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I am very pleased with our new livestock guardian dog, Santino. He is a maremma and his origin is Italy. We received him when he was 8 weeks old. He had a long trip from Virginia to Texas and then onto Arizona. People were amazed at how quickly he accommodated to his new surroundings. His temperment after such a long trip was happy and playful. He won my heart when he rolled over on his back for me to rub his chubby belly. Santino is now 4 months old and is doing his job. He protects the 10 alpacas here from coyotes and other dogs. He does not bark incessantly, which makes our neighbors happy. When Santino barks we know something is really out there. We feel very happy and proud to have him here. I truly recommend this breed to other livestock ranchers.
We have found Santino a girlfriend. She currently is 3 wks old. We will have to wait a while longer to get her home, but we do plan on breeding these two in the future. For now there job will be continue watching over the alpacas.
