Hillsong Ridge Maremma

Hillsong Ridge Maremma Hillsong Ridge Maremma Hillsong Ridge Maremma

Hillsong Ridge Maremma

Hillsong Ridge Maremma Hillsong Ridge Maremma Hillsong Ridge Maremma
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Maremma Livestock Guardian Puppies

Maremma Livestock Guardian PuppiesMaremma Livestock Guardian PuppiesMaremma Livestock Guardian Puppies

Loving Family Guardians  Bred for For Predator Deterrence and Livestock Protection

Maremma Livestock Guardian Puppies

Maremma Livestock Guardian PuppiesMaremma Livestock Guardian PuppiesMaremma Livestock Guardian Puppies

Loving Family Guardians  Bred for For Predator Deterrence and Livestock Protection

Current Photos of Our Maremma Puppies

    About Us

    Maremma puppies in livestock guardian training with Soay sheep.

    Our Story

    Loving Guardians

    Loving Guardians

    In 2018 we began using Soay sheep to create and maintain a fire safe perimeter around our home in Northern California.  The sheep are a smaller breed and require protection from mountain lions and bears.  After considerable research we decided the Maremma Sheepdog was the best choice for us.  We range up to 60 head of sheep in mountain lion country and have never lost 1 in the day or night. These amazing dogs are the reason.  In addition to successful livestock guardians, they are family members and a passion we proudly share with others.

    Our Maremma sheepdog "Jack" who is a very sweet and bashful boy.

    Loving Guardians

    Loving Guardians

    Loving Guardians

    We work to ensure that we do all we can do to setup our puppies to become beloved family members as well as very successful working livestock guardians.   

    A young Maremma sheepdog learning to guard sheep with two adults.

    Maremma Livestock Guardians from Working Bloodlines

    Maremma Livestock Guardians from Working Bloodlines

    Maremma Livestock Guardians from Working Bloodlines

    Our Maremma livestock guardian breeding program matches the best of our team of actively working Maremma Sheepdogs from our ranch in Northern California.

    Our Soay sheep are gentle with the Maremma puppies who trust their parents as their guardians.

    Socialized Early with Stock to Support Development

    Maremma Livestock Guardians from Working Bloodlines

    Maremma Livestock Guardians from Working Bloodlines

    Our aim is to build the best possible foundation for our Maremma puppies as working livestock guardians.  We accomplish this by ensuring they experience age appropriate supervised exposure to gentle livestock in numbers and locations that promote positive interactions.

    Photo Gallery

    Our breeding male Maremma "River" playfully stalking one of his buddies in the pack.
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    Frequently Asked Questions

    Please contact us if you cannot find an answer to your question.

    Maremma Sheepdogs have been bred over centuries to guard livestock.  They are "hard wired" to perform this purpose.  As a result, they seem happiest when provided with outdoor space, a good sized fenced perimeter, and livestock to protect.  They also are a large breed that sheds their coats 2x per year.  We do not recommend them as house pets although when raised in a home from puppy age, you may have a hard time convincing them to guard something outside instead of you.

    Our 4 adult Maremma Sheepdogs raised from puppies are all good with chickens that free range the property therefore we have never had a bad experience.  Our adult Maremma's protect chickens from both ground and aerial threats.  With that said, young dogs can easily learn or fall into bad behavior patterns if not setup for success.  For example, it would not be wise to put 9 large rambunctious, playful and curious puppies in a pen with a panicked chicken.  In that instance it would not be surprising for normal chicken response and normal puppy fun to turn into a learned bad behavior that becomes counterproductive to the guardian goals we have for the adult Maremma.  We would also not want to mix small puppy and chicken early where fear or dislike of chickens becomes a factor because a bold rooster decides a young puppy makes a good sparring partner or worse, punching bag.  


