Cani da Seguita: Hunting hares, foxes and wild boars with the Maremma hound. Son of the woods and the land of Maremma, today the Maremma hound is everyone's heritage, but it does not forget its places of origin that have made it a great hunting dog.
Impossible to talk about the sequel, without at least mentioning the Maremma, a dog whose talents developed naturally, growing hand in hand with the technique of hunters and farmers of his area of origin, the Maremma.
He is the son of his land, this is indisputable, but also and mainly of the woods that he has frequented for centuries, which have influenced his evolutionary and genetic criteria.
Once fundamental for the peasant family economy, the Maremma was for a long time used during the hunting of fox, porcupine, hare and rabbit, marten but also and of course the wild boar, which remains its main habit to all. today.
And although its features and characteristics are all noteworthy, the main one that distinguishes it from all the others is probably the barking at rest.
It was not wrongly defined a complete hound, naturally endowed with an excellent aptitude for hunting, approaching, barking while still in the case of wild boar hunting, and following. And if these innate qualities are stimulated with the right training, the Maremma will prove to be a wonderful hunting machine that will find its most congenial habitat in the woods.
From the very first phase of hunting, the Maremma shows what he's made of. It will probe the ground quickly, soon intercepting the smell of the wild and its passage. It will be helped by the twigs, brambles, or vegetation in general, which capture the stalks left by the animal being hunted. The inexperienced hunter will not even have the inkling of the fact that the dog is sniffing, as he can do it quickly and naturally, aided by his surprising receptive organs. He is helped by his height and his physiognomy that put smells within reach of his nose, especially during the wild boar hunting. When he sniffs his prey, he immediately communicates it to his companion hunter with the emission of a particular voice. It is precisely for this reason that the Maremmano is nicely called abbaione.
Its very strong sense of smell allows it, even in adverse weather conditions, to smell the prey without too much effort. Obviously the conditions of the ground will affect the speed and success of the search: dry, humid, frosted or wet ground will affect the operation of your Maremma in a different way, which will also be influenced by the wind. Better if coming from the south in the case of woods a few steps from the sea. In fact, the saline particles capture the food more and help the dog find the right track. This favorable condition could immediately turn into negative in the event of excessive heat.
A particularly important aspect is given by the voices during the search: as soon as the dog is untied, for the happiness of being free he will throw exuberant barks which will eventually become weighted and issued only when it has found a sure track. The barks in that case will be regular and in the case of momentary loss of the stalks, well spaced. They will resume with their natural rhythm as soon as the track is found. The tones will be low and deep, firm and dry, but also ringing. The howling tones will be a sign that your Maremma has known influences from other species. But obviously the ability of the Maremma to find the track is not just a matter of nose: a really important component is represented by the intelligence of the hound that should not be underestimated. In fact, during the search he makes use of his memory and previous experiences.
Another very important phase is that of the juxtaposition, which immediately follows the discovery of the wild game, be it nocturnal or the animal in motion. When your Maremma is ready to approach the wild, it will communicate it to you with the emission of a voice that will vary according to the contingent conditions, but also and above all to the hunting area.
For example, if you find yourself in a dense forest of Mediterranean scrub, where the wild can easily nest and find defense, the Maremma after the emission of a few voices will immediately pass to the bark when stationary; in a tall forest, on the other hand, the approach will be longer, since the wild will probably flow quickly, given the difficulty of finding a refuge. In this phase your hound will emit continuous and gradually more rhythmic voices by reflex. This will inform you of the approach to the wild.
At this point we just have to talk about the last two phases of hunting with your Maremma hound: the barking at rest and the following. During the first phase the dog will give the best of himself, emitting different voices than in the first phases. The tone will be deep and the pace steady, doubled where necessary. The continuous and conscious barking is a symptom of courageous domination over the wild; the case of trembling and indecisive barking is different: it is a symptom of subjection, perhaps dictated by the memory of a past meeting.
However, it must be said that among the bloodhounds, the Maremma is perhaps the best standing barker, endowed with a certain grit and stubbornness, able to cope with even the most difficult wild ones even for several hours.
Finally the continuation, characteristic of pack hunts. It should be remembered that in the group there is a substantial increase in the courage of the dog, which is not lacking in solitary. The pack will push the boar to escape, to get away from the unpleasant situation in which it has found itself. At this point the moult, which perceives olfactively but also visually the flight of the wild, is pushed to the following or to the canizza.
Obviously, also for this phase, the emission of a different, ringing, continuous, and pressing voice will correspond. If used in wild boar hunting, the Maremmano knows well that he will probably have to beware of some diversion and some quick change of direction which in some cases are capable of confusing even the most experienced hound.
On the other hand, the challenge is between two princes of the forest.