View source for Italian Greyhound

{{short description|Italian breed of sighthound}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2026}}
{{use list-defined references|date=January 2026}}
{{use British English|date=January 2026}}
{{infobox dog breed
| name           = Italian Greyhound 
| image          = Italian Greyhound standing gray (cropped).jpg
| image_alt      = 
| image_caption  = 
| image2         = IG Valerka.jpg
| image_alt2     = 
| image_caption2 = 
| altname        = {{ubl|Italian Sighthound{{r|fci2}}|{{lang|it|i=no|Piccolo Levriero Italiano}}{{r|fci2}}}}
| stock          = 
| country        = Italy
| weight         = {{right|not over {{cvt|5|kg|lb|0}}{{r|enci}}}}
| maleweight     = 
| femaleweight   = 
| height         = {{right|{{cvt|32|to|38|cm|in|0}}{{r|enci}}}}
| maleheight     = 
| femaleheight   = 
| coat           = 
| colour         = solid black, grey or [[isabelline (colour)|isabelline]]
| litter_size    =  
| kc_name        = [[Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana]]
| kc_std         = https://www.enci.it/media/2467/200.pdf
| kc2_name       = 
| kc2_std        = 
| kc3_name       = 
| kc3_std        = 
| fcistd         = http://www.fci.be/en/nomenclature/ITALIAN-SIGHTHOUND-200.html 
| notrecognised  = 
| extinct        = 
| note           = 
}}

The '''Italian Greyhound''' or '''{{lang|it|i=no|Piccolo Levriero Italiano}}''' is an Italian [[list of dog breeds|breed]] of small [[sighthound]].{{r|des|p=517}} It was bred to hunt [[European hare|hare]] and [[European rabbit|rabbit]], but is kept mostly as a [[companion dog]]. The English-language name used for it by the [[Fédération Cynologique Internationale]] is '''Italian Sighthound'''.{{r|fci}}

== History ==
[[File:Greyhounds playing, Vatican.jpg|thumb|Marble statue believed to represent two sighthounds, perhaps Italian Greyhounds or their precursors, from the second century AD. Discovered at [[Lanuvio]] in 1774, now in the [[Vatican Museums]]]]
[[File:Engraving of Italian Greyhounds, from The dog, in health and disease, by John Henry Walsh, 1859, page 44.jpg|thumb|Engraving showing two prize-winning Italian Greyhounds in the United Kingdom, from [[John Henry Walsh]], ''The Dog in Health and Disease'', 1859]]
Small dogs of sighthound type have long been popular with European [[nobility]] and [[royal family|royalty]]. Among those believed to have kept them are [[Frederick II, Duke of Swabia]]; members of the [[D'Este]], [[Medici]] and [[Visconti of Milan|Visconti]] families; the French kings [[Louis XI]], [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]], [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]], [[Louis XIII]] and [[Louis XIV]];{{r|enci2}} [[Frederick II of Prussia|Frederick the Great of Prussia]];{{r|des|page=519}} [[Anne of Denmark]]; [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine the Great]]; and [[Queen Victoria]].{{r|akc}} Dogs of this type have often been represented in sculpture – including a second-century Roman statue now in the [[Vatican Museums]] – and paintings, notably by [[Giotto]], [[Sassetta]] and [[Tiepolo]].{{r|enci2|enci5}}

Dogs of this kind were taken in the first half of the nineteenth century to the United Kingdom, where they were known as Italian Greyhounds;{{r|jhw|page=44}} the first volume of ''The Kennel Club Calendar and Stud Book'', published in 1874, lists forty of them.{{r|kc|page=597}} A [[breed association]], the Italian Greyhound Club, was established in Britain in 1900.{{r|cpli|cecil|page2=157}} Registrations by the [[American Kennel Club]] began in 1886.{{r|akc}}

