DMAR Alpaca and Maremma Blog

Donatella, Maremma LGD, whelps 10 pups on 11/29/10:

On the 28th Donatella refused to eat all day. I knew that the time of labor was upon us. At times while walking she would whimper. I sat with her for what seemed like endless hours just waiting for her to begin. After the evening chores I grabbed my laptop and some magazines. I figured I would spend the night in the barn with her. At 9pm Donatella was resting peacefully. It was cold so I decided to go into the house and would return at 11 pm. At 11 I went back to the barn to find Donatella sleeping. That’s it I was coming in for the night.

At 4:30 am I got up to go check on Donatella. Sure enough she had 4 puppies already on the ground. I had left the small heater on but it was still too cold so I went to turn on the overhead heat lamp. I sat with her helping to dry off the pups. While I sat with her she had 2 more pups. After cleaning them off I went back to the house to feed house dogs and the cat.

At 6:30 am I returned to the barn to find another pup was born. I helped Donatella clean up the pup and then proceeded to feed the alpacas and the other maremmas. Each time I did a feeding I would check on Donatella to make sure she was ok and look for the puppies to nurse. Sure enough she gave birth to another pup. My count was now seven, four girls and three boys.

By 10:30 am I was now just about done with my outside chores and Donatella was up to nine pups. I went to sit with her and give her plenty of attention for a job well done. As I did so out popped the 10th pup! This is where she finished. Vincenzo and Donatella are the proud parents to six males and four females. All of the puppies are doing well.

I am spending more time with the runt of the litter, a little female, who was born with a cleft lip. The lip doesn’t allow her to suck as well as her siblings but she is getting the hang of it. I supplement her with a bottle that she eagerly drinks. She is quite the character. I brought her into the house the 2nd night so I could feed her around the clock. I thought this would be easier but my goodness she can scream when she is hungry! I thought the bottle would never heat up. Last night I left her in with her mom and she did just fine.  The vet said that she will be fine and we can probably stitch up the lip. Today I will take pictures of her and forward them to the vet to get the final opinion.

Now all I can think about is to complete our puppy proofing of the area. With the last litter of five pups I was running around like mad. I can only imagine the nightmare it will be chasing after 10 curious pups!

All the maremma lgd pups are for sale. They are $850 each which includes the first vaccination, first deworming, microchip, and registration paperwork. Our maremmas are registered with the Maremma Sheepdog Club of America. Both parents are onsite and guard an alpaca herd of 26. Initially the pups are raised sharing a fenceline with the alpacas. Eventually they are integrated with the alpacas.

The pups will be ready to leave for their new homes by the end of January 2011. Contact Janice at info@desertmtnalpacas.com if you are interested in getting your own maremma lgd puppy. To view more info on Donatella and Vincenzo please visit my page at www.desertmtnalpacas.com/maremmas-livestock-guardian-dogs.html.

Is Vincenzo the Reincarnated Houdini?

    I have to sometimes wonder if he is as we can’t keep this dog confined. Vincenzo easily weighs 90 to 100 lbs; however, he is very sleek and slender. If he can get his shoulders through the obstacle then it is no problem for him to get the rest of his body through. Vincenzo is a master contorsionist at 3 yrs of age. Vincenzo is my Maremma lgd.

We have placed Vincenzo behind 8 bar goat panels only to watch him find an opening  just large enough for him to put his head through. After that he gets in one leg and begins to wiggle one of his shoulder through. Once the first shoulder is through he then starts with the second shoulder. After both shoulders are through he has no issue in getting his small waist and legs through the fence. This takes him less than 20 minutes to figure out and be free.

We then went out and purchased a four sided wire dog kennel sized 10 X 10. This should have kept Vincenzo at bay for a while but to our surprise it did not. Vincenzo started to bite the wire at the bottom of the kennel door. As soon as he managed to tear open a little hole it wan’t too much longer before he made that small hole into a hole large enough for him to wiggle his body through. His girlfriend, Donatella, who is much smaller in size than he didn’t even attempt to go through the hole that Vincenzo made. It certainly didn’t look large enough for Donatella to go through much less Vincenzo but he did.

