Evaluation of the Abruzzese shepherd dog on herds defence against predators in Tuscany.

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Abstract:DuetothegradualincreaseinnumberofwolvesinTuscany'

xcurred

in

the

to'i'yn:*''-

damages

'o-"t"*'^'o'k

s:1tor

.have

remarknbly

increased.

In

orderi:'i;;:;; 'il'

p'iau^i;;;;;

bv

this predator species and

to make them

sustai"Li"

o*n

f'Y-

':

":i;{;"irl:;:;::'y*i;:"';;,{:ir'::

'ior"1)irr-irovincial

Breeders As.soctatrcno**,or',,on""ié

i.o.tl

carried

out

an

i:,:i:,ii!'i;l::i:;:ri:;i;;';i;ut1Ì'?

j:--'.!.;!i:;':':

'#-,:";";tixri;r":;",':;'r:;":-!!i:rri:"li*o*ii1:h\i'!

support)onaoaop'iJl''ii"o'i'''1at'-*i*'eshepherddosfiomspecificlines

setected,

in

to,uzzi

R"'ritr"it"

*ii

sy;t!;

iì!

opptirotive

ffictiveness

of

t.his,

The aim

of

this work wa1 tu

as'

aosn,nnà,:,:r;li*:*;;f

_{-':,ii:;flY:;Zz";!;::"';l';!;ili'}

nredators' That h'

'iriiiZ:rìa"gs.

and quesfionnai'"t' _{,,.,,4u51 into three}

main

sections' concerning:

eueition n aires h ave be en .d

tv mreZ'

;;:;";

;;in

charact er is t

ic of

a.

rgooo

aff

e nti o

n''

u t i o

b

iii

i-

o n'

d

p r o tec t i

"'

";Z'

in"i

i

_1"'i

_:

_:

_;j;:i'

;

:{;:'

;-":1,

'',:r"r#;;:;i:f:;,i::"ii-"':;;;'t!::#ffi';;:;:";;i;i';;:"::

heafi and litters'

So'

it

was possible to rate the examined

Payyeters

in

a synthetic and

obiecnve**'oi:;:il;';;;;'''i"au1"'i"wi1':tlei11s'sessmentsaboutthese

three aspects,

andfinalty

by an

u*,n|,à,,,i"-ìail

rating, based on questionn&ffes

Z*i"nf,rt

_"tults'

'

^.1 tn

{nrt

all

shepherds were very satisfied by their

\Yii'-i:;;';;:x:{'!,i:#rr:Y\Y";;i;'ir:!;,:i*'tri#;{'*"'

li

each of them

_"'\**'"a-a

this

prevention technique to c

Key words z wolf' Abruzzese shepherd

dog'' Tuscany

Introduction

The

wolf

(Canis lupus) is present now,

in

a more

or

less stable wa-Y.

=

all

provinces

of

Tuscany; his refurn

in

this

area§,

from which

was absent

lìr

many decades, was helped

by

mountain abandonment,

by

increasing

of

ri

il;

ungulates (mainly

wild

boar and roe deer) and also

by

wolf

protection regime established by national law (157192) and EU regulations (Berzi, 2008, 2010).

If

this situation demonstrates good ecological environmental condition-'

also around urbanized areas,

on the

other

hand caLlSeS

many

problems on livestock rearing and provokes itlegal beharriours, as utilisation

of

poison baits and others poaching activities by the side of local communify (huntets, fatmers.

excursionists)

which could

causes

irreversible

damages

to

this

protectec

species.

Wolf

predation

in

Tuscany, as regards dome'stic anirnals, centres on

sheep and goats, followed by young cattle and horses. The recent Regional Lau' 26105 "Protection of livestock subjected to predation" forecasts contributions tcr

take

out

a policies (co-financed

with

contribution rates

of

80%)

on

damages

from attack by

wild

carnivorous species (that is

wolf,

wild

cat and royal eagle).

which covel direct

(death)

an

indirect

damages

(wounding,

miscarriages).

Damages are refunded

with

a franchise af 2A%-30Y", depending on regions.

Besides,

there ate

contributions

also

to

realize

prevention

works

(maximum 50%),

as

fences, sheepfolds, shelters

and

alert

photo

systems.

A

project of Inter-provincial Breeders Association of Firenze-Prato (A.P.A) and

Centre

for Wolf

Research and Documentation (C.S.D.L), financed by Florence administration province,

tried

to

solve

this

problem

by

mitigation

of

conflict

between animal husbandry and protected predator species.

Main

actions were:

information activities (through distribution

of

informative material and open

meetings

for all

stakeholders), realization and

monitoring

of

electric fences

(through financing and technical support), supply

of

electronic

dispersals

(e.g. acoustic dispersals), and mainly buying a pair of Abuzzese shepherd dog puppies

for

each sheep farm.

