Grooming

Maremmas are hardy dogs, designed to live outside in all weathers. They therefore requires relatively little grooming to maintain health and fitness.

Coat care
The breed has a double coat with a thick soft undercoat that is shed once or twice a year (or all the time in a centrally heated house!) and a longer, harsh top coat. The coat is almost self-cleaning. Even when the dog gets seriously dirty, mud will dry and drop out of the coat, leaving the dog white again. Weekly brushing with a harsh bristle brush is usually enough to keep the coat manageable. A "slicker" brush can be useful particularly on the elbows and petticoats which can tangle more easily. The Maremma only needing bathing if being shown. Here a good quality shampoo for white breeds will result in a dazzling white coat!

Make sure you start as you mean to go on and groom your puppy regularly so that it becomes used to it. Be careful not to be rough or hurt the puppy or it will associate grooming with unpleasant things and life will be more difficult as a result. Start just running a soft brush over the coat to get the puppy used to contact. Handle your puppy regularly so it enjoys being touched. TTouch can be very helpful in preparing a puppy to be groomed.

We have found that coat texture changes with neutering in some dogs. This can lead to regular matting in the coat, even with regular grooming, which needs to be watched. If this happens the coat will be more difficult to manage, you will need to brush more often, and you may need to use thinning scissors to help remove matt if they occur.

Teeth
Many Maremmas need no special attention to their teeth. Dogs fed regular bones rarely need to have their teeth cleaned as the bones keep plaque at bay.

Softer diets can lead to a build up of plaque which needs to be cleaned off - either by regular use of "dog" toothpaste or gel or by scraping. The latter should only be used as a last resort as it can also damage the enamel of the tooth if done regularly. The homoeopathic remedy "Fragaria" can help to reduce plaque on teeth and a preparation based on this is available from Dorwest Herbs.

Feet
Excessively long nails can be painful and can affect the dog's movement. If the dog exercises regularly on hard surfaces the nails are likely to wear naturally and maintain a healthy length. Otherwise you will need to cut your dog's nails. Again this is best taught early. Carefully trim your puppy's nails: they are soft and much easier to cut when the puppy is young so it can learn that it is a normal part of the weekly grooming routine. Be very careful not to cut the quick (the pink part of the nail) as this will hurt! There are different types of nail clippers: the guillotine type give a neater cut but require you to line the nail up carefully. The scissor type can be easier to manage but be careful not to crush the nail. An alternative that some use is a small model electric grinder like a Dremel. This takes practice but can be very effective. See the "How to Dremel Dog Nails" guide at the DoberDawn site for more details. We use scissor style clippers designed for Alpacas which we find work perfectly for the Maremmas and which are very strong. They can be purchased from Camelidynamics - see the "Tools" section in their catalogue.

You may also find that you need to clip the hair between your Maremmas pads. Again this is dependent on the particular dog - some never need trimming; others are like hobbits and need constant attention! If you do need to trim the feet hair pull it out from between the pads and cut with the blade flat to the pad. You can also use thinning scissors by pulling the hair through the pads to the top of the foot and thinning in the direction of hair growth.

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Last updated January 2006