maremma

He said the large white fluffy Maremma has been bred as a livestock guardian dog.

Farmer George Ford, from Blagdon, uses two Maremma sheepdogs - Bear and Holly - between August and December to guard his 600 free range turkeys.

Recently, Bear has been joined by rescue dog Holly, another Maremma.

For years, Italian shepherds have used Maremma sheep dogs to scare off wolves - but falconers hope to train the dogs to look out for predators from above.

Jonathan and Daisy Ames from Rothiemurchus Falconry near Aviemore are training two young Maremma sheep dogs, called Luigi and Peaches, to protect newborn lambs.