A short ancestry

Source: L. Van Genechten, Woef. Het magazine van de hondenvriend, 37/432, 68-69.

The exact origin of the cane da pastore Maremmano-Abruzzese (CPMA) is hard to recover. Some say that his distant ancestors can be found among the Magyars and the Toscans. Others perceive of Tibet as the region of origin. In this case scenario the Kumans would have been the first to take the CPMA to Moldavia. The first literary reference to a dog that ressembles the CPMA can be found no later than the first century in "De Re

Rustica". Whether the Italian sheepdog comes from Tibet or Hungary, the fact remains that there were two types of sheepdogs at the beginning of the twentieth century. The first type could be found in the Maremma, the swampy inshore region along the Thyrenian Sea, between Cecina and Rome. It is a large and varied landscape that shifts into hills,

while moving away from the sea. It is home to many sheep breeders. The temperateness of the climate provided sufficient grass to feed the herds during the coldest months of the winter. During the summer, all dried up however. The farmer was obliged to drive his herds to the flanks of the mountains in Central Italy. In this highland region, the Abruzzi, a second type of dog could be found. The climate was precisely the opposite of that in the Maremma.During the months of

summer, the slopes were covered with green pastures. In winter, all was buried under a thick layer of snow. The changing climate provoked a centennial peregrination of shepherds with their sheep and their dogs. The summer was spent in the Abruzzi, the winter in Maremma. In both regions, one could find the "white shepherd dog." Obviously the same type of dog was involved, but the one of the Abruzzi was bigger and heavier and he thicker and longer fur. Quite logical, if one takes into account the climate of the two regions.

Until 1951, the ENCI (the Kennel Italian Club) recognized the two types, the shepherd of the Maremma and the Shepherd of the Abruzzi. In 1953, the race club of Maremma sheepdog proposed to unite the two races, since both dogs were similar in origin. After a lot of discussion the proposition was accepted and the first race standard of the cane da pastore maremmano-abruzzese was written. In order not to annoy anyone, it was decided to keep the names of the two regions in the name.

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