PASTORE-MAREMMANO-ABRUZZESE

A sturdy dog, rustic and most majestic, but not haughty, distinct, calm and
courageous. 


ORIGINS
-------

The breed has a history certainly 1000's of years long, exactly how long is
confused with the beginning of man's civilization.  Certainly the
maremmano-abruzzese, the kuvasz, the tatra shepherd, and the great pyrennes
have a common ancestry - these dogs arrived in Italy from Asia - they followed
the nomadic shepherds who settled in the region whose fields were flowering -
spreading overall in Abruzzo, Molise, Maremma laziale (coastal region in
between Rome and Tuscany, famous for "cowboys"), Tuscany, and the plateau
of Puglia.  This dog was known in the Roman era, already 2000 years ago.  The
animal, called at first "cane da pastore maremmano detto anche abruzzsese" (dog
of the maremanno shepherds, also called abruzzsese), was then two distinct
kinds, but in the end, also in two breeds, was combined under one actual name.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 
------------------------ 
The head looks big, conical, and resembles a white bear; the black truffle is
on the same lines as the dog's nose; the eyes - not big with respect to the
whole animal, in the lateral position - are neither bulging nor recessed, with
irises collored ocre or dark brown; the ears, triangular and covered in short
fur, hang at the sides when the dog is in a state of rest, become semierect
when he is alert.  The body - with a large chest, open and muscled - has a wide
and deep ribcage, back with a straight over profile, underneath is convex, so
you can see the profile is large, sturdy, and musculer; the coat - all white -
presents very abundant fur, long, rather rough to touch, with rich underfur
only for winter.

The rear paws present long thighs, larde and musculer; the feet are big, of
round form, with toes well separated from them, soles dry and hard, nails
strong and curved.

CHARACTER AND BEHAVIOR
----------------------

They have learned great self discipline, which comes from the attention they
give to the sheep and to its herd, the pastore maremmano-abruzzese uses his
great strength to stop those with bad intentions to the property of his master.

Very much intellegent and particularly blessed with the spirit of initiative,
he has a docile temper which however is not to be confused with submission,
dependancy, and all lesser servile things: he loves to warn his master of
strangers, but while not ignoring the wishes of his master.  In the house he
makes the minimum disturbance notwithstanding the his great size: the favorite
position is to cross the threshold, with the head always pointed outside and
always alert.  An excellent guardian of other things than herds, also of
property, it is spread across all of Italy, in Great Britain, and also in the
US, guarding both the house and the yard.

[picture of the dog]
caption :

A pastore maremmano-abruzzese with the herd: the breed has a white coat, also
talerated are ivory shades or light yellow, although limited.