Description: The Italian Greyhound has wonderful fine bones and is slender. The head is slim but long. The muzzle is long but is still in keeping with the dog. The nose is brown or black depending on the colour of the coat. The bite is scissor. It has eyes that are dark and medium in size. The dogs' ears fold back to the edge of the head, and when on the alert they angle to the right. With a long neck, that is arched. It has a deep chest, which is narrow. This breed has straight front legs and long back legs. It has a long thin tail that tapers to a point. Their height is 12 to 15 inches, with the weight being 6 to 10 pounds. There are two weight categories 8 pound maximum and over 8 pounds. This is a short haired dog with a glossy coat. The coat comes in black, blue, grey, slate grey, red and white or cream. Brindle and black and tan are not accepted in the show ring but make fine pets.
History: The Italian Greyhound is an ancient breed of dog, and remains have been found in Egyptian tombs, that dated back to some 6,000 years ago. With evidence going back to Turkey and Greece from some 4,000 years ago. There is also evidence of these dog 2,000 years ago in the Mediterranean, in picture form. This dog became popular with the noblemen during the renaissance period. There is even evidence of a small greyhound type dog in the city of Pompeii. This dog is believed to have been brought to Europe, by the Phoenician civilisation and went on to be popular with James the first of England, Queen Victoria, and Catherine the great of Russia. During the 1700s Frederick the great of Prussia loved his dog so much that he buried his dog, on its death, himself and his dying wish was to be buried next to his dog. Sadly it was 205 years before Frederick's family transferred his remains, to be placed beside his beloved little Italian Greyhound. This breed has mainly been a comp!
anion dog throughout history, but it has been used as a hunting dog and is a gaze hound, albeit the smallest of this family. This breed hunted rats, mice, and falcons. The Italian Greyhound became a firm favourite of the Italians in the sixteenth century. This sadly went through a time where this breed was bred in an attempt to make them smaller, and the Italian Greyhound was nearly lost. Then groups of breeders got together to save this charming little dog, and they managed through careful breeding to get the breed back to its former glory.
Temperament: Here we see an eager and affectionate dog, which is intelligent and well mannered. This dog will want to please their owner, and are very sensitive to the tone of voice used. The Italian Greyhound does not respond well to harsh negative discipline. As an owner you need to be calm and have natural authority and good leadership, to gain the best from this dog. Socialising this dog well, will help it not be nervous around strangers and new situations. This is not a hard dog to train, providing you are consistent. This breed can be highly strung and show signs of being timid, if they are not treated as a normal dog and given plenty of exercise, including daily walks. They prefer a quiet house, although they get on with children and other dogs. It is probably wise to have an Italian Greyhound with older children. With this breed it is sensible to learn how to handle a dog that is timid, to enable them to cope with situations. Being a good leader, means this dog needsto be treated as a dog and not be allowed to develop small dog syndrome, as this can cause them to be more timid, resulting in problems such as being snappy. This dog is extremely fast, and love nothing more than to have a good run in a safe area, they are also able to climb.
Health issues: The Italian Greyhound can have epilepsy, fractures, PRA, slipped stifle. Puppies are more fragile in this breed until about 18 months old, and a balance has to be met between being careful with them and not treat them like a human baby.
Grooming: Grooming for an Italian Greyhound is easy and all you have to do is give the dog a rub down with a piece of towelling. Bath, only when necessary, remembering this dog needs to be keep warm and dry thoroughly. This is a low shedder.
Living conditions: This breed will be fine in an apartment and will do okay without a garden, but do need good exercise and space to allow them to run free when outdoors.