The history of the modern Piccolo Levriero goes back to the last years of the nineteenth century. A total of six of the dogs were shown in 1901 in [[Milan]] and [[Novara]], two in [[Turin]] in 1902, and one in [[Udine]] in 1903. Numbers began to increase only after the [[First World War]], partly as a result of the work of two individual breeders, Emilio Cavallini and [[Giulia Ajò Montecuccoli degli Erri]].{{r|enci4|enci5}} In this post-War period the Piccolo Levriero was bred principally in Italy, France and Germany, and some Italian breeders imported dogs from outside the country. Of the forty-five of the dogs registered in 1926–1927 by the Kennel Club Italiano (as it was then known), twenty-eight were born in Italy and seventeen were imported.{{r|enci4}}

The events of the [[Second World War]] brought the Piccolo Levriero close to extinction, and numbers began to recover only in the 1950s, particularly after 1951, when Maria Luisa Incontri Lotteringhi della Stufa brought the influential bitch Komtesse von Gastuna from Austria.{{r|enci4|enci5}} The breed was definitively accepted by the [[Fédération Cynologique Internationale]] in October 1956,{{r|fci}} and in November of that year a [[breed society]], the {{lang|it|italic=no|Circolo del Levriero Italiano}}, was formed under the auspices of the [[Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana]]; it was later renamed the {{lang|it|italic=no|Circolo del Piccolo Levriero Italiano}}.{{r|enci4}}

In the nine years from 2011 to 2019, the Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana recorded a total of 2557 new registrations of the Piccolo Levriero, with a minimum of 213 and a maximum of 333 per year.{{r|enci2}}

== Characteristics ==

The Italian Greyhound is the smallest of the sighthounds.{{r|akc}} It weighs no more than {{val|5|u=kg}} and stands {{val|32|to|38|u=cm}} at the [[withers]].{{r|enci}} It is deep in the chest, with a tucked-up abdomen, long slender legs and a long neck. The head is small, elongated and narrow.{{r|enci}} The gait should be high-stepping and well-sprung, with good forward extension in the trot, and a fast gallop.{{r|enci}} The coat may be solid black, or grey or [[isabelline (colour)|isabelline]] in any shade; white markings are accepted on the chest and feet only.{{r|enci}}

Median [[longevity]] is about 14 years, compared to an average of 12.5 for all dogs.{{r|dk|page=127|kim|page2=127|uk}}

The dogs may be affected by breed-related [[neurological]] abnormalities including [[congenital deafness]] and [[intervertebral disc disorder|cervical intervertebral disc disease]].{{r|ron|p=291}} In the United States, the [[Ortheopedic Foundation for Animals]] has found the Italian Greyhound to be the least affected by [[Hip dysplasia (canine)|hip dysplasia]] of 157 breeds studied, with an incidence of 0.{{r|ofa}}

== Use ==

The original function of the Piccolo Levriero was to hunt [[European hare|hare]] and [[European rabbit|rabbit]]; it is capable of bursts of speed up to {{cvt|60|kph|mph|abbr=on|round=5}}.{{r|enci3}} Although assigned to the sighthound or hare-coursing groups by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale and the Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana,{{r|fci|enci2}} the Italian Sighthound is – as it was in the past – kept mostly as a [[companion dog]].{{r|cpli2}} It is classified as a [[toy dog|toy]] breed by the American Kennel Club and the [[The Kennel Club|Kennel Club]] of the United Kingdom.{{r|akc|tkc}}

== References ==
{{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=akc>[https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/italian-greyhound/ Italian Greyhound Dog Breed Information]. American Kennel Club. Accessed March 2021.</ref>

<ref name=cecil>Cecil Gordon Eugene Wimhurst (1900). [https://archive.org/details/completebookofto00wimh/page/157/mode/1up ''The Complete Book of Toy Dogs'']. New York: Putnam.</ref>
	
<ref name=cpli>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040614204108/http://www.circolodelpiccololevrieroitaliano.org/ Circolo del Piccolo Levriero Italiano] (in Italian). Circolo del Piccolo Levriero Italiano. Archived 14 June 2004.</ref>

<ref name=cpli2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040615064354/http://www.circolodelpiccololevrieroitaliano.org/cennisto.htm Cenni Storici] (in Italian). Circolo del Piccolo Levriero Italiano. Archived 15 June 2004.</ref>

<ref name=des>Desmond Morris (2001). ''Dogs: A Dictionary of Dog Breeds''. London: Ebury. {{isbn|9780091870911}}.</ref>

