DogBlog March

About the pups.

This ‘abandoned pup’ theory. There is every possibility that the pups belonged to a local shepherd since the Maremmano is bred to live amongst and protect sheep. If the dogs have pups then the mother brings them up in the fields along with the other dogs and sheep. They follow their parents’ example and natural instinct to protect the flock. There is never any training. It seems more likely that the pups, chasing each other in play, blundered their way beyond their boundary, pitching up in our garden at Montegiorgio. Thinking about it, maybe not only were they not abandoned but maybe they weren’t lost either. Maybe, they had passed by this way before and knew their way home and maybe we didn’t rescue them but absconded with them. I mention this because following our legal adoption of them, (ownership by virtue of microchips and passports) I was chatting to a shepherd who came by the house who told us that a friend had lost two Maremmano pups and that he had been looking for them. As it is, my command of the Italian language is only get-byable but there are times when, you know, I have no idea what they are talking about!!!

So much has been said about the ‘Pastore Maremmano’ ~ that they are bad mainly (cativo is the word the Italians use), not friendly towards people and vicious towards other dogs. There are no signs yet. The Italians are terrified of them, but then the Italians are frightened of most dogs however small. Almost all Italians have a friend who has been bitten by a dog at some time in their lives which goes some way to explaining why they retreat into walls when anyone out walking a dog approaches. It’s serious fun walking the dogs through the piazza on market day!


When we first brought the pups home and before we decided to keep them we bought each of them a collar and lead. They were only three months old and they certainly didn’t look like they had ever been tethered. We had fed and watered them, shampooed and de-flead (made-up word) them and prepared to take them for their first walk on a lead. Dragging them up the road whilst they were yelping, leaping into the air and spinning like tops was not the image I’d fostered of ‘country stroll with dog’ but I held true to my philosophy and urged my husband ‘to carry on, they’ll get used to it’. (I feel a certain affinity with Prince Philip at times). After a short while I began to have some doubts about this method of training, not least because the cacophony was beginning to draw unwanted attention. Now today, what with the internet an’ all there is no excuse for ignorance so I Googled “how to train a pup to walk on a lead” and in seconds I was faced with pages of good advice. The first piece of advice I read was “NEVER DRAG A DOG UP THE ROAD YELPING AND FIGHTING THINKING THAT HE’LL GET USED TO IT” Oops, learning something new every day.

Marlon (my favourite character from 'The Perishers'), would have said "I can see right up your nose".