    Adult Maremma's are gentle by nature and naturally acclimate to, and adopt what is in their environment.  That is a breed trait we can count on.  Therefore, we build on that fact and start the process by making chickens a part of the puppy's environment early and in a protected way to provide the foundation for good interactions as they develop.  We feed our range chickens near the pen and place caged chickens in the pen to setup this peaceful coexistence for the impressionable pups.  As breed traits set in during maturity, and puppy to chicken ratio reduces during rehoming, this will help to support that the outcome is positive and that chickens are just another member of the family to be protected.   The process does not end when puppies leave and new owners have a role to play in the outcome.  It is always best to setup the pup for success by supervising early interactions and delivering verbal correction to discourage any "chicken play" promptly.  You can't do that if not watching in the beginning.  It is important not to accidentally teach your curious puppy that a chicken makes a fun "chew toy".  It is best to continue the protected/supervised exposure for a period of time.  Reward and generously praise good behavior as often as possible to build on their foundation and develop their relationship with you and chickens.  As puppy matures and calms, Maremma breed traits will take hold.  As they learn to enjoy pleasing you, and understand what matters to you, it will matter to them also.  


    So now that answer to the question, "do Maremma's make good chicken and duck guardians"?  The answer is a resounding "YES ", but... just like raising children, we as smart puppy/adolescent dog owners, have a responsibility and role to play to help them reach the desired outcome.  

    In our experience YES!   As Maremmas mature, they will bond with and want to protect all in their environment including children.  They can also be weary of all they do not know and should be supervised with those they are not familiar with.  As you demonstrate acceptance to your guests they should also.  Early socialization is key which we work to ensure occurs with our pups and dogs. Maremmas quickly learn that children in particular are an extension of their family "flock" and to be protected as well.

    Yes, they have heavy coats of varied lengths that keep them warm in the winter and insulated from heat in the summer.  They shed twice per year.

    Maremmas are known generally not to be indiscriminate barkers.  With that said they use their bark and size to intimidate what they perceive as cause for alarm effectively deterring the threat. Typically, this is anything that is not familiar to them in their environment.  In the day they are less sensitive to noises then at night, where a breaking branch can be heard by them through the silence to which they will respond.  As they mature they learn to differentiate threat from non-threat but should never be punished for doing the job they were bred to do. Barking is a tool for deterrence, has a purpose and is part of their breeding and language. As a result they do not make good suburban pets where these natural guardian traits could be an issue for your neighbors.

    Marremma's  need a perimeter containment area which keeps them safe and will bring you peace of mind.   In our experience Maremma's do not seek to range great distances as we have heard other guardian breeds do.  They appreciate space to patrol and a clear boundary line to inspect.  Some say a minimum 5' fence is required.  We use a 4'no climb with an option to add a hot wire to the top to make it 5'.  We have not had a reason to add that hot wire in our circumstance.  We have even contained them in 36" tall sheep panels and they respect it just fine. 

    Maremma puppies grow quickly.  At 16 weeks they can weigh 40+ lbs and they are generally ready to live with livestock to develop their bond.  This is based on the head start training we give them with our livestock before we transition them to new homes.  Their guardian behavior will continue to develop and mature over time.  Initially, they too require protection. As they gain size and you see them make a stand along a fence line against something they don't recognize, you know they will do the same with a predator. At that point, you can choose to relax your security measures for stock and pups but variables exist.  When we first started, we developed 2 Maremma puppies as a team.  We protected our puppies by containing them in a good size safe enclosed area at night with our livestock. By 6 months of age they shared a large outdoor pen with the livestock.  We comfortably left them out all night with the livestock once we observed protection behavior (hearing or smelling something different and "bounding to the fence" as a pair), we knew they had become a force that would be a deterrence to a big cat with eyes on the livestock also in the pen.  Eventually we had a perimeter fence that allowed livestock and guardians to freely roam. At night the livestock naturally return to the containment yard and the dogs have free range outside the livestock pen (still contained by the outer perimeter fence) to keep watch on everything through the night.  As they mature, they learn what to worry about and what not to based on their exposure to different things over time.  Those original pups continued to develop and mature over the next 2 years becoming the adult teachers of the pups we added later.  Adding pups to a working guardian team makes the process much faster and safer for the juvenile Maremma LGD as they are protected along with the stock by the adults.  This is one of the variables mentioned earlier.

    Contact Us

    Contact us by Phone, Text or Email for More Information and Availability

    Hillsong Ridge

    randym@hillsongridge.com 209-660-9426

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    Hillsong Ridge

    Sutter Creek, California, United States

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