After

a meeting between sheep farmers and dog educators

to

show characteristics and potentialities

of

these animals, puppies r,vere leaved

in

shepherds' care. These had

to

attend

to

dog register inscription, microchip installation and veterinary examination

with

anti-parasitic medication

and vaccination.

Dogs

utilised

in

this

project come

from

Association

of

Abruzzese Shepherd

Dog

(http:iTwww.canidapecora.itl), founded

on

2005

in

Abruzzo

region,

to

recover and safeguard original characteristics

of

this

shepherd dog.

Genetic

selection

is

based

more

on

character,&ehaviour

than

in

aesthetic characteristics. For

this

reason?

rrany

times dogs selected

by this

Association

don't respect

official

standard

by

Fédération Cynologique Internationatre (FCI)

for

Nlaremmaflo Abruzzese shepherd

dog

(http://www.cpma.itlstandard.php)

which

favours

only

aesthetic characteristics (Pischedda, 1954; Breber, 1988;

lulancini, 2006). The thr

.tention,

reliabilitY and

'Attention'

indr<

r:ore

capable

of

doing

::<ecute its

job.

Aftenvl

sheep, has tc prefer she,

Ihe

dog has to go

rrith

ùern during the night.

.

:nder the flock to be re:

'Reliabili§'

_{means abs}

Shepherd

dogs have

t

towards

flock

and ner t

aold back the ears (t1P

on the back, smell the a

'Protection' resr

is skill to intervene in d

these situations, is to 'c rvithdraw between the

Usually, predators ar-o

behave in this way.

The aim of this dog breed,

by

stud-v ar

That has been possibl

dogs, and of a questior':

The

questionn:

dogs.

to which thc .

particular, in addition t

emphasis

to

the

tirri (attention,

reliabiliq.

a

with those of research

researchers' impressic

trial,

because from th,

regarding theirs rval

without the presence c

The last Part o

from the dogs'

PaLr

collected the opinions

A

global

er a

,,l:ncini,2006).

_{The three main characteristic}

of

a good flock-defence dog are:

.:ention,

reliability

and protection (Coppin get, 1982' 1 98.3'. 1992)'

"Attention, indicates the

link

betwJen sheep an<1 dog:

a

strong dog is

..cre capable

of

doing its

work.

If

it

shows feeling

with

its

sheep,

is

abter to

-,\icute

ìt.

joU.

At"r.iurdr,

shepherd dog attention is based on its devotion to

,heep, has to prefer

tfr".p

.o*pà'y

unrf iever, by any means' to abandon them'

- re dog has to go w,ith

.il""p

ut tt è

p*tt

re

d,ring

all the day,

and to sleep

with

:em

during ttre nigrrt.

a

goàa no"t-defence dog never leave sheep, has to kecp

*rder the flock to be ready, in any moment, to chase away any predator'

Rcliabili§,

means uUr"rrée

of

predat.ry

instinct towards domestic livestock'

Shepherd <logs have

io

show'behaviours

of

submission

and

investigation ::§.ards

flock

and

,r",r.,

menacing auitudes.

when

they

walk

up

to

livestock'

rold back the ears

(,ypt;J

submiJsion behaviour) avoid the direct

look'

sprawl

.,

rhe back, smell thÉ anal area and the head (typical inveqtigation behaviour)

.protection'

_;;;;1i.

_{fi'om a}

_{good'atteniiàn'}

and a good

'reliabil§'

and .s skill

t'

intervene in dangerous or strange situations. The right dog reaction, in

:hese situations, is 1o

b-rf

blatantly keeping

in

high _{the 1a]1.}

If

it

is challenge, -*.ithdraw between

the

sheep, showing^the 'approach-withdrawal behaviour'' Usually, predators avoid attacking thà fivestoòÈ

in

pt.t*"ce of

a

dog, which rehave in this waY.

Materials

and methods

The airn

of

this work was

t0

assos§ the applicative effectiveness of this dog breed,

uv ,tuov

und analysis

of

flock-defence behaviour against predators'

That has

b..,

porsili.

uv

*.ur*

of

direct meetings

with

breeders and their

dogs, and of a questionnaire compilation'

The

questionnaire inclu«ied various questions about

many

aspects

of

dogs,towhichtlresheepfarmersrespondedwitha.lotofwillingness'In

partioular, in addition to gàneral informaiion on dogs and flock, we gave a lot

of

emphasistothethreemaincharacteristicofagoodflock-defencedog

(attention,

reliability

Àd

frotection).