<ref name=dk>[Bruce Fogle] (2013). ''The Dog Encyclopedia''. London; New York: Dorling Kindersley. {{isbn|9781465408440}}.</ref>

<ref name=enci>[https://www.enci.it/media/2467/200.pdf Piccolo levriero italiano] (in Italian). Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana. Accessed February 2020.</ref>

<ref name=enci2>[https://www.enci.it/libro-genealogico/razze/piccolo-levriero-italiano Piccolo levriero italiano: Storia] (in Italian). Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana. Accessed February 2020.</ref>

<ref name=enci3>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140707155315/http://www.enci.it/razze/descrizione.php?id=200 Piccolo Levriero Italiano]  (in Italian). Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana. Archived 7 July 2014.</ref>

<ref name=enci4>[https://www.enci.it/delegazioni-e-soci-collettivi/associazioni-specializzate/circolo-del-piccolo-levriero-italiano Circolo del Piccolo Levriero Italiano] (in Italian). Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana. Accessed May 2023.</ref>

<ref name=enci5>Bitte Ahrens, Pierluigi Primavera, Marcello Poli (2018). [https://www.enci.it/media/7251/pli-commento-allo-standard-italiano.pdf Il Piccolo Levriero Italiano: Commento allo standard FCI] (in Italian). Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana. Accessed May 2023.</ref>

<ref name=fci>[http://fci.be/en/nomenclature/ITALIAN-SIGHTHOUND-200.html Piccolo Levriero Italiano (200)]. Fédération Cynologique Internationale. Accessed February 2020.</ref>

<ref name=fci2>[https://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/200g10-en.pdf FCI-Standard N° 200: Piccolo Levriero Italiano (Italian Sighthound)]. Thuin, Belgium: Fédération Cynologique Internationale. Accessed February 2026.</ref>

<ref name=jhw>John Henry Walsh ("Stonehenge") (1859). [https://archive.org/details/doginhealthandd00walsgoog/page/n66/mode/2up ''The Dog, in Health and Disease'']. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts.</ref>

<ref name=kc>Frank C. S. Pearce (1874). [https://books.google.it/books?id=Kd8NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA597&hl=en ''The Kennel Club Calendar and Stud Book''], volume 1. London: for the Kennel Club.</ref>

<ref name=kim>Kim Dennis-Bryan, Tracy Morgan (2020). ''The Complete Dog Breed Book''. London: Dorling Kindersley. {{isbn|9780241412732}}.</ref>

<ref name=ofa>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100210185346/http://www.offa.org/hipstatbreed.html Hip Dysplasia Statistics]. Ortheopedic Foundation for Animals. Archived 10 February 2010.</ref>

<ref name=ron>Ronaldo C. Da Costa, Curtis W. Dewey (2015). [https://books.google.it/books?id=JSWJCgAAQBAJ&hl=en&pg=PA308 ''Practical Guide to Canine and Feline Neurology''], third edition, ebook. Ames, Iowa: John Wiley & Sons. {{isbn|9781119062042}}.</ref>

<ref name=tkc>[https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/breed/display.aspx?id=6155 Italian Greyhound]. The Kennel Club. Accessed March 2021.</ref>

<ref name=uk>Kirsten M. McMillan, Jon Bielby, Carys L. Williams, Melissa M. Upjohn, Rachel A. Casey, Robert M. Christley (2024). [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-50458-w Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death]. ''Scientific Reports''. '''14''', article 531. {{doi|10.1038/s41598-023-50458-w}}.</ref>


}}

== Further reading ==
{{commonscat}}
{{refbegin}}
* Maria Luisa Incontri Della Stufa (1956). ''Il piccolo levriero italiano nell'arte e nella storia''  (in Italian). Firenze: Sansoni.
* [s.n.] (2004). ''Le razze italiane''  (in Italian). Milano: Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia.
{{refend}}

{{Italian dogs}}
{{hounds}}
{{toy dogs}}
{{authority control}}
{{bots|deny=Citation bot}}

[[Category:Companion dogs]]
[[Category:Dog breeds originating in Italy]]
[[Category:FCI breeds]]
[[Category:Sighthounds]]