Italian Greyhound

History

Dating back over 5,000 years ago to Egyptian tombs, there is much evidence that shows these small dogs were treated as royalty that long ago, and were very close to their owners. Many may be surprised to find out that they were even buried with their owners in the tombs. Today, this small dog is still treated as royalty with many owners around the USA and remains as a companion.

Appearance

This is a small breed dog with males and females generally measuring 12-15 inches in height and weighing 6-10 pounds in weight. This breed is built very lean, thin and fragile in appearance. Their tiny, wedge shaped head goes into a thin muzzle that forms to a scissor bite. Their nose is available in brown or black depending on their coat color. Their two round eyes are large in size and available in a light hazel to black in color. Their four legs are long and thin. Their two ears are rose shaped and folded down. This breed has a long, thin tail that remains outwards and up. The Italian Greyhound has a single layer, short haired coat that is tight to the skin and soft. It is available in all colors and color combinations.

Temperament

The Italian Greyhound is a very sweet, docile, loving and loyal dog who is very sensitive to tone of voice. This breed does require a confident and firm owner, however they must be mindful of their tone and only use positive reinforcement training methods. This breed does well in apartments due to their small size, low activity level indoors and quietness. This breed can be reserved and to themselves even with their owners. The Italian Greyhound isn't known for being overly affectionate or typical of other dog behaviors, however there are exceptions to every rule and each dog is its own individual. The Italian Greyhound will be shy around strangers, and can do well with children he or she is raised around. Be mindful of your children around this small breed, as they are easily stressed and injured. We recommend this breed for families with older children who can understand about the breed itself. This breed does enjoy playing and running around outdoors, so a properly fenced in yard is required; otherwise a properly fitting harness and leash is a must. This breed can listen extremely well if he or she feels you are being kind and firm about what you are asking of them.

Grooming

This breed sheds very little and requires a gently brush or wipe down daily and bathing when needed.

Special Notes

Please note that this breed requires a calm, loving and gentle household that is able to include their Italian Greyhound in as many family moments as possible. This breed requires a properly fenced in area or properly fitting harness and leash while outdoors at all times to prevent running away or after anything. Please fully educate yourself about the Italian Greyhound prior to adding one to your family to ensure you are able to meet the physical and financial needs of this breed for the life of your new family member. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.