Dogs on Duty
BRADY TWP — Two years ago, Linda Snyder's life was saved by one of her Maremma sheep dogs, a breed she keeps to protect her livestock.
She was out on a morning walk on her 500-acre farm when she spotted a sick, apparently rabid raccoon running toward her.
It was then that her female maremma, Angel, leaped to the rescue.
"Here comes this huge, sick raccoon. And Angel was over (in a pasture) behind a fence. I didn't think she could even get over that fence, but she leaped over it when I screamed," she said.
Snyder said Angel and the raccoon fought briefly. "It was like a wild movie," she said. Angel chased the raccoon up a tree and Snyder was safe.
Snyder first got a Maremma in 1993 for protection, but not from raccoons. That spring she lost 19 sheep in one night to wild dogs, and decided something needed to be done.
"It's a common problem here. There are coyotes and wild dogs. … Some people do not want their dogs anymore, and just let them out in the wild. They get hungry, and they decide some sheep would be pretty good," Snyder said.
A Maremma owner for 14 years, she is an avid fan of the protective breed. She has had Angel for almost five years, and bought her other maremma, Grizzly, last April.
The Maremma is a breed native to Italy that was brought to the United States in the 1970s to be livestock guard dogs.
According to the Maremma Sheepdog Club of America's Web site, the dogs are strong but lithe for their size; intelligent and courageous, but not aggressive. It assumes a parental attitude and has an aloof awareness as leader of its adopted "family" — whether that family comprises sheep, llamas, goats or alpacas.
Coming out of his barn recently, the aloof attitude was evident as Grizzly seemed happy, but not enthusiastic, about seeing his owner."He has full reign of the farm. At least he acts like it," said Snyder with a laugh.Free reign is a good thing for Grizzly and Angel because they have an important job to do.Snyder and her husband, Timothy, own 52 sheep, including 50 pregnant ewes. Coyotes are especially attracted to farms once sheep give birth, so it helps to have Grizzly and Angel watching the perimeter, Snyder said.The dogs are large: Grizzly weighs about 87 pounds and Angel comes in at 96 pounds. It does not take much to train them. Usually Maremma parents teach their pups that sheep and owners are to be protected, and instinct just kicks in, said Snyder.To introduce her dogs to the farm's borders, Snyder led them on walks around the perimeter. They are then essentially independent, requiring only food, shelter from the wind and a place where Angel can take care of her pups. The two dogs guard the farm 24 hours a day, Snyder said.Luke Fritz, executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency in Butler, said while coyotes are a problem in the county, there are only a few farms that use livestock guard dogs. He said there are not a lot of farmers who raise sheep here, so coyotes do a minimum of damage."For the Snyders, though, I could see that they get a lot of use out of it," Fritz said.He added that coyotes are a bigger problem in Greene and Washington counties. Snyder said Maremmas are more popular in places with predator problems, like upstate New York, Vermont and Montana.Snyder said the dogs are the best protection her sheep can have. "You cannot contain a flock with fence. Coyotes and wild dogs will get under, around or over anything," she said."(Maremmas) always sit in a position where they can see as much as possible. Angel, if she sees a raccoon, if she sees a groundhog, she is right there," said Snyder.The dogs will aggressively charge invading coyotes or wild dogs and kill small creatures if they get close to the sheep. Snyder said they also are wary of invading humans, but they rarely bite."They think on their own, they have that decision-making skill, and if they think you are a threat they will come between me and you," she said.Snyder first found out about maremmas from a PBS special about a New Hampshire study about Maremmas' protective abilities.She was impressed with the Maremma's independence. "I don't want a dog I have to be there for all the time. I'm very busy, and these dogs don't need me to coddle them," she said.Snyder went to central Pennsylvania for Angel and had a friend pick up Grizzly in Texas. They are both purebred maremmas.While there is a Maremma club in America, the breed is not recognized by the Kennel Club of America yet because they are not often shown at dog shows, she said.Although absent from the show ring, the Maremmas' presence on the farm has inspired Snyder to begin breeding them."We would like to add a couple more Maremmas to our farm and, knowing the mom and the dad, you kind of get the idea of the temperament of the dogs," she said.And as long as she was getting pups from Grizzly and Angel, she decided to sell some of the puppies. "I wanted to introduce them to other farmers and ranchers in the region. And, of course, you can make money there," she said.Grizzly and Angel had nine puppies who are now a few weeks old. The Snyders will keep two, and one pup was already sold to a farmer in upstate New York."I'm trying to find good homes for all of them. These dogs are not for apartments. They need a few acres," said Snyder.
