19903 - Italian Greyhound

BREED HISTORY

As an ancient breed, it is not surprising that references of the greyhound has been found in Greek mythology. In the story of the goddess Artemis and Aktaeon, hunting dogs had mistaken Actaeon for prey and killed him. Although a sad ending, this reference is one of the proofs that this breed has been in existence since ancient times.

However, during the Middle Ages, the Italians started breeding the smaller sized greyhound which resulted in its widespread popularity across southern Europe. By the 16th century the breed received the name “Italian Greyhound” and by the 17th century became a popular companion among the royal families of Rome, Prussia, England, Denmark, and Russia.

By the 19th century, there were attempts to make the small greyhound even smaller, however, the cross-breeding with other toy species led to complications.

A club was then founded in 1900 to revive the Italian Greyhound to its original form but the World War (I and II) almost wiped the breed’s existence across Europe somehow before the wars it had found its way to America during the late 1800s, registered under the Toy breed Category of the American Kennel Club in 1886, the population of the Italian Greyhound was revived after World War II.

As at 2011 was ranked at 65 out of 173 breeds and was formally registered in 1951, clearly no longer used to hunt, the Italian greyhound is a companion dog whose popularity in other countries like Germany and Sweden only goes to show that extinction for this breed wouldn’t be coming anytime soon.

TEMPERAMENT

The Italian Greyhound has a loving personality. With family members, it can be very affectionate and gentle however it is mostly shy and reserved with strangers.

Don’t be surprised by the “big dog bark”, this only makes the Italian Greyhound a good alert dog. Life with the Italian Greyhound is very relaxed if they are older and filled with great energy and liveliness when they are younger.

ENVIRONMENT

There’s no question about the Italian Greyhound being an indoor dog, the Italian Greyhound is an intelligent breed and typically have to be house-trained although they usually don’t do well during training thanks to their short attention span.

It is however advised to keep a training shirt and interesting. Also, their athletic agility would require you to have a dog door as they can never be fully trusted around the house.

EXERCISE

Their energy level is high, they believe they can fly and tend to jump around a lot. Therefore, they might require long walks to tone it down. And if long walks aren’t feasible on a daily then 20 – 40 minutes exercise would do.

GROOMING

Grooming the Italian greyhound is very easy because of its smooth and short coat. However, the greyhound requires a regular wipe down with a damp cloth.

Bathing once a month is also needed to keep its skin healthy. You should also clean its inner ear, trim its nails to avoid ingrowth and give it a reaction by trimming the pad of the foot. Anal glands should also be checked by a Veterinarian.

Our Italian Greyhound puppies for sale come from either USDA licensed commercial breeders or hobby breeders with no more than 5 breeding mothers. USDA licensed commercial breeders account for less than 20% of all breeders in the country.

The unregulated breeders who are selling outside of the USDA regulations and without a license are what we consider to be “Puppy Mills.” We are committed to offering Italian Greyhound puppies who will grow up to become important members of your family. We only purchase puppies from the very best sources, and we stand behind every puppy we sell.