Spinone Dog Breed

Italy

Although the Spinone or Italian pointing dog, besides its name, has too much in common with the pointer of Great Britain, the Spinone surpasses the other in number of applications. In first place, it is used to track the prey. It descends from the ancient hunting dogs of the Continent, the griffons that have contributed to the blood relationship of so many breeds of pointing dogs today. During hunting, the Spinone is not as fast as the pointer and its feet are considered to be very heavy.

Regarding its physical constitution, the Italian pointing dog weighs a bit more and it is coarser than the English pointer. Its head is big, the skull is wide and convex; the stop is not too marked but the snout is square, and it is well-developed. The nose is dark brown, light brown or brown, and it has wide windows; big ears that are very close to the head. The ears are protected with thick eyebrows, which are light brown or yellow and have a vivacious expression. The back is slightly curved over the loin, the chest is deep, but not wide. The feet are round and strongly articulated. The tail is taken at the level of the loin and a bit higher. The hair is very short and wire.

The Spinone is entirely white or even white with lemon patches or light brown. The height at withers varies a lot: 60 to 70 cm in males and 58 to 65 in females.