Dogs Pastore Abruzzese-Maremmano
Meet Our Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdogs
An ancient white guardian breed, born in these very mountains — our Pastore Maremmano-Abruzzese keep the flock safe and let us farm peacefully alongside the wild heart of Abruzzo.
🐕 The Maremmano-Abruzzese — Guardian of the Flock
The Cane da pastore Maremmano-Abruzzese is one of Italy's oldest and most noble working breeds — a large, white livestock guardian dog whose roots run deep into the mountains of Abruzzo and the plains of the Maremma. For thousands of years, shepherds of central Italy have trusted this dog to do one thing supremely well: protect the flock. While the shepherd slept, the dog watched; while the herd moved between summer and winter pastures along the ancient drovers' roads, the dog walked at its side.
What makes the breed remarkable is not aggression but judgement. A Maremmano-Abruzzese does not herd or chase — it bonds with the animals it lives among, watches its territory with calm, independent intelligence, and steps in only when there is a genuine threat. Its thick white coat lets it blend in among sheep and gives it the resilience to live outdoors in every season. Devoted, dignified and deeply protective, it is a dog bred by centuries of life beside both livestock and predators.
Breed Characteristics
🐺 Why We Keep Guardian Dogs
The land we farm is genuinely wild. The hills of Abruzzo are home to the Apennine wolf (Canis lupus italicus), which moves through our valleys as it has for millennia. We consider that a privilege — a sign of a living, intact landscape. But it also means that our cows, goats, ducks and chickens need real protection.
This is exactly the situation the Maremmano-Abruzzese was shaped for. Rather than fencing wildlife out or treating the wolf as an enemy, our dogs allow us to do something better: coexist. They live with the herd, make the farm a place no predator wants to test, and let the wolves, foxes and birds of prey carry on their own lives in the surrounding hills. It is protection without persecution — guarding our animals while leaving the wild ones their place.
"A good guardian dog does not declare war on the wolf. It simply makes the flock a place the wolf chooses to leave alone."
🐾 Our Dogs
Our farm is home to three Maremmano-Abruzzese from the renowned Allevamento del Velino-Sirente — the kennel named for the wild Velino-Sirente mountains of Abruzzo, with whom we work in close collaboration. They are working guardians first and foremost, health-tested and selected as the foundation of everything we hope to build with the breed.
Aron
Del Velino Sirente
HD and ED are official health-screening results for hips and elbows; "A" and "0" are the best possible grades — an important foundation for breeding healthy working dogs.
🦴 Our Future — Breeding With Pedigree
Our three dogs are more than guardians — they are the start of something we are building with great care. In the future, we intend to breed Maremmano-Abruzzese with full pedigree, working to the same standards we hold for every animal on the farm.
For us, responsible breeding means a few non-negotiable things:
- Health-tested parents — hips and elbows officially screened, so puppies start from the strongest possible foundation.
- Documented pedigree — every dog with a recorded lineage, bred in line with the official breed standard.
- True to type and temperament — preserving the calm, capable working guardian the breed has always been, not a fashion or a look.
- Raised among the flock — puppies growing up on a real working farm, surrounded by the livestock they are born to protect.
We are not breeding yet — but the groundwork is being laid now, dog by dog, test by test. We are building this in close partnership with Allevamento del Velino-Sirente, the kennel our dogs come from — drawing on their experience and their proven bloodlines as the foundation of our own programme.
🐕 Interested in a Maremmano-Abruzzese?
A guardian dog is a serious, long-term commitment — and a wonderful one for the right home or farm. If you would like to follow our breeding plans, or hope to welcome a Del Velino Sirente puppy in the future, we would love to hear from you.
Get in touch to learn more about the breed, our dogs, and what raising a working guardian truly involves.
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