Even if you spent a lot of time searching and studying the breed, found a breeder, looked at mother and father dogs, created a couple of thematic posts on FB, met a dog trainer and booked a puppy, then looked again and studied information about the breed and, finally, brought the fluffy lump to your house, you need to realize the following:
The beginning of life together — the first time in a new home, the puppy requires increased attention and care, and you are guaranteed several sleepless nights. And that’s okay. A little baby dog, finding himself in a new and unusual environment, becomes stressed and may whine, show anxiety, look for its brothers and sisters and not understand how to behave. You need to be patient and show that everything is fine and it can trust you.
— all valuable property, wires from electrical appliances, shoes and all that must be put away in a place inaccessible to the puppy, or the access of the furry orc to the places where all valuables are stored should be limited. Because during exploring a new territory, everything will be spoiled, and you will be stressed and suffer over your favorite shoes or a freshly made foreign passport (experience, the hard-born child of errors).
Restroom stuff
— with a puppy in the house, you will have to forget about the innate disgust, because the products of its vital functions will have to be cleaned up in any case: whether it’s an apartment, a plot or a park. Yes, and you will also have to forget about sterility in the house, because a dog brings not only joy into the house, but also sand, dirt, branches in its tail, wool, and further down the list. But it’s good for the immune system
— toilet training is laborious, in addition, see the previous point about disgust. But! The results of your efforts will not be long in coming. After a while your furry friend will ask to go to the toilet on its own. A lifehack for those who don’t know yet: it’s useless to swear over an accident. Therefore, you will need to continue to work hard and, again, be patient.
— the coat of a puppy, and subsequently an adult dog, requires care. Bathing, compressor drying, ear cleaning and nail clipping should be taught from puppyhood. I strongly advise you to pay special attention to these issues from the very beginning of your life together with your dog, because if suddenly after a year and a half you decide to bathe your miracle, which has never seen a bathroom, never heard the sound of a compressor, and the sight of a nail clipper causes him to have a panic attack and the desire to bite off both your hands, so for sure, then, Houston, you have a problem!
About trainig
— training and raising a puppy is a continuous process, and at first it will require a lot of time, effort and patience from you, but nerves are completely unnecessary and do not teach anyone anything. But if you approach these issues responsibly, then in a couple of weeks you will receive a sane, well-mannered dog. Well, the above-mentioned dog handler is your help.
— a surprise for those who don’t know: not only are you teaching the dog to live with you, but you yourself are learning how to handle the dog so that the first training happens smoothly, quickly and to mutual pleasure. And, believe me, the share of the second component in this process is much bigger. But if you master this skill, then you will not have difficulty teaching your dog anything.
— there are many methods of working with a dog, but which one is right for yours depends on the type of nervous system and its individual characteristics. Find a good dog handler who will be your partner in training your dog for at least six months.
Puppy age of adolescence
— dogs have adolescence period, yes, like children. And during this period, your beautiful cute puppy can turn into a not so touching, but still small, snuggle monster who will test your strength. Or maybe it won’t. It all depends on your contact, patience and understanding of what to do with it all.
— the way it manifests: your teenage pet stopped coming when called during a walk, began to pull on the leash, began to behave aggressively with other dogs, began to ignore your commands at home and on walks, and began to bite your hands more than usual when playing. It has also become more active, jumping and curious, which in itself is very cool, but requires your increased attention.
— what do you do: for example, you see that problems with calling have begun, you stop letting it off the leash and slowly practice calling with a tasty treat until you have made it automatic. It is aggressive towards dogs: perhaps this is a signal to take a closer look at whether the playmate was so harmless, and whether your fluffy is already grown enough to protect itself. Or maybe it’s not worth going to the common area at all, the Maremma is not a lap dog, after all. Learn to work with a dog correctly and on time! Reinforcing correct behavior is the key to success in its formation. A good dog handler will be your invaluable assistant and ally in this difficult but entertaining task.
— what you should not do in any case: hit! By doing this you will not achieve any positive result, but will get the opposite effect: the dog will start to avoid you, move away from contact, it will develop neurosis, because usually people begin to beat the animal long after the unnecessary action has been performed, and often after the correct one (for example, a dog came up to you after all), and it simply doesn’t understand what happened, and it can’t be called negative reinforcement, don’t justify yourself.
Puppies and children
— when buying a dog “for a child”, know that this dog is now completely YOUR responsibility. Not a single child, especially a small one, due to age and physiology, is able to fully engage with a dog, especially a large breed, which the Maremma is, on an equal term with an adult. All responsibility for raising a dog lies on the parents. You, as adults and responsible people, must build communication between your dog and children.
— puppies learn about the world through their mouths; they may bite arms, legs, or grab hair in a fit of play. Under no circumstances you should punish your pet for this, much less allow your child to punish your puppy. Teach your child to interact with the puppy and switch the fluffy friend to a toy. This will only improve contact and strengthen relationships.
— when I was a little girl, I used to dream that I would have a dog, and I would be able to proudly walk around the yard, and it would walk on a leash, and all my friends would envy me. I never got a dog as a child, but as an adult I realized how wrong I was: from the first hour in a new house to proudly walking on a leash often takes more than one month, and in some cases this happy moment never comes. It is often unrealistic for a teenager to combine a walk with friends and a walk with the dog. It is physically difficult for a teenager to cope with a heavy dog, and the consequences can be sad. In general, see point 1.
Puppies and territory upgrade — puppies dig. Plain and simple. Even if you are told that it’s not true, these sweet puppies are not exactly like that, they still dig. In any case, you need to be mentally prepared that your landscape design on the site will receive some upgrade after the appearance of a fluffy gardener. What’s the treatment? Keep the puppy occupied so that it doesn’t have the energy to dig; protect one from the other (but as practice shows, this is either impossible, difficult, or short-lived); and know that this will pass with age. Maybe... But you love a puppy more than some flowerbed, don’t you?
If you read this text to the end, and your dream of having a dog hasn’t been snuffed, in your value system the dog remained several steps higher than new wallpapers or sleep in the morning until noon, you did not erase the phone numbers of the nearest veterinarians you obtained in advance from your phone book, it means you really want to have a dog. But the most important thing is that all these difficulties are not forever and everything can be solved! And the joy of communicating with a puppy, and subsequently with an adult dog, which becomes a part of your soul, outweighs any difficulties that new owners experience in the first days.Good for all!
Wishes for the puppies
I want all my puppies to find their families. So that people who adopt a puppy understand what they are doing, realize that the dog will stay with them for many years, and that the dog is their responsibility.
I want the owners to devote time and money to raising puppies (where would they be without this), so that they strive to have good contact with the dog from childhood. This is the key to a successful and problem-free life with it.
I want my puppies to have free access to the house, to lie down with the owner in front of the fireplace, to play on the carpet with the child, but at the same time to have their own place in the yard (an insulated booth or enclosure).
I want a dog child to never know what a chain and a meter by meter pen are for the rest of its life.
I want the owners to walk with it every day, take it with them to the forest, to the river, and just to wander the streets of the city. Believe me, Maremma looks amazing in the city! And no, it’s not enough for a puppy to walk in the yard around the clock.
As a breeder, I would like to see my graduates in the rings, but this is a specific passion, not everyone gets it.
I want the owners of my puppies to have values similar to mine: love for the dogs, a responsible attitude towards them and a desire to learn in order to become best friends with the dog and to understand each other perfectly.
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