Maremma-Abruzzese Sheepdog joined by the hyphen not by chance, but a sign that indissolubly links the two words to indicate a single breed now recognized by the Official Cinofilia;
this has been the case since 1958, when the Ente della Cinofilia Italiana (ENCI), commissioned Prof. Solaro to analyze the ancient dogs that have always been present in Abruzzo and those present later, in the Maremma, to evaluate the alleged differences between them other dogs.
After several analyzes, it was realized that there were no substantial differences between the two types of dogs, certainly there was not a marked homogeneity of type, but in any case we could not speak of two different and distinct breeds and which moreover had the same same functional role within the flock, it was for this reason that since then it was called by the name we all know today:
Maremma-Abruzzese Shepherd Dog.
This definition, however, has often generated doubts and uncertainties about the origin of the breed, and ignited countless parochial diatribes on the exactness of the name for that dog that has always been called and still is today, “Sheep Dog” or ” Abruzzese Shepherd “or even more simply with the dialect expression” Can Bian’c “(White Dog)
Why then, if indisputably the origin and cradle of the breed is Abruzzo, was it also called Maremmano?
Because perhaps they wanted to give recognition to those noble Tuscans (I leave it to you to understand whether rightly or wrongly) who, starting from the 1950s, began to breed and register their White, Candid and opulent subjects in the ENCI Herd Books. in those lands thanks also, albeit minimal, sheep transhumance.
The same have spread the knowledge beyond the Italian borders and created the first dog farms.
During the winter, the flocks present in Abruzzo and in general throughout the Central Apennines, descended through the Tratturi towards those areas with richer environments of grass and milder temperatures for wintering.
It is no coincidence that all the Regi Tratturi of the former Kingdom of Naples departed from Abruzzo (L’Aquila, Celano, Pescasseroli) to go minimally towards the Tuscan Maremma, but above all towards the Maremma Laziale, Foggia, Naples …
So, if we had to assign a name exclusively by dwelling on the presence area of the white dog, also given the sheep consistency that was in the Matese, Puglia, Umbria, Sannio, we should have called it “Shepherd of the Apennines”;
From the recent initiatives, also promised by the CPMA (Circolo del Pastore Maremma Abruzzese), an attempt is being made to bring back in the official context and therefore within ENCI, the historical-cultural truth on the origin of the name, with the proposal to change it to Dog as an Abruzzese Shepherd, we will wait for the bureaucratic process to evolve with the hope of finally giving justice to our dog.
