The Maremma Sheepdog is considered an “Old World European” breed, sharing ancestry with other Eastern European livestock guardian dogs, especially mountain-dwelling dogs, like the Pyrenean Mountain Dog and Kuvasz. Maremma Sheepdogs can be traced back at least to ancient Roman times. Originally bred in Italy, they are still very popular there, and their original purpose continues on: to guard livestock.
Maremma Sheepdogs are also known by many other names. Some of these names come from the idea that there used to be two breed varieties of these dogs from two different regions in Italy. In the 1950s, they were officially recognized as the same breed (Maremmano-Abruzzese). Other names for these dogs include
