Italian Greyhounds are NOT Italian at all …..
The name of the breed is a reference to the breed’s popularity in Renaissance Italy.
Italian Greyhounds in History
Italian Greyhounds are believed to be the first dog bred soley as pets. They can reach speeds of 60kph, making them useful small game hunters and coursing racers but generally these doggies are much happier laying in front of the fire or heater, curled up on the couch or even better still tucked up under blankets in your bed!
Mummified dogs very similar to the Italian Greyhound 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.
The Italian Greyhound is the smallest of the family of sighthounds (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 favourite 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 lead 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.
