppies frolicking by a pool of a fancy estate without a goat or sheep in sight is an equally bad choice. You want healthy, well cared for, well bred dogs but they need to look and act like FARM DOGS. They need proper early socialization with stock as well as with people and a variety of experiences, health tested parents, great vet care, and "all the things". Don't settle for less than the best. If you would like to know what to look for in a breeder and how to tell a great breeding program from a mediocre or bad one read on.
First there are the "puppy mill" breeders. They are truly just lazy and greedy and are churning out pups without any real effort and with the least expense in order to maximize profits. Often these pups are of questionable parentage and health. Unvaccinated, fed cheap dog food. These are the Craigslist dogs. Breed them, house them for 8 weeks (or less) and sell them quick and cheap. Repeat, repeat, repeat... These are the people that give breeders a bad name and they should be stopped. They should be arrested.
Then there are the "estate guardian" breeders. They are usually well to do and live in beautiful, high dollar homes with acreage. They may have a few token sheep, horses or chickens but they aren't serious farmers or homesteaders. They just like having a "cool" or "rare" breed to lay around looking pretty and keeping coyotes from pooping on their fancy lawns. They usually have beautiful, well bred, healthy dogs, which are registered and health tested but they aren't really LGD's. They are pool and patio guardians. These breeders put little to no effort into socializing their pups to livestock. Maybe they just don't understand puppy development and critical learning periods. They believe it's reasonable for them to raise the pups on their patio or in the comfort of their own home for 2, 3 or 4 months and then the new owners can take the puppies home and do the rest. And this works great if the new owners need their pool or patio guarded. Not so much if they need their goats, sheep or chickens guarded.
Both of these types of breeders produce puppies that are likely to cause lots of problems, stress and heartache for their new owners. It could be health problems, bad temperaments, inappropriate behavior with livestock or other issues. In order to maximize our chances of success with LGD's we have to be discerning consumers when it comes to choosing a breeder. Don't just buy that cute fluffy puppy you saw on Facebook or Craigslist. But the beautiful litter of puppies frolicking by a pool of a fancy estate without a goat or sheep in sight is an equally bad choice. You want healthy, well cared for, well bred dogs but they need to look and act like FARM DOGS. They need proper early socialization with stock as well as with people and a variety of experiences, health tested parents, great vet care, and "all the things". Don't settle for less than the best. If you would like to know what to look for in a breeder and how to tell a great breeding program from a mediocre or bad one read on.
Things To Look for in a Breeder
- The parent dogs and puppies should be healthy and well cared for. They should be well fed and should be receiving proper medical care such as vaccines and parasite control.
- The parent dogs should be Livestock Guardian Dogs, actively guarding livestock full time. If most or all of the dogs are kept in the house, are laying around on the patio or are patrolling around the livestock but not kept in WITH livestock that is a huge red flag. Chances are highly likely that the dogs are untrustworthy with stock and as such, they will probably produce puppies that are also untrustworthy.