DMAR Alpaca and Maremma Blog

Maremma pups for sale now a week old:

The pups are getting bigger including little Sofia who is now weighing a whopping 10 1/2 ounces. Eyes are not opened yet but I do notice them trying to use their back legs more. It’s been very cold here in Georgia but the pups are under a heat lamp, have another heater next to the whelping box, and can curl up into each other to stay warm. Not to mention that they can snuggle right in with mom. It is a sight when all of them are lined up in front of Donnie’s belly. All the pups are well and have the curious alpaca females peeking in at them daily.

Update on Sofia:  Sofia is nursing well off the bottle. When I first started feeding her she could only nurse 1/4 of an ounce of milk at each feeding. Today she can drink a little more than 1/2 an ounce. She used to be able to fit in the palm of my hand. Today she is definitely larger. I feel her belly getting bigger too. After each feeding I notice her almost rolling to one side or the other. Her belly putting her off balance. Other than Sofia’s cleft lip and her smallness she is definitely all puppy. She kneads her paws into the air as she feeds and then is off to plow into her siblings trying to squeeze into the middle of them all. Sometimes I find her underneath a pup or two and other times I see her riding away on top of her siblings heads as they are nursing off mom. Sofia is very strong willed and voices her opinion openly.

All the maremma lgd pups are available. If you have a farm or ranch and need a working dog please contact me at info@desertmtnalpacas or you can call 520-220-2778.

For more information on maremmas and the parents of  this litter, Donatella and Santino, Click Here.

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.

Gianna Has Pups 9-8-10:

  I went out to the barn and found the front half flooded this morning. In an effort for Tom to fix the spickets in the pastures he went to the barn and started turning on and off all the water spouts to see what was and wasn’t working. Obviously one spout wasn’t working at the time and Tom forgot to shut it off. Well it was working this morning. As I was trying to sweep the water out I realized that I hadn’t checked on Gianna. At least she was in the back of the barn that wasn’t flooded.

 To my surprise Gianna looked up at me and 2 pups were at her belly nice and dry. I immediately went inside and then heard more crying. I looked and looked and finally found two pups on the side of the bale stacks and one was stuck in the chain link fence. Simply adorable to see it but they were cold and now was not the time to get the camera. I picked them up and rubbed them and then set them down with mom for a drink. Wow four pups born without me and then I heard another cry. OMG. I found the last pup under a wood board that we placed under the table with the fan on top of it. I was amazed at how it got under there and that it was ok. Again it too was cold so after some rubbing I placed with Gianna.

Everything was now going well and mom was quiet as pups nursed. All of a sudden Gianna got up in a funny stance and I knew one more was coming. Sure enough at 10:30 AM the last of the pups were born. Gianna and Santino are proud to announce they have a total of 6 pups- 3 females and 3 males.

Funny but when I look back at this whole pregnancy I can’t believe Gianna actually had pups. This is Gianna’s first litter (this is Santino’s 3rd) and to be honest with you I never saw them breed. I watched Santino make several attempts with Gianna growling and moving away at first. Then I saw where Gianna became receptive but it was summer in Arizona and Santino would try but give up so quickly due to the heat. Therefore, I never saw them mate and assumed it didn’t work.

Next we had the trip cross country. In my calculation Gianna should have been 4 – 5 weeks into the pregnancy. The stress alone could have made Gianna lose them. Then she was in a totally new home which I’m sure came with more stress.

I’ve watched Gianna carefully throughout her pregnancy and it wasn’t until she was in her sixth week did I confirm to myself that she was actually carrying. Her nipples were swelling and she was slowly getting thicker but her temperment towards Santino didn’t change too much like my other female maremmas did. She was typically very happy and calm.

Every once in a while I would feel a kick and I assumed then that she was carrying maybe one or two pups. Even in the end when I could feel the kicking more often it was still in the same place which made me think I was correct in the count.

Gianna has had me fooled all along. Nothing has gone the way it should starting with the breeding, puppies kicking to give me the correct or closer count, and then her temperature didn’t give me the sign that she was going to whelp. In all my other females when their temp dropped to 98 I knew they were going to whelp within 48 hours. Last night I took Gianna’s temp and she was at 102. Hence why I missed the birthing of her first 5 pups!

