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.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
See Spot bark
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5 comments:
Hi
Well, as virgin dog owners we were led very much astray by the seller of our Maremma who told us that they are fine in a yard and would grow to the size of a medium Lab - didn't mention that would happen by 3 months!!! Sadly, as Odie took a real dislike to our 'bad neighbour' and , yes, would bark..they consistently complained and we had to rehome her...funny thing was that not one other neighbour had a problem and liked having an alert dog in the street, who though she owned the street. As Karma would have it - the 'bad neighbours' were broken into 1 week after Odie went to her farm...wouldn't have happened if the Big Girl was on watch...she is enormously happy on her 6 acreas and we are dear friends with her new Mummy & Daddy so we still see her...still hurts like mad...but it does make it easier..once you are touched by a Maremma, you are never the same.
Cheers
Tony & Susie
Brisbane Aust.
forgot to say _ Odie used to howl whenever she heard a siren eg Ambulance, Police etc...almost as though she new someone was in trouble and was hurting for them...
What a Gem!
Susie
Abes input....
We knew all about Maremmas and there barking before we got Abe...and knew what we were in for...but we need to know whose out there and where they are as partner has quite a few treasures in his shed and NOONE will take on Abe to get thru the gate to the shed!! He has got over letting us know the rubbish man has "taken" our rubbish and the postman has "taken" our mail saga...and doesnt bark at people that are 'regulars' going to work or returning...just anthing different...which suits us fine!!
Tony and Susie - I think the barking is why we always always see Maremma's up for re-homing or being rescused. I'm so very glad you found somewhere safe for your girl, and I think the cases we have seen in NZ have had generally good outcomes.
Just the other day I came across some posts regarding "should I get a Maremma as a household pet?". The answers were shocking, and left me a little cold. There was no effort at all be the (non) knowing posters to point at the factors involved with a Maremma.
There is little doubt that we rushed a little in getting a Maremma, and so truely wish we had a different property for our two. But we've adjusted, as have our neighbours, to who they are. It's not easy for anyone and it's why we put this blog up to a degree.
There are ways to live with a Maremma in a built up and urban environment, but they take sacrifice and a whole lot of effort. And it never stops. But we do it because we can and we love our bears.
In saying that though - neighbours are the deciding factor. Maremma's bark.
Bridgette - I think Kyle knows who and who not to bark at now, but he still goes mental when the door is knocked, and the occasional visitor. Magic is the opposite - he barks at neighbours and licks visitors to death. A great game!
Hi,
Massimo barks a lot too. So the European Maremma is no different! But we escaped to the country, a year ago. Massimo was still a pup then. Now we do have neighbours, but not so close by. Still, everyone who lives within a couple of miles knows Massimo and they can hear him too! But you know, our neighbours said they liked having a serious dog nearby. We live near the border with Germany and there is some softdrugs courier going on. Just youngsters who had a couple of beers and want to bring some pot to their friends in Germany. But you know, sometimes they have a beer to much and a big dog who barks gives a sense of protection. So the barking is no problem. In summertime a lot of people on bikes come by the house. Massimo now only barks if something new passes, something that sounds strange (baby buggies or rolerblades). So no problems here!
Martha
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