Maremma Dog sighted Barton Highway/Wallaroo Road July 4.

Some shearer is going to get a surprise next season when they bring the flock in.

I hope she turns up soon.

Every little bit of information out there really may help.
It is so frustrating to be so close- to physically have her right there and then…..gone again. She must be so so terrified.
I understand peoples apprehension ansd disbelief- but I can confirm Maremma are not agressive hunting dogs- thier instinct is to protect thier flocks and Dona has bonded with sheep goats cattle and chooks.
Dona has also been a show dog and had just been resettled home after competing at Sydney Royal at easter. She was released from a yard by intruders to my farm property. None of the country she is in is familar to her, and her working life has been with a group of dogs. Alone, she will be eating carrion or opportunistic finds along the highway- the rest area bins possibly-Clearly she is covering some territory moving between the Barton Highway and the winery’s turnoff at Wallaroo Road. So maybe she has some pattern of finding food along that route. Given her pattern of crossing the highway on dusk- maybe she is being fed at a house in Hall village? For all we know she was physically removed from the property and has since escaped from there- i dont know. I had given her up for dead until she was reported to Hall Vet on Monday morning who recognised her.
I had a few calls from people overnight saying they had seen a dog like this near the intersection of the Highway and Wallaroo Road last weekend.
I so want her home- but I am a little daunted at what we may have to go through to resettle her with her home flock after two months on the run….
my goal in lisiting her on this forum is to make people who may see her aware. This Maremma has had a heavy investment in training and she is a good natured dog.
If she can be contained she can be caught. thats all.

Thank you again, any useful information that gets her safely home means everything to me. Thanks.

Captain RAAF said :

EvanJames said :

Eating the animals they guard would be like cannibalism to them.

Possibly the stupidest thing ever written here!

Have you any idea what kinds of dogs are regularly found in wild dog packs the world over? I’ll tell you, peaceful, ‘never hurt a fly’ domestic dogs/breeds.

Sure, they have generations of looking after sheep but that’s while they’re well fed by man but when that food is gone, well…………….

You’re not thinking it through. Human beings don’t resort to canibalism while they are well fed, when the food runs out then they do. Same with dogs

Cap’n RAAF proves once again that he is a moron

EvanJames said :

Eating the animals they guard would be like cannibalism to them.

Possibly the stupidest thing ever written here!

Have you any idea what kinds of dogs are regularly found in wild dog packs the world over? I’ll tell you, peaceful, ‘never hurt a fly’ domestic dogs/breeds.

Sure, they have generations of looking after sheep but that’s while they’re well fed by man but when that food is gone, well…………….

Captain RAAF said :

Rawhide Kid Part3 said :

I know that this might be a stupid question but what does an animal like this eat if its not being fed by its owner?

Well, by the description above, probably flowers and butterflies but someone needs to wake up and smell the sheep carcass, all dogs are descended from wolves and no matter their temperament, will eventually revert to what wolves do best, hunt and kill!

The owners are trying to avoid having someone shoot their (enormous) dog on sight when it turns up in a paddock with the sheep. Guardian species guard because they think they are a sheep or goat or cow, depending on what herd they are with (they’re introduced quite young, obviously). So a Maremma that guards sheep will not attack sheep, but anything else is a potential target. Knowing what this one was guarding (if anything) might be useful – if it thinks it’s sheep, your alpaca herd might be in trouble.

Maremmas are used to guard flocks, they’re an old breed and this is what they do. Eating the animals they guard would be like cannibalism to them. They’re very valuable dogs. But reading between teh lines here, having them on small acreage might be confusing to them, leading them to wander off and find better flocks to guard.

I too wondered what the dog might be eating, I’d imagine they’d still have to be fed. There’s a lot of rabbits around at the moment but I’m not sure how fast Maremmas are to catch them.

Rawhide Kid Part3 said :

I know that this might be a stupid question but what does an animal like this eat if its not being fed by its owner?

Well, by the description above, probably flowers and butterflies but someone needs to wake up and smell the sheep carcass, all dogs are descended from wolves and no matter their temperament, will eventually revert to what wolves do best, hunt and kill!

I know that this might be a stupid question but what does an animal like this eat if its not being fed by its owner?