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Spinone Italiano

Italian breed of hunting dog From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spinone Italiano
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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]

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History

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Detail of a fresco by Andrea Mantegna in the Camera degli Sposi of the Palazzo Ducale of Mantua, circa 1470

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]

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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 life expectancy of 11.9 years for the breed compared to an average of 12.7 for purebreeds and 12 for crossbreeds.[11] Neurological disorders that have been identified in the breed include cerebellar abiotrophy[12]:308 and idiopathic epilepsy.[13]

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Notes

  1. Italian pronunciation: [spiˈnoːne itaˈljaːno]; plural Spinoni Italiani, pronounced [spiˈnoːni itaˈljaːni]

References

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Further reading

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