See Spot ... fold?

Just a quick note, for any reader who is new to Maremmas - they fold.

No, truely - they can really fit into the smallest of places. We kinda already knew this, but with Magic we've found he likes to sleep on our couches. And when he does he turns into compact dog. He slices, he dices, he folds into small spaces. I mean - he's tiny when he wants to be.

And, as a point to giggle about - here's the running total of what Magic has been nicking from our kitchen over the last few weeks - he's getting kindy tricksy:

A box of roses chocolates (he only managed the box however!), a tub of margarine, a bag of 5 or 6 nectarines, a small container of licorice all-sorts, a pack of 5 hamburger buns. Another box of (expensive) chocolates.

The war continues. We will prevail.

Hair of the Dog

So, about the hair! We have a navy blue carpet. And two maremmas. Yup. Mum said "what were you thinking?" So we invested in an excellent Miele Cat and Dog Vacuum Cleaner (turbo head a must if you are looking to buy).

So how many of you are collecting your maremma hair? Because y'all know what happens when the moult kicks in. There really is enough to make a sweater y'know! Well, if you save up enough of it.

We are. I have a large plastic bag filled with Kyle's very soft, sheepswool type fur. Magic's hair is longer and silkier. The plan is to visit our local Arts & Crafts Society to see if someone can card it up and turn into balls of yarn. It's not unheard of...there are books on the subject. Check this one out:

Knitting dog hair better sweater

So, dear readers...anyone out there already sporting handknitted maremma vests, handbags, socks? We'd love to hear from you!

You sexy thang

We never got to see either Kyle or Magic as little pups. Were they this cute?

Ettore the Maremma Sheepdog

See Spot swim

So, it's summer here at Kapiti and we've had a good month or so of lovely weather. Did it all really start at the end of spring? Soon, the sea will be warm enough to paddle/scream/dunk in and we'll be in that happy state of smelling of sea and salt and hungering for fish and chips.

Nice.

Kyle has always loved the sea, and when we're confident he will stay within arms reach we let him off to paddle and swim. It's always a bit of a heart-in-the-mouth stage ... does he care enough to come back to us? Needless to say he does. But it took a long time to build up that trust factor, with a very strong focus on ensuring he always came back to us when we called him (while on the lead) and sat when we asked.


Funnily enough his version of "sit"on the beach is lying down. He doesn't do that anywhere else.

So when no people or dogs were around, we let him off and he just sprints into the waves, looks at us to see it's okay, and ploughs on through the foam.

Everything was always fine until the day he noticed seagulls don't just walk and fly. Nope. They float. So he just kept swimming out one day to get a couple. Images of sharks, cello's playing in the distance and me screaming "I think we need a bigger dog!" came to mind.

But he came back, I was soaked from swimming after him and my voice was gone and my throat ragged. He just looked at me from the beach and laughed at me. Fun huh dad? FUN.

But Magic doesn't like the sea yet - or maybe it's the waves. He's slowly going closer to patches of calmer water, and we'll keep encouraging him. He shows no interest when Kyle is off the lead. We'll try him in a stream and see what happens.

I know maremma's can love fresh water, and have seen pics and video of them at the sea - but does anyone have any experiences to share?

See Spot bark

I thought i'd start this blog with something familiar to any maremma owner. Especially, like ourselves, an urban maremma owner.

Barking. Abstreifen. El raspar, even.

Kyle, our first maremma, likes to bark. To be more correct - he just barks when and where he thinks it's neccessary, which is pretty much all of the time. It is part-and-parcel of owning a maremma. It's also part (or all of) the reason that we have our second maremma. He's a 'rescue' dog - and apparently he barked alot.


Well - duh. Take a maremma, place him or her in an urban environment and leave it all day and bingo! One mentally and (with very little effort) physically abused little white bear. But, of all the things any potential owner of this breed needs to know it's that they bark. They growl, snort, talk and occasionally burp - but they especially bark. So he barked incessently. Especially at the postman. Well - who doesn't I suppose. It's their beady little eyes. But anyway ...

They bark to tell everyone (and especially you, dear pack), that this is my house, my family, my land and my red zone. Come near, and I bark. Come close and I bark and snarl and leap on anything appropriate to see you even better to bark at.

But they also bark at - ANYTHING. Flowers, feathers, birds, changes in their environment. It's a long, and constantly changing list. And while some of it is charming, if you're not prepared to live with a barky bark, don't even think of a maremma.

Does anyone have a specific trigger point for their maremmas barking? Our rescue maremma - Magic, barks at whistling, especially on tv. Weird, but true.