Comments to Italian Sighthound FCI Standard by Bitte Ahrens

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Compiled by Bitte Ahrens (kennel "Sobers")
Almost no breed has been found painted and sculptured in the history as much as the Italian Sighthound. 

The Italian Sighthound was developed mainly through Italian, French and German influence. In France and Germany the breed was used for hunting small games together with falks. In Italy it was mostly used for hunting rabbits or as a companion dog. In the early 20’s, some Italian pioneers, i.e the Marquise Montecuccoli degli Erri (kennel Peltrengo) and the count Emilio Cavallini (kennel di Solcio), restarted the breeding in order to create more solid Italian lines and bring this breed back to its original type. The second World War was almost fatal to the breed and only since the 50’s did the true renaissance of the Italian Sighthound begin with the founding of the Italian breed Club (November 21st, 1956). Then it was time for marquise Maria Luisa Incontri della Stufa (kennel del Calcione) to resume and admirably develop an important work, beside a few other italian breed enthusiasts, and with the help from Austrian, German and French breeders. 

Today the Italian Sighthound is a very sweet and easy companion dog, but still has the passion of running and the will of hunting small games, just like the larger Sighthounds. It mainly hunts with its sight but its scent is as good as other dogs. 

Several Italian Sighthounds have done very well in obedience and some also in agility. In many countries all over the world, the breed also runs in lure coursing and racing. There are several dogs with Dual titles. 

The breed is today spread all over the world. Mind though that the breed standards differ a bit from the original FCI standard, in the USA, UK, SA and Australia, by allowing multi coloured dogs. In these countries they are competing in the TOY group. 

Always remember that this is a little SIGHTHOUND, Group 10 and does NOT belong to Group 9! The Italian Sighthound must be functional and sound, while keeping the typical elegance, the curvy outline and its unique kind of “dancing movement”.

* Important to remember! The Italian Sighthound must be considered as a “model of grace and distinction”
It must always be very elegant and look like a little Sighthound but never with the head carriage or body proportions of the Whippet or the Greyhound (and absolutely nothing similar to a Miniature Pinscher!) 

The Italian Sighthound must be “high on its legs” and never short legged. The body proportions must be quadratic and it is considered as a rather short coupled dog. 

Elegant and with refined grace both standing and moving. 

The overall outline should be smooth without any sharp interruptions - so called “S-curves” are desirable. 

The unique construction combined with its elegant dancing gait, always with high head carriage, gives the breed its beautiful and so typical silhouette both standing and moving.

The outline must be smooth, which means that the Italian Sighthound should NEVER be underweight. Spine, ribs and hip bones should be covered and just hardly visible! Young dogs can sometimes be a little lighter in weight, but never an adult dog!

The Italian Sighthound must be curious and awake towards things around and should absolutely not stand still like a zombie when being shown. The gentle lively character is very typical for the breed. 

Many times their awake and sensitive character is confused with thoughts of nervous temperament. 

The Italian Sighthound does not have the calm quiet character of, for example, the Whippet. They often react strongly to loud noises and also to cold weather and wind, which might make it difficult sometimes to fairly judge them outdoors. 

This breed should be judged on a stable and safe table in the ring . 

It must be touchable and not afraid but they often can show a bit of the typical noble sighthound pride towards strangers. 

Terrified and untouchable dogs must never be accepted.

The head is more chiseled under the eyes and the skull is slightly wider if compared to the Greyhound. This, together with the quite large roundish eyes, gives the Italian Sighthound its typical gentle but at the same time alert expression. 

Important to know! It is always easier to breed dogs with better heads on the slightly bigger dogs (37-38 cm.), than on the smaller dogs (around 34-36 cm.). Therefore, lovely heads on smaller specimens must be extra appreciated. 

We quite often see Italian Sighthounds with too weak under jaws. Pay attention, you very easy can be fooled, since the breed often shows a quite protruding nostril which makes it seem like a shorter and sometimes weak under jaw.

The top line of the Italian Sighthound should never be flat or be higher behind over the rump than over the withers in the front. 

You do not want to see any interruption from the top of the shoulders to the end of the croup – All must be a smooth curve line, which starts first with the straight back and than harmoniously become higher over the dorsal-lumbar region and then continue into a rather long sloping but wide and well muscled croup. 

Important to notice that the croup is very sloping but is NEVER “falling off” in the same way as seen for example in the Whippet! The two outlines are VERY different. 

A too short and too steep croup will for sure make the dog look shorter in body than the perfectly square one who has a long, strong and correctly sloping croup. This can easily confuse the untrained eye. 

The steep short croup will surely negatively affect the ability for the dog to move with good effective drive in the rear movement. 

The curvy top line of the Italian Sighthound must remain the same when the dog starts moving and must never get flat or become longer on the move.

Unfortunately it is often seen dogs with either too flat toplines or too overdone variations. Most common is the ones which are higher behind both standing and on the move, which totally destroy the typical outline of the breed.

It is important to know and respect that the breed can be very sensitive when it comes to the environment. 

They react strongly if it is too cold and windy (or even rain). Very easy to get a wrong impression since few breeds can change their look as much as a freezing Italian Sighthound! A rather long flat dog might look very short coupled and curvy, meanwhile a dog with quite moderate angulations also might look well angulated just by kneeing down on its hocks. 

The best way to see the correct REAL length and body proportions is when the dog is moving! 

