Spinone Italiano
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Breed at a glance
- Origin
- Italy
- Weight
- Males
- Height
- Males
- Coat
- rough, thick and flat
- Colour
- solid white, white with brown or orange markings, or brown or orange roan
- Other names
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intro
The Spinone Italiano [ a ] is an Italian breed of hunting dog , traditionally used for tracking , for pointing and for retrieving game . [ 1 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
History
The origins of the Spinone are unknown. [ 1 ] : 250 Rough-haired dogs of pointer type have been present in the Italian peninsula at least since the Renaissance . In a fresco painted by Andrea Mantegna in about 1470 in the Camera degli Sposi of the Ducal Palace of Mantua , in Lombardy, in northern Italy, a dog of this kind is shown lying under the chair of the duke, Ludovico III Gonzaga . [ 1 ] : 250 Jacques Espée de Sélincourt , in his Le Parfait Chasseur of 1683, says of griffon dogs that "the best come from Italy and from Piedmont". [ 6 ] [ 7 ] : xxviii The modern Spinone originated in Piedmont , in north-western Italy, in the nineteenth century and was for some time the most important hunting breed of that region. [ 1 ] : 250 During the Second World War it was much used by the partisans , both to track enemies and to carry food. [ 1 ] : 250 After the War, breed numbers were much reduced; a breed society , the Famiglia dello Spinone, was formed in 1949, [ 8 ] and the breed was reconstituted from about 1950 onwards. [ 9 ] The Spinone was definitively accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1955. [ 10 ] A second breed society, the Club Italiano Spinoni, was established in 1973. [ 8 ] In the period from 2010 to 2018, new registrations in Italy varied from about 400 to about 650 per year; in every year, the orange-and-white colouring represented slightly over half of the total. [ 3 ]
Characteristics
The Spinone is roughly square in outline when seen from the side – the length of the body is approximately equal to the height at the withers . It is a strong, well-muscled and solidly-built dog suitable for hunting over any kind of ground. It swims well and enters cold or deep water without hesitation. [ 9 ] The coat is rough, thick and flat, with little undercoat; it is about 4 to 6 cm (1.5 to 2.5 in) long, rather shorter on the head, feet and front of the legs. Hair on the eyebrows and lips is longer and stiffer, thus forming a thick moustache and beard. [ 6 ] It may be: solid white; white with orange speckling or markings; white with chestnut brown markings; or brown or orange roan . [ 6 ] A 2024 UK study found a median lifespan of 11.9 years for the breed, close to the median of 12.5 for all dogs. [ 11 ] Neurological disorders that have been identified in the breed include cerebellar abiotrophy [ 12 ] : 308 and idiopathic epilepsy . [ 13 ]