THE MAREMMA GUARDIAN

Fourth Quarter 2023 Newsletter

Please remember to renew your membership!!! 

Renewal of your annual membership is now open on the website. You can renew and manage the status of your membership and Breeder Listing in real time. This is the safest way to renew or register dogs because you will have an electronic record of your transaction. 

Below are instructions. If you have any difficulties, please contact us for assistance.



When you log in, you will see the below message. Click on HERE and follow the prompts.

Annual Meeting

The 2024 Annual Meeting will be held on January 8, 2024, via Google Meet, in accordance with Article II, Section 1 of the Bylaws. President Dan Robinson will send a meeting invitation to each member shortly. An agenda will be provided in advance of the meeting. If you have specific issues you wish to have on the agenda, please contact us at [email protected].  

We look forward to seeing all of you there!

The Maremma Sheepdog Club of America Rescue Calendar is back by popular demand!

Calendars will be printed soon and ready to ship in early December. You can order here: 2024 Rescue Calendar.

One of our members had the great idea that we offer members the chance to sponsor a month in the calendar for a small fee, which will help to offset the costs of printing (thank you, Mark Engemann!). Your farm name or logo will appear in a small area on the calendar for one month and more of the funds raised will help the Rescue.

If you are interested in sponsoring the calendar, please click here and scroll down. If you have pictures you would like to submit for the Calendar, please email to Allison at [email protected].

Allison Ribaux, our rescue star, has helped so many dogs and her work adds so much value to our club. Please support our rescue!

Election Results

The Board of Directors did not receive any nominations for the open Board positions during the open call for nominations from September 9, 2023, to October 1, 2023.

The Board's proposed slate of candidates for the open positions was:

President: Dan Robinson

Vice President: Tabitha Compton

Recording Secretary: Megan Borbon

Board Member at Large: Colby Brown

Since no nominations were received during the nomination period, the Board's proposed slate of candidates is deemed elected in accordance with Article IV, Section 4(d) of the Bylaws, which states:

d) If no valid additional nominations are received by the Nominating Committee on or before October 1, the Nominating Committee’s slate shall be declared elected at the time of the 4^th quarter Board meeting, and no balloting will be required.

We are very pleased to report that the Board's proposed slate of candidates was declared elected at the Fourth Quarter meeting on October 5, 2023, to a three-year term. The members of the 2024 Board of Directors will be as follows:

President: Dan Robinson

Vice President: Tabitha Compton

Corresponding Secretary: Nancy Joyce Simmons

Recording Secretary: Megan Borbon

Treasurer: Kathryn Flynn

Board Member at Large: Christine Fahrnbauer

Board Member at Large: Colby Brown

Board Member at Large: Elizabeth Brockman

Board Member at Large: Peter Malmberg

Congratulations to Megan Borbon for being elected as the new Recording Secretary and to Colby Brown for being elected as Board Member at Large. Megan and Colby have been Board members pro tem since March 2023, and have helped the Club move forward with a new website that streamlines our membership and registration processes and gives the members control over their Breeder Listing. They have also helped immensely to improve newsletters, social media and other member communications. Please welcome them!

The Board would very much like to thank Mark Engemann and Jim Beck for serving on the Nominating Committee and ensuring the fairness of this process. We would also like to thank all of our members for your continued support and we look forward to serving the Maremma Sheepdog Club of America in the New Year.

SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTH TESTING

Written by Nancy Joyce Simmons, Secretary

The Maremma Sheepdog Club of America strongly encourages the health testing of any dog intended for breeding, in addition to considerations of guarding ability and temperament. 

PawPrint Genetics and Embark offer a DNA test for degenerative myelopathy. PawPrint has informed us that they have only tested 3 Maremmas for this disease and they have all been clear, however, with such a small number of samples it is not possible to understand how prevalent this disease could be in the population.

The most important health test is for hip dysplasia offered through the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and PennHIP. The OFA also offers x-ray testing for elbows and shoulders. We have not had sufficient numbers of Maremmas tested for elbows and shoulder to have any reliable statistics.

For hip testing, the OFA has provided the following summary report. It is exciting to see that the vast majority of Maremmas tested have had good scores and that there is clear improvement in the scoring over time. It is important to continue testing to weed out the few with moderate or severe dysplasia who could infect the population should they be bred freely.

More in-depth results from OFA in regard to Maremmas is available here. The OFA recommended tests for all breeding dogs can be found here. 

We hope to take a deep dive on PennHIP in a future newsletter. Please send your comments and suggestions on health testing, we would love to share your ideas.

For those who are concerned about the sedation required for hip x-rays, please take your time to find a veterinarian who is skilled at OFA or PennHIP and who is adept at giving just the right amount of sedation to get a good x-ray. Many members have had luck contacting local vet schools or OFA or PennHIP directly to find a good vet. Remember, healthy, happy working dogs are worth it!

TRAINING CORNER

Nancy Joyce Simmons, Secretary

Without doubt, one of the greatest attributes of the Maremma is its versatility. No other livestock guardian dog is so easily bonded to other livestock and so quickly and sensitively understands their often delicate charges. With the growing demand for pasture raised meats, there is a huge demand for Maremmas who can guard poultry, either in addition to sheep, goats, pigs and other stock, or alone.

I raise my pups directly with free range chickens, in addition to lambs and sheep. Their mother will let them know if they get out of line and their close bond with the birds makes any correction from me much more powerful should I shoo them away from the birds if they get mouthy. They quickly learn that they cannot play roughly. Pups raised this way are successfully guarding chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys on pasture operations.

I asked member Sofia Kokolis and Board Member Megan Borbon for their advice on how they train a pup to poultry. As always in training, all dogs are different and if one solution isn’t working, it’s best to try something else. 

Sofia Kokolis

Sofia Kokolis and her family have a small hobby farm in Southern NJ. They enjoy caring for and spending time with their flock of chickens, goats, turkeys, rabbits, dogs and cats. There is never a dull moment but they would not trade it for the world.

"We decided to get an LGD after we had a peregrine falcon attack our flock of chickens. We had all the right protections against other predators but aerial predators were a big concern. We put Cosmo in with the goats from the first day so that he could bond with them. We only allowed him supervised access to our chickens until he was around 9 months old. During our supervised access, he would sometimes want to play with a bird or two but he was corrected immediately and learned they were not toys. He never harmed a single chicken nor have we experienced any losses while free ranging our flock. When we eventually got turkeys he took to them with no issue. After 2 years we got his sister and she went right out with the full flock, goats and turkeys. Cosmo took to her instantly and took care of raising her to guard. They are the best of friends and fierce protectors of our farm and family."

Megan Borbon

Megan Borbon runs a thriving pasture raised egg business called Naranjo Hills Farm in Tracy, California with her husband. Megan has written up a detailed, in-depth guide on how to help livestock guardian dogs succeed with poultry.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

The Board Meetings Minutes can be found here.

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Maremma Sheepdog Club of America

[email protected]

Join the Official Maremma Sheepdog Club of America, a private Facebook group where you can gather with other Maremma owners and breeders to share ideas and experiences and ask questions in a friendly, inclusive environment!

If you have stories you would like to share in the next newsletter, please send them here.