It can be almost impossible to fairly and correctly judge the breed if weather situation is not good.

The chest of the Italian Sighthound must be rather narrow in its front and in the bottom of the chest, BUT that does not mean that they should be like an upside down V! They must not have the front fill like a Whippet or a Greyhound but not be totally empty as well. 

The standard asks for a deep chest that should reach down to the elbow. In reality, there are very few dogs which present this desirable wish. Most Italian Sighthounds, even though they have a good depth of chest, seldom show their chest reaching down to the elbow, since the upper arm is rather long and since the front angle is very open. 

Seen from above the breed, as typical also for several of the bigger sighthounds, must have just a slight spring of ribs but never a roundish volume. 

The underline is also extremely important for the overall shape. The length of brisket is shorter than the one seen in Whippets and Greyhounds. 
Again, we are talking about the famous S – curves and here you want to see a short but very smooth brisket that accentuates and rises without any abruptness to the belly, which should be well tucked up.

The tail should be low set, fine and never with thick longer hair on its underpart.

It is absolutely correct and normal for the Italian Sighthound to keep the tail between the hind legs. It does not necessarily mean that the dog is timid or afraid. 

It should be of such length that it reaches down to the top of the hock when stretched out. 

A longer tail is better than a shorter one. 

It is quite often seen Italian Sighthounds with injured (broken) tail tips but it also happens (quite rare) that some are born with a kink tail (tail defect). 

It is rather common that Italian Sighthounds carry their tails a bit higher when it is very hot outside, BUT the tail must NEVER be carried over the top line at any moment.

The Italian Sighthound is a long legged dog. Legs should be straight with lean muscles and the bone must be elegant.

Shoulders & Upper arm: The importance of the slightly sloping shoulder , the rather open front angulation, and the long upper arm cannot enough be pointed out since, without this, the Italian Sighthound will not have the typical unique front gait with lift and reach! 

On the other hand, it does not mean that the dog should be totally straight in the front! If too straight, the movement will not have any reach at all and most likely it will give a hackney kind of movement which is not desired. 
* HACKNEY = is a very overdone trot with extremely high front action , without any reach. 

Elbows should be tight to the body . 

The Italian Sighthound must never be wide in the front! 

Forearm: The bone structure must be refined and always elegant. This is not the same as weak and fragile. On the other hand the bones are more “dry” especially around the carpus, if compared to the Whippet for example. The pasterns must not be weak or too straight. Since this is a running and jumping dog, it is important to have a slightly bent pastern. 

The feet are small with tight toes and OVAL in shape (more hare foot) – we do not want cat feet! 

Nails should be well trimmed since the dog otherwise easily gets more flat feet.

General appearance - well angulated!
The Italian Sighthound is a galloping dog and it is of great importance that they are sound and strong in the hindquarters like the bigger Sighthounds. It should be able to move with a springy (dancing) trot, covering the ground with good drive in its rear. To be able to do so, it must have correct angulations behind. 

The Italian Sighthound is used both for lure coursing, agility and obedience, so this makes it also necessary to look for dogs which are sound and correctly angulated behind.

Unfortunately bad hindquarters is one of the biggest problems in the breed. Far too many dogs are not correctly angulated behind ,which affects negatively their soundness on the move. The drawings below shows some correct angulation and often seen incorrect hindquarters.

The standard is very clear about the size. 

32-38 cm is a quite big difference for such a small dog. 

Although the same size for males and females, it is certainly of great importance that the breed has a well distinct feminine and masculine appearance. 
It is always easier to find good specimens near the top size limit than to find really quality dogs of the smaller sizes. With smaller size follows sometime a more toy like head and also a too fragile bone structure, which is not wanted in the Italian Sighthound although it should always stay very elegant. Weight should be relative to the dog’s size and bone (not over 5 kilo) but the Italian Sighthound should NOT be kept skinny, to fit into the weight limit! The dogs should be in good condition, well covered with smooth outline. Not with hip bones and any rib visible.

The skin should be very fine and tight all over the body. 

It is not so easy to describe the softness and the feeling of touching the Italian Sighthound coat. The coat should be very short, silky and fine in structure and also have a nice shine to it. 

The coat quality differ a bit between the different colours. The lack of coat, especially on the back and on the thighs, is a fault which also can be a health issue. Not to be mistaken for the very thin hair on the throat and under the chest, which is absolutely normal. 

The Italian Sighthound must not have any slightest trace of fringes on neck, on the back of the thighs or on the tail! There must never be sign of trimming!

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Comments to Italian Sighthound FCI Standard

Compiled by Bitte Ahrens (kennel "Sobers")

* Important to remember! The Italian Sighthound must be considered as a “model of grace and distinction”

Behavior/Temperament

Dental defects to look out for in the breed:

The bite is not only made by teeth but also by the jaws

Neck: more examples

The body must give a shortcoupled quadratic impression.

The Italian Sighthound is a long legged dog. Legs should be straight with lean muscles and the bone must be elegant.

Correct fronts where the distance from the ground to the elbow is slightly more than the distance from the elbow to the withers

General appearance - well angulated!

The standard is quite clear describing the feet.

Skin & Coat

Colour & Markings

Less desirable colours:

White markings

Handling of Italian Sighthound

The way of handling of the Italian Sighthound can make a huge difference in it's silhouette