Mostly Maremmas

I recently read of a small publication titled Mostly Maremmas. I emailed Chris Wood the editor for some more information, and here's what I got back:

Hi, The newsletter is 14 - A4 pages and has been running since 1994. Content
is mostly for livestock guardian dogs but a lot of it would be useful to any
dog owner.

Has anyone read this? The newsletter comes out four times a year: March, June, September and December and the cost is $25 (Australian dollars I think).

Come to think of it - where do we all get our information about Maremmas? Have we moved to a community-centric model, mixing online toolsets and friends?

See Spot go ... ferral?

"The pack leader is a bit of a legend, a pure white dingo crossed with an Italian maremma - a dog bred to be left alone in the mountains to guard sheep and goats from wolves and wild dog attacks," .

Dogged trekker spots rare dingo

Thank you Mr Bob Piper.

The question is - how do they know it was crossed with a Maremma? Curious minds want to know. Well - I do at least.

See Spot guard penguins

Some of you may know about the recent trial of Maremmas to protect Little Penguins on Middle Island, Warrnambool, Australia.

The inital report on how well the two dogs did has was released and the recommendation was made to have a second trial, this one 12 months in length.

Predator protection of little penguin and shearwater colonies

A quote from the conclusions:

The trial's success has generated world-wide interest. The use of guard animals such as maremma and even alpacas, (which also deter foxes), is now being considered to save other endangered species such as the eastern barred bandicoot.

Alpacas. Who knew!

However, things didn't work out so well.

Things appear to be a bit grim as of the last few weeks. The Age reports that Ben and Misty actually caused the death of ten penguins, possibly due to human inteferance.

It doesn't sound like normal Maremma behaviour ... and the Council is treating things in a calm manner for now - Council investigates penguin deaths.

Happy New Bear!

Yes, it's been a long time since my last post, and we've been through Christmas and New Year's without a hitch. The two dogs have met lots of new people and only given the occasional one a good barking at before being the nice boys that they are.



We gave gifts to the boys at Christmas, and they both treated them with the due respect they deserve - ripping at them and squeaking the toys merry-like. A good Christmas for all.

So - any gifts for your pups and dogs?