The farmers' el'aluations were compared

rvith those of research"r,

iho

carried out the surveys'

Very

important were the researchers,

i*pr".riorrs

when

they

closely rnet

.il

th"

dogs involved in

this

trial,

because

from

theirs reactions

it

was possible

to

understand many things

regarding theirs

way

oi

reuctirrg

in

the

Éont

of

,nfamiliar

people,

with

or without the presence of theirs tnaster'

Thelastpartofquestionnaile\N.asderlicatedtothepossiblelittersborn

ffom the

dogs'

pair

fostered

with the

sheep fatmers'

while the final

pafi

coilected the -opinìons and the satisfaction level of masters'

Aglobalevaluatiorrwasobtainedconsidering,beyondthesheep

faffiers,

answers,

also

the

researchers' observations

and

the

possible

incongnrities

with

the

shepherds' furnished answers

and

the

attitudes and

behaviour of dogs at the time of visit.

The evaluation scale adopted for the global evaluation was composed b-v

five

values: excellent, very good, good,

fair

and insufficient. On the whole, six

sheep farms were visited, localized

in

the provinces

of

Firenze and Pistoia-

ln

each

farm,

before

the dogs'

arrival,

predatory

wolf

events

were

verified-Abruzzese shepherd dogs considered

in

this

trial

were fourJeen: 8 males and 6 bitches.

Results and discussions

About the dogs' nutrition, the majority

of

sheep farmers (except for one who doesn't produce

milk)

feed theirs animals with

milk

serum frorn their dairy

sheep and stale bread. Feedrng

with

milk

serum binds more the dogs

with

their

flock

and produces shiny and

thick

hairs. Feeding

with

meat, on the contrary.

could make more restless and aggressive

the

dogs, due

to

excessive protein content.

In all sheep farms visited, the flock was closed in the sheepfold together dogs during the night. Indeed, the Abruzzese shepherd dogs have to stay always

with

the

flock, in

the sheepfold

or in

the fences during the

night

and never to leave sheep unattended.

In all

six

farms, the relationship between shepherds and dogs were evaluated

'good'

by

sheep farmers,

namely

the

dogs

were

obedient

and

learned to

recognize the master as only leader and to respect his orders.

Besides,

we

asked sheep farmers

how they

manage

bitch

heats, in particular

if

they divide or not the male from the bitch in this period. The report

brings out the fact

that

the majority

of

sheep farmers prefer

dividing

them,

closing the

bitch,

mainly

to

avoid that she mates

whit

dogs

of

other breeds.

Only one fàrmer

didn't

separate his dogs during ttrre bitch heats period.

Regarding

the

three

main

characteristic

of a

good flock-defence dog (attention,

reliability

and protection), we carried out a more exhaustive analysis.

Altogether, the

'attention'

of

Abruzzese shepherd dogs resulted

'excellent'

in

the

50%

of

cases,

'very

good'

in the 33,300

and

'good' in the

16,6A0À. br sSmthesis, the results were satis§ring (figure 1).

The results on the global evaluation on dogs'

'reliabili§'

resulted more

positive than

on

'attention',

indeed

reliability level

of

Abruzzese shepherd

dogs' resulted

'excellent'

in

the

50%o

of

cases, and

'very

good'

in

the

50% (figure 2).

The evaluation

of

'protection' of ,ùbruzzese shepherd dogs did the most

heterogeneous result. Indeed it resulted 'excellent' in the 33,33oh of cases, 'very

Figure 1

'Attention':

Figure

2'ReliabilitY'

: G q,

i.

Y"

ir

tÉl

rF

t0

Ed

b

,itr

port Emt eds. dog ysis. É'

in

6.

ln

more

$erd

50%

Glsbal eualuatisn

of

'Alctsntion'

# §xcellent

* V*rv §ood

I _6esd § Fiìir

r.1r lngUfficisnt

Glabal

evaluati§n

tlf

'Reliahility'

& §xcc{le*t

s VerY gaoC

'i _Geod

ffi l-air

Figure 3 'Protectim":

A part of the questionnaire was dedicated to the flock behaviour towards shepherd dogs. The results were rather goods, indeed

in

only

two

farms, at the

time

of

dogs'

introduction

in

the flock, the

sheep showed aggressive and

rejecting behaviours. About the satisfaction level

of

shepherd, we ask them

if,

after

the

introduction

of

dogs

in

the farm,

there

were

predation events.

Only in one farm, there was a certain predation event from woives.

In the all other farms, on the contrary, similar events

didn't

happen after

that dogs started their

work.

At

last,

we

asked sheep farmers how much

thel-spent for veterinary costs, given that many times this is a refusal cause for

man)-shepherds. Tanks

to

Abruzzese shepherd

dogs' rusticity,

veterinarian cos6

resulted negligible,

and limited

to

the

first

veterinary

examination with

anti-parasitic medication and vaccination,

Conclusions

The

first

conclusion

of

our

investigation

is

that

all the

dogs

of

our

research showed a good

'attention',

'reliability'

and

'protection'

levels: main characteristics

ofa

good flock-defence dog.

In

general,

the

sheep farmers

followed

the right

rules

on

correctly managing the Abruzzese shepherd dogs regarding either nutrition or education.

