Italian Greyhound

Next Breed: Jack Russell Terrier Previous Breed: Istrian short-haired Hound

The Italian Greyhound is a miniature version of the Greyhound and is the smallest of the sight hounds. He is a very affectionate and wonderful family dog but owners should be forewarned – like potato chips, it is hard to stop at one and many families have at least two IGs.

History

The name of the breed is a reference to the breed's popularity in Renaissance Italy. Mummified dogs very similar to the Italian Greyhound (or small Greyhounds) have been found in Egypt, and pictorials of small Greyhounds have been found in Pompeii, and they were probably the only accepted companion-dog there. As an amusing aside the expression 'Cave Canem' (Beware of the dog) was a warning to visitors, not that the dogs would attack but to beware of damaging, tripping over or stepping on the small dogs. Although the small dogs are mainly companionship dogs they have in fact been used for hunting purposes, often in combination with hunting falcons, rat or mice. The Italian Greyhound is the smallest of the family of gaze hounds (dogs that hunt by sight). The breed is an old one and is believed to have originated more than 4,000 years ago in the countries now known as Greece and Turkey. This belief is based on the depiction of miniature Greyhounds in the early decorative arts of these countries and on the archaeological discovery of small Greyhound skeletons. By the Middle Ages, the breed had become distributed throughout Southern Europe and was later a favorite of the Italians of the sixteenth century, among whom miniature dogs were in great demand. Sadly, though, 'designer' breeders tried, and failed, to make the breed even smaller by crossbreeding it with other breeds of dogs. This only led to mutations with deformed skulls, bulging eyes and dental problems. The original Italian Greyhound had almost disappeared when groups of breeders got together and managed to return the breed to normal. From this period onward the history of the breed can be fairly well traced as it spread through Europe, arriving in England in the seventeenth century. The Italian Greyhound was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1886 as a member of the toy group.

Appearance and Size

The Italian Greyhound looks like a miniature version of the Greyhound. The head is long and tapering and the chest is deep and narrow. The ears are small and folded and the tail is slender and tapers with a curved end. The coat of the Italian Greyhound is short and glossy and can be any color including grey, slate, cream, fawn, red or black. Often the color includes some white markings. The adult Italian Greyhound stands around 12 to 15 inches at the shoulder and weighs about 6 to 10 pounds.

Personality

The Italian Greyhound is affectionate and makes a good companion dog. The breed is excellent for families and enjoys the company of people. While they are excellent with children, the breed's slim build and short coat make them somewhat fragile, and injury can result from rough play.

Wikipedia and GNU

The content of this entry is from the Wikipedia article "Italian Greyhound" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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Videos of Italian Greyhounds

Dogs 101: Italian Greyhound

Dogs 101: Italian Greyhound

Dogs Singing Italian Greyhounds (The Berry Bunch)

Our 4 singing Italian Greyhounds waiting on their Daddy to get home from work.... Maggie May is the only one of the group that doesn't sing this time when Daddy comes home, instead she digs in the chair, but they do get excited when they think they hear him pull in the driveway

Barking dogs italian greyhound

My dogs barking...haha you know I was bored.. Thank you everyone for your concern about my dog's weight. Skipper has a very fast metabolism and eats 3 cups of blue buffalo and takes a weight supplement every day. He has been like this ever since we got him from the rescue. I have spent hundreds of dollars taking him to specialist about his weight. (He had a very hard life before I got him)

Dogs (Italian Greyhounds) Meet the New Crib

Marty and Cooper, our Italian greyhounds, meet the crib for the first time. Good humor for all. For more original content and lots of Italian greyhound fun, visit The Happy Hospitalist at thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com


Playing dogs - the Italian greyhound way

Sophia, an 8 yr old Italian greyhound, meets Seqoia, a 1 yr old Italian greyhound/Chihuahua mix. After a really long walk as their first introduction, they move inside for some off-leash play the IG way.

Italian Greyhounds Going to Sleep

Italian Greyhounds asleep and falling asleep.

Italian Greyhound & Afghan (dog or rug?)

Learn the tools the professionals use to rank Videos: goo.gl - Click It. Thanks to my friends Rebeca & David Randle for the perfect song. www.rebecaanddavidrandle.com. My Italian Greyhound (Romeo) and Afghan Hound (Shalako) play at the Encinitas "D" street dog park in San Diego, CA. This goes on every time they meet.

Snow maze and Italian Greyhound Dogs

My Italian Greyhounds (miniatures) Bagles and Shadow hate the cold. After refusing to go out in the snow the night before, I decided to make a snow maze for them to keep things interesting. You have to have a little fun after all. :-)

Fastest Dogs At The Dog Park

We take our two Italian Greyhounds to the local dog park often. They are always the fastest dogs at the park. None of the other dogs, reguardless of size, can keep up. The only exception is if there are other Italian Greyhounds. Even then, Amelie is still among the fastest. Vegas is a warm place, but our winters can get a little cold, especially for the thin-coated Italian Greyhound. So, we bought them fleece bodysuits from Hounds in the Hood. The Italian Greyhounds in this video were adopted. We did not bu


Italian Greyhound (miniature)

A little footage of my 5-year old miniature italian greyhound. (testing out Flip MinoHD)

Italian Greyhound playing with dogs at the dog park

It was a Sunday in December - 3 days after Christmas. and it was 55 degrees outside. Marla *needed* to go to the dog park. First she runs her little heart out, then she plays with some new friends.

Italian Greyhounds-Funny

My Three Italian Greyhounds; Marcella, Vaio & Blue

My Whippet and Italian Greyhound- bad to the bone song

These are my two dogs Q and Jagger. Please comment and rate.

Getting My Italian Greyhound

Me picking up my new baby puppy, a 3 month old male Italian Greyhound. My Facebook: www.facebook.com My Twitter: @Jennanikki6 twitter.com @Stoollala twitter.com And my blog: www.stoollala.com Other YouTube Channels: JennaMarblesVlog JMourey66


Singing Italian Greyhounds

Our dogs Cricket and Tres singing their favorite morning song

Italian Greyhound & Cockapoo

dalmations, pugs, dobermans, chows, pit bulls, mixed breeds, old english sheep dogs, border collie mixes, terriers, bearded collies, Shih Tzus, Chihuahuas, Cocker Spaniels, Great Danes, Labrador Retrievers, Mastiffs, Dashchunds, Yorkshire Terriers, Cairne Terriers, Rat Terriers, Pomeranians, Puggles, Cockapoos, Poodles, Wired Hair Terriers, St. Bernards, Swiss Mountain Dogs,Greyhounds, labadoodles, Akitas, Huskies, Coonhounds, Bulldogs, American Eskimos, Foxhounds, Staffordshire Terriers, Water Spaniels, Au

Italian Greyhounds: Pros and cons

Learn about these little athletes. Could you keep up with an Italian Greyhound? www.dogsincanada.com Video shot by Adam Campbell, video edited by Drew Gordon Camwood Media www.camwoodmedia.com

Whippets & Italian Greyhound II (The Look of Love)

Photos of our dogs (Whippets and Italian Greyhound) and their family and friends. With a lot of cute puppy photos.

Boston/ Jack Russell Terrier Mix Dominates Italian Greyhound

Elvis, the Boston/Jack Terrier Mix is always very dominant. Luigi, the Italian Greyhound can be a wimp sometimes. Elvis is the youngest of the 4 dogs in the household (9 months old now). He is a death row rescue dog.



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