Maremma dilemma as animal rescuers report rising number of guardian dogs surrendered by unprepared families

Families are being urged to carefully consider if a Maremma pup is a good fit for their home before buying one.  (ABC News: James Paras)

Maremmano-Abruzzese sheepdogs, better known as Maremmas, are cute, energetic and fiercely loyal.

The puppies are adorable bundles of playful fluff, but they soon become large dogs needing lots of room and discipline.

“[People] adopt these cute fluffy pups, then when they’re about eight months old they ditch them,” said dog carer Naomi Hooper.

Ms Hooper runs a not-for-profit animal sanctuary near Armidale in northern New South Wales, which is currently caring for 20 surrendered Maremmas.

She said she’s seeing more surrenders of Maremmas, and receives calls daily from owners desperate to rehome the breed.

Beneath the fluffy exterior, Maremmas are a herding dog traditionally used by farmers who have livestock that need an extra pair of watchful eyes.

“They’re a guardian dog — they need to be out on properties guarding livestock, guarding poultry; they’re more like a wolf than a dog,” Ms Hooper said.

Unprepared owners

Kindly Animal Sanctuary is run by Ms Hooper and her daughter, Trinity Valdez.

Ms Hooper said she goes to great lengths to ensure surrendered animals are given a home.

Recently she travelled past Canberra to pick up eight Maremma pups and their mother.

“These nine had nowhere else to go, it was an 18-hour round trip,” Ms Hooper said.

It’s not uncommon for Maremmas to be born in litters of 12, and by seven months old the pups can be as heavy as 35 kilograms.

Kindly Animal Sanctuary asks for a $250 donation from people who are surrendering a Maremma, with the money put towards desexing the animals before they are rehomed.

Near Lithgow in NSW, Sarah Coulon works with Maremma Sheepdog Rescue, which houses livestock dogs, including Maremmas, that have been surrendered to them.

“We call them boomerang dogs,” she said.

“We will probably only rehome six or seven [of the Maremmas] — they’re a stubborn dog and not overly obedient.”

Ms Hooper said while some Maremmas can be a great family pet if time and effort is put into their training, it is still in their blood to be territorial.

“They tend to bark a lot, that’s how they guard,” she said.

“Everyone wants experienced guardians, but don’t want to put the effort in.”

Do your homework

Ms Valdez said many families turn to social media for advice about buying or adopting dogs, which she said creates problems.

“People offer up random, terrible advice online,” she said.

“They will say they had a Maremma growing up and it was great and they are fine to adopt in suburbia or in an apartment.”

Advice is something Maremma breeder Linda Bagnall makes sure she offers before she agrees to sell one of her dogs.

Ms Bagnall said she tries to ensure her dogs go to the right owners.

“I turn away more people than I sell to — people don’t have a good enough understanding of what they are getting into,” she said.

“I look for intelligent owners that have a job for the dog.”

She said she believes her commitment to vetting buyers leads to very few dogs being returned to her.

Properly research your addition to the family

The RSPCA says that dog adoptions should not be made based on the appearance of an animal.

In a statement, the association said it is hard to know how many Maremmas are in their centres, but that ill-advised adoption is a problem.”We encourage all prospective owners to do their research thoroughly when considering a new pet,” a spokesperson said.

“You should always be mindful of breed characteristics, both mental and physical, of the animal you are thinking of bringing home.”