In this manner, any dog resulted to be a problem in any sheep farm.

Each shepherd

affirmed

to

be

satisfied

or

even

very

satisfied

by

his dogs' rvork. They seemed also very proud

of

theirs Abruzzese shepherd dogs, also because, beyond the essential service that these dogs have

in

the farms, a natural relationship of confidence and mutual respect was born.

All

shePherd

I

moblems

to

adoPt tl

snepherds' hostility to

To ameliorate -'

L.

create

many

speciz

Shepherd Dog, follou'i

vq-eeders

to amPliff

a

3ocks.

It

could be im tes to be

officially

rec,

1.

Berzi,

D.

(.

:rcria travaglialo".

_'

-\gricolture Comparin

2.

Berzi,

D'

trwenzione dei dannt

\aturali,

Firenze;

3. Breber, P.

Ed. Olimpia, Firenze:

4.

CoPPinger. DogLog; 5. CoPPinger. sheep's

clothing".Sn

6. CoPPinger. .,Attentiveness

of

gut Joumal or Range Ma:

7. Mancini. R Maremmano-Abnu:e

gregge",

Tesi

di

I Patrimonio Naturale. 8. Pischedda maremmano".

Au

shepherd wourd .advise

11

*3:",JT:L

tiffi';}#t.';i,*:ttT

Att

shepherd

would

advise the' omers

§trvwv

'l^-^

ttu"t

because

of

rrobiems

to

adopt

#:^i".t*t:l],$*"fJrj.'

*v

_'*no

a

i,

,---^rranl

lroblems

LU auuv"

o^u..apt flock_defence dog"

+:*:',',:,"^,'Jfi[:::l?"X;ffi:'];'*;:',ì;:'T:$.,#'"?'ÀTHXI:

---r

To ametiorate

*ntzzese

snelxrsrLrruE,

_fff.;

Association

of

Abrurzzese :rr :.-r create create

many

many

specialized.*:t-:1i::,::"

specialized selectron '§erllrvù' oeneticists, vetermary surgeons' dog

ruw

^

^"-

ary surgeo,,:'goq

Shepherdooe,rg]lowia'.ùi:::*':'Tl1ì;"%'i#'ft

_{''i't-lll".iì'-P-.tT:l}

::.'tl'.f

3x?iìl§-"'"i'à'l:lit.*:i:-it*i*r:nr.fl

;,:"-,i:l'}t

]r#il;"a?prifu

and

divcrsiflt the

proouutr,rr

vr vv--r

rd

dogs' standard

ilocks.

lt

could

u"

_{"ill'tl;i1'J"y}

t'he Abruzzese

shephe

n*

ìi

u. offrcia§

recàgnized by

FCI'

i.

di

indennizzo

itt

Toscana'

_{'l :::'^:i}

1.

Berzi,

D.

(2007)

-

,,Sistey!-^dl

tnaertttr'zLU p'"

"

3e Carnivore and

storia

ffwagtiata"'tt'à"1,f:*::,":1t,Iffi#il##

t.

-\gricotture

CoPf{ln{

ing Experienc

es acro s s,It

*t

^?:l!)1"'n

]'

ym'r:"i;Ji;i'':"":;:::;;;:"i"';';*';,'T{:,{::^.[[",]:

'z'

_Yerzr'

_"'"'ii

iiudatori

al patrimonio zootecntco

prevenzione dei dant Naturali, Firenze;

3. Breber' P'

Ed. OtimPia,Fnenze;

References

(1988)

-

,,Il

cane

da

Pasture

L.

(1992)

-

,,What Makes a

Maremmano-Abruzzese '

Good

Guarding

Dog?"'

DogLog;

5. Copprnger'

L'

&

R'

(1982

)

-

"Livestock

Guarding Dogs that wear

sheep''

_{ttrlr;iy,:jj3-H"i':l;"2,}

_I.,

Gtendinning,

J:, Pinardi'

P'

(1e83)

-6. CoPPmget

..Attentiveness

oJ'i.ii''ri'r'

7"

'"ii)i*"'g'p'idation

on

clomestic sheep"'

i;;;i

_";

_{.l"L?:-yil:ffffi21",,}

osservaz ione su t :.o. *!^o:to

*

enrc det P astu re

7. Mancmr' M a r e m m a n o - a

a'u'),')'

\

i

à'''

n

""

*:ii'i*

i'i

t'

"lf

k'i

!

!'"'

_:

"'&-!:::';"'^

sregge",

Tesi

at'Ii"t"-

tÉtlullttito

in

Conservaztont

É atri moni o t'luto'u' t "

il'tiliil

:"t*':

M M'

FF'Nlil''

Bolo gn a;

8.

Pischedda'

G' (les4)

-

"';ii;;;:;*"fonrdameniati

ra

abruzzese (