GB Club and NMA Joint Seminar

By Victoria Orr

The two Maremma clubs in the UK, the Maremma Sheepdog Club of Great Britain and the Northern Maremma Association, worked together recently to hold a joint educational day for their members comprising a talk on the Breed Standard in the morning and breed assessments and a talk on Grooming and Presentation in the afternoon.

The event was held on Saturday, 29th September at Plumley Village Hall, situated in the small village of Plumley, only a few miles south of Knutsford and just a couple of miles off the M6 towards Warrington. When we pulled into the car park, it was already filled with estates and vans with their charges in the back. As we got out of our car there was not a peep from the dogs – perhaps we have lost our ‘air of menace’. I also noticed how mild the weather was. Coming from the South, we had been very careful to bring plenty of winter woollies and layer ourselves like the Michelin Man, but we needn’t have worried as it was really quite pleasant.

The hall was a hive of activity, tea being made and drunk, merchandise being bartered and sold…OK less of the bartering; and people meeting and greeting each other. It was lovely to see the familiar faces, but also to see people who we didn’t really know – after all this was hopefully one of the reasons we were putting on this joint event – to meet even more Maremma-mad people!

As usual, Andy was whisked away and asked to man the merchandise stall – with produce ranging from mugs to bath mats – okay, that was the range. Andy noticed that the MSCGB were being rather cunning regarding the sale of mugs “one for £4.50 or two for £9” the sign read.....ingenious...

The seminar began promptly at 10.30am so we took our seats around the stage area. Rob Gray, the Chairman of the GB Club, welcomed us all to the joint seminar and outlined the programme for the day. He then introduced Anne Latimer (Sonymer) who was to give the talk on the Breed Standard. Anne told us all a little about her past experience with dogs – her involvement in training gundogs, owning boarding kennels, being a veterinary nurse and of course, the first time she came across a Maremma Sheepdog, which, it turned out, belonged to Lord Carlyle.

Anne’s talk was on the Kennel Club breed standard of the Maremma and she went into detail about her interpretation of the standard and what qualities a good show dog should possess. Of course, she did have a helper in the form of Sonymer Ice Age, or Ice as he is known at home (pictured above) – a two year old Maremma. Ice, we were told, would not reach maturity until he was four years old.

Anne talked about many aspects of the Standard including, pigmentation, head and body structure and movement amongst others. Whilst the Maremma should look strong, majestic and of large size, he should also be of the build that would allow him to turn on a sixpence should the occasion present. Ice was very patient as he was prodded and poked and Anne had also brought photos and line drawings to help her to illustrate certain points she raised.

There were several questions taken from the floor at the end of the talk including questions about ear shape and movement. Anne highlighted that a Maremma should move with its head in line with its body—as a working dog should—rather than holding the head up high. Thank you Anne for an interesting and informative presentation.

Charlotte had very kindly made the group a fittingly Italian dish of Lasagne and Joanne spent much of the morning in the kitchen making sure things were running smoothly, although at one point she did quip “just because I’ve got dogs doesn’t mean I can cook!” The table was laid and those who were not involved in the breed assessments sat down to a hearty lunch finished off with homely apple pie and a very rich and calorific chocolate cake – bellissimo! From what I could make out between mouthfuls of food, talk around the table focused on the future and hopes for puppies. Stelios was very excited at the thought of getting his puppy which he has been waiting for so patiently. Unfortunately, due to a series of misfortunes in the breeding department, I am sure there are many more in the same position. (Although this should now be alleviated after the arrival of fifteen puppies).

The breed assessments, which were arranged and led by Sue Hewart-Chambers (Sunhaze) were taking place outside, on the grassy area by the Village Hall. Breed Assessments are put on to give people who would like to become breed judges and feature on the breed judges list a chance to gain some experience with a range of dogs and be assessed on their judging skills. There were some taking part that were breed specific and also some non-breed specific judges. Participants had the dogs presented to them as if taking part in a show and the judge was then required to go over each dog and unofficially place them. Judges then wrote a show critique. These were then judged by Anne Latimer and Sue Hewart-Chambers, the assessors.

I must say that the dogs were wonderful. They were on duty, being shown continually for 1 hour before lunch and for 2 hours after lunch—they were so patient and stood up to the exertion much better than their handlers if some of the red faces were anything to go by!

Meanwhile, other group members, with their full tummies, had a chance to attend a presentation by Janet Atkins (Silvermere) on grooming and presentation for the show ring. As always, Janet’s dogs look immaculate in the show ring and so she was well placed to bring us her hints and tips. She was adamant that dogs of any breed, toy to gundog to hound, whatever their job – be it to retrieve game or indeed watch over a herd of sheep in the mountains – once a paw had entered into the ring, they became a show dog. She went on to say that we need to make sure that we do our dogs justice in the ring by giving them the best chance possible. Janet gave us advice about shampooing and bathing Maremmas and took us through the different types of brushes, clippers and combs on offer and what they should be used for. Some brushes were thought to be quite expensive at £40, but if they last a long time then of course you’ll get good use out of them.

Janet made it quite clear that any good judge will be able to pick out the faults of your dog – that is their job. But she went on, there is no reason to make their job easy by either telling the judge about the fault or grooming the dog in such a way that the fault stands out. Bilu, Janet’s model for the talk (pictured above), again like Ice, waited patiently until she was needed for demonstrations. It never ceases to amaze me how well behaved our Maremmas are at gatherings like this. All of the dogs used for the breed assessments did a sterling job in what was probably several hours worth of showing and their owners were pretty well behaved too!

The day ended with Joanne Baxter, Chairman of the Northern Club, giving a short summation of the day – saying how lovely it had been. Rob and Joanne then presented Anne, Janet and Sue with lovely hanging baskets to say thank you for the hard work they had put into the day. All in all, the day went smoothly and I felt it had been a huge success. I had learnt more about the Maremma Sheepdog and also got to see some good friends and meet some very nice people from the Northern Club. Stelios, from the Great Britain Club commented that the day had “re-confirmed that Maremmas are just wonderful.”

Of course, Stelios is absolutely right and hopefully it will not be too long before we hold another educational day just like this one. Many thanks go to all who helped and made the day such a success! Please visit our website at www.maremma-sheepdogs.co.uk for pictures of the day and information about forthcoming shows and events which we would love to see you all at!