I am looking after a 18 month old male Maremma who is the guardian for 11 alpacas.
He has a very bad habit of jumping up and putting his big jaws around my arms often lascerating them. He also nips my ankles.
He is not responding to dirty looks and several severe tongue lashings.
I have tried talking to him in Italian (that is his genetic origin) but to no avail.
I have been told you should never hit a Mareema and that they are a totally different dog to other breeds.
So dear dog lovers what do I do? His owner returns in 3 weeks.
2006-12-19 11:55:53 · 9 answers · asked by ixlinxs 5 in Pets ➔ Dogs
The Maremma is wonderful breed of dog that is loyal to the death so I would not start any kind of physical altercation with a young dog that is not familiar with you as you are sure to lose...
Maremma are a dangerous breed of dog to everyone except their 'flock;' and their master...That being said they will not attack if they do not feel you are a threat to them or their flock..
Having said that Maremma are also loving loyal and wonderful dogs. I miss mine very much but had to find them new homes when I moved away from acreage. They do need the space...
Basically they are very intelligent dogs and respond well to kindness and gentleness. A young male will be establishing his territory and his stewardship over his flock...
They are bred to live within a flock of sheep and come from Italy... but I doubt that speaking italian to him will make any difference at all..
He will continue to place his jaws around your arms if you continue to do whatever it is you are doing..... for him to change his behaviour you need to change yours...
Injuring him will only make him a more dangerous dog to everyone else too... Please do not go down this path with the dog.
If you are minding him and need access to him to provide food and water for him and the alpaccas then you will need to let him see that is your only purpose in being there...
Dogs respond best to one word commands. They respond best to those who do not appear subserviant to them. If they think you are a less superior dog in the pack then they will treat you as such. Stand tall and speak short firm commands with him.
He is doing what he has been bred to do... protecting his flock... You are doing what you have been asked to do which is to keep him fed and alive while his owner is away...
When he approaches you and is about to bite, nip or grab you in any way turn around and confront him and say firmly NO.
He wont die if he has no food for a day so if you are on your way to taking him food and he nips or bites you and does not respond to No... then turn around and take his food away with you... Dont reward bad behaviour....Dont do this for several days in a row... we dont want him to suffer unneccessarily.. but try twice in a day to bring him his food... if he behaves badly so long as he has access to water a 24hr period without food wont kill him.. on the second day try again to feed him... if he bites or nips you again say firmly NO.... if he backs off then continue to provide the food for him... if he continues to be aggressive then again walk away with the food.... but return an hour or so later and try again...
if his behaviour does not change then I would contact the owner and tell them to return now and care for their own dog...
I do hope they introduced you to the dog before leaving so he knows you are a friend... this would be a normal thing to do for any dog...
2006-12-19 12:25:19 · answer #1 · answered by wollemi_pine_writer 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Bad news for you! Ouch. This dog does not respect you, do not harm the dog, it might attack you or worse. Try treating the dog when it is being good, or you might just need a bigger person to come with you to control the dog. Is the dog about 100 lbs or so? You need a big enough person to gain the dogs respect in a short time, or just a person who is knowledgeable of dogs. I'm guessing you might not know anyone who is good with dogs, or trains them and that's why you are asking for help here. Hope this helps
2006-12-19 12:27:00 · answer #2 · answered by Yutow 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I would have the rodeo clown help me climb onto the Llama stuff the donuts in Godfried mouth offers me a headache lol and use the cattle prod simplest when wanted on godfried lol Then experience out on my Llama
2016-08-10 02:16:37 · answer #3 · answered by pizzaro 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i'd have the rodeo clown help me climb onto the Llama stuff the donuts in Godfried mouth supplies me a headache lol and use the cattle prod in effortless words at the same time as necessary on godfried lol Then journey out on my Llama
2016-11-27 21:03:01 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is obvious u do not need an animal. Why don't u use a cattle prod on yourself and see how u like it???
2006-12-19 14:48:32 · answer #5 · answered by badgirl41 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
well now that's just animal cruelty
now this sounds crazy but professional dog trainers say if you cant get a dog to stop nipping at you. You grab ahold of their snout hold it closed then pull the dog to a position that you can bite them back pretty hard. On the back of their neck where their mothers would pick them up to carry them somewhere.
2006-12-19 12:06:06 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Maybe you should try bribing him with food, stand well away from him and talk nicely and throw him some kind of chicken bone....bribery works in all languages
2006-12-19 12:06:56 · answer #7 · answered by doofynic 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
just spritz them with water like if your out of windex rinse the bottle out then put water and when they are bad spray them! No abusive objects!DO NOT USE ACTUAL CLEANERS!
2006-12-19 12:13:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's obvious you don't know a thing about this type of animal, why would anyone leave you in charge of it?!
It's obvious from his behaviour that he's in dire need of getting laid and you are the object of his affection!
Bend over or get down on all 4's baby!
2006-12-19 11:59:06 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 6⤋
wait, what is this thing??
2006-12-19 12:03:43 · answer #10 · answered by haat 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