In our latest attempts to keep Vincenzo from roaming into the neighbor’s yard until we get up proper fencing we placed him in one of the stalls in the barn. We then strapped the door closed. In the morning when I went to the barn I found Vincenzo in the aisle. What he did was bite at the wood around the frame of the door and then on the door itself. When it gave some way he continued to push on the door until the bolt came out of the hinge. At that point he was able to squeeze through and push the door open.

I have given up on trying to keep Vincenzo confined. At least his interest in going to the neighbor’s yard has lessened. He’s much more content laying behind the bushes trying to stay cool from the heat and humidity.

I am not upset with Vincenzo. Just the opposite as I am very impressed by him. I do believe he will protect the alpacas by doing anything possible to get to the intruder and making sure it knows that this is his domain.

Vincenzo had his first litter last year and will be siring another litter in the spring of 2011. I wonder if he passes this trait onto his offspring.

Looks like Maremma LGD Puppies are Coming to DMAR:

  Mom to be is Gianna who is currently 20 mths old. This will be Gianna’s first litter. Gianna is a direct import from the Abruzzi region in Italy. She is a big girl weighing at 101 before her pregnancy. Gianna’s temperment is very loving and truly loyal to her herd and family. At the moment I can see changes in both Gianna’s attitude and physical changes in her mammary glands. She is quite hormonal and won’t tolerate any messing around from the other maremmas. She loves to spend her days in front of the fans trying to cool down from this Georgia heat and humidity.

Gianna is due at the end of August or early September. We are quite busy preparing for the birth of her pups by setting up a whelping area in the barn.

  Santino is Gianna’s mate. Santino is a first generation import. He is currently 4 years old and this will be Santino’s third litter. Santino is a wonderful guard dog and spends most of his day marking and patroling his territory. We sleep peacefully knowing that Santino will take care of the alpacas.

Santino is a great partner for Gianna. He makes sure he leaves a little something in his bowl for Gianna at every feeding. He is very attentive to Gianna even though she can turn and snap at him for absolutely no reason at all these days. He simply ignores it and keeps going about his business. Like the rest of the Maremmas at DMAR he is very loyal and loving towards his alpacas and family.

Both parents guard 24 alpacas at the DMAR ranch in Mansfield, GA. Puppies will be raised alongside the alpacas. Initially they will only share a fenceline but will begin to be introduced slowly starting at approx. 5 to 6 wks old under heavy supervision.

For more information on maremmas Click Here or you can read more about past litters and view photos by clicking on the maremma link from the menu on the blog. Puppies are available for purchase and will be ready by early November. Females sell for $850 and males for $750. Please contact us for more information.

Just In – Results of 2009 FABA Fleece Show for Desert Mountain Alpaca Ranch:

DMAR Armani: First and Reserve Color Champion. This is Armani’s 2nd Reserve Color Champion. He is a yearling and medium brown in color. His Sire is Snowmass Incan Emperor and his dam is Alpha Carina. We are currently selling 1/2 interest on Armani for $5000. To veiw more info on him  Click Here.

DMAR White Russian: 1st Place. Sire is CTA Zecharia and dam is DMAR Athena. Ruski, for short, is a patterned yearling between white and light fawn.

DMAR Royal Knight: 1st Place. This is RK’s second fleece show and is on a streak for taking 1st place. RK  is a light fawn yearling. His Sire is the recently deceased, 105 Peruvian Royal Sun. His dam is GLA Peruvian Alexis. RK is a full Peruvian and 1/2 interest is available on him for $5000. Click Here for more info on RK.

DMAR Dominique: 3rd Place. DMAR Dominique is a medium fawn and this class is very competitive. Dominique is a yearling female with a blue ribbon, a couple of 2nd & 3rd places under her name. Dominique is available for $10,000 with the buyer’s choice in any herdsire owned by DMAR for stud services. Dominique’s sire is HRAZ Lucian. Dam is Kaitlyn-Rose.  Click Here for more info on Dominique.

We did extremely well at this show in placing all four of the fleeces we sent in. Also I have to mention that FABA was wonderful in calling me advising the results. This is rarely done. You usually have to wait for the boxes to return to see if any ribbons were awarded. They were great!