 My Gianna is just full of surprises!

Only one female is sold at the moment. All Maremma puppies are for sale. They are wonderful lgds. They are raised with our herd of 24 alpacas. For more information please contact me at info@desertmtnalpacas.com or you can also view our site at www.desertmtnalpacas.com/maremmas-livestock-guardian-dogs.html.

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.

Four Maremma Pups Still Available:

We still have 1 female and 3 males to select from. These adorable pups are 9 wks old and have had their first vaccination and deworming. Included in the price is micro-chipping and registration paperwork.

The pups have been living and observing their parents, Donatella and Vincenzo. They also have 3 other adult Maremma role models. They are already showing their guarding instinct. They bark when the adults bark and if they hear something first they sound off the alarm.

The pups are very healthy and quite playful. They are fast to roll onto their backs to expose a belly to be rubbed.

Contact us if you are interested in attaining a Maremma lgd.

Remember we will transport for free to TxOLAN and SWRAS.

Maremma Pup, Aspen, Finds Home in CO:

Aspen, female Maremma pup, left this past Sunday with new owner, Ish Phillips of Walls Edge Alpaca Ranch, to live in Colorado. She is the first puppy to leave our ranch, but she is in good hands and will be guarding approximately 10-15 alpacas. Before she left we had her vaccinated, dewormed, and microchipped. Tom said she didn’t even cry when he placed her into the kennel. She was well behaved all the way to the airport and then even more behaved when she met Ish. It really has paid off to introduce the kennel to the pups when they were 3 weeks old. Keeping it in their area for playing and sleeping has made it less stressful on the pups.

On Monday I sent Ish an email to see how Aspen was liking her new place. Ish was kind enough to allow me to post a direct quote from his email back to me. Here is what he said: “Aspen seemed to be happy with her digs.  It looked like she slept in her coop on the straw.  I introduced her to the boys this morning.  They are a bunch of wimps.  Everytime she would get up and take a step, Max would alarm call and he wasn’t even in the same pasture as Aspen.  She seemed right at home in the pasture, just keeping her distance from the boys but always watching.  Chris took her over to the girls tonite and they were quite curious.  We saw more smarts in one day from her than we have seen in a lifetime with other dogs.  Chris absolutely adores her and can’t wait to see her full size because she probably wants another one.  In fact, put us on your waiting list for Gianna’s litter.  All i can say is aspen has really wowed us on day 1.  Thanks again to you and tom for everything.” 

What else can I say? I love happy customers and am thrilled that Aspen has a good home.

I still have puppies left. 3 males and 1 female. They are 9 weeks old now and ready to go take care of your herd of alpacas, sheep, goats, etc.. Contact me for more information.

Christmas with the DMAR Maremma Puppies:

Here we are Christmas Eve and the puppies are growing so quickly. Now at 4 weeks of age they are fully mobile. Yesterday when I took them out of the whelping box they stormed the area in front of the feed room, the feed room itself, and the attached deck that is quite a step up. They no longer walk, but run with short hops. I told Tom remember how they say they stormed the beaches of Normandy…..well the puppies stormed the wooden floor of the feed room. All of them were exploring and loving their time out of the box.

After eating they decided to take a nap, however on the sides of the paddock everything was damp from melting snow. I decided to put them back into the warm, dry box. A little while later Tom asked me if I forgot to put a pup back in. Of course not I told him. Sure enough Tom watched as the pup climbed on the guide rail and fell out onto the feed room floor.

It is all downhill from here. The pups know who we are, so they run over to us getting in between our feet. We have to walk carefully as to not step on them. The whole time their little tails are wagging away. When you hold one they are quick to give you a little puppy kiss that will melt you instantly. Now that they can fall out who knows where we will find the little devils….I mean angels.

We have lots of interest in these puppies. If you are interested in one please don’t hesitate to contact us. All the puppies are for sale. To read more about the parents, Donatella and Vincenzo, Click Here. Both parents are on site.

The maremmas currently watch over 30 alpacas. The puppies are sharing a fenceline with them and will be introduced to them slowly over the next few weeks.