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Italian Sighthound

Italian Sighthound

FCI standard Nº 200
Origin
 Italy
Translation
 Mrs. Peggy Davis.
Revised by ENCI and Renée Sporre-Willes / Original version : (EN)
Group
 Group 10 Sighthounds
Section
 Section 3 Short-haired sighthounds
Working
 Without working trial
Acceptance on a definitive basis by the FCI
 Monday 22 October 1956
Publication of the official valid standard
 Friday 13 November 2015
Last update
 Thursday 17 December 2015
En français, cette race se dit
 Petit lévrier italien
Diese Norm ist in deutscher Sprache sichtbar
 Italienisches Windspiel
En español, esta raza se dice
 Pequeño lebrel italiano
In het Nederlands, wordt dit ras gezegd
 Italiaans Windhondje
In his country of origin, his name is

Piccolo Levriero Italiano

Usage
Racing dog.

Brief historical summary
The little Italian Greyhound descends from small-sized sighthounds which already existed in ancient Egypt at the court of the Pharaohs. Passing through Laconie (Greece), where numerous representations on vases and bowls confirm this, the breed arrived in Italy at the outset of the 5th century BC. Its greatest development occurred during the era of the Renaissance at the court of the nobles. It is not rare to find the Italian Greyhound represented in the paintings of the greatest Italian and foreign masters.

General appearance
Of slender appearance, its body fits into a square. Although of a small size, it fully characterises a miniature sighthound; the prototype of refinement and elegance. May be considered as a model of grace and distinction.

Important proportions
Its length is equal to or only just inferior to the height at the withers.
Length of skull is equal to half the length of the head.
Length of head can reach 40% of the height at the withers.

Behaviour / temperament
Lively, affectionate, docile.

Head

Cranial region
Head
 Of elongated shape and narrow.
Skull
 Flat with the superior axes of the skull and muzzle parallel. Length of the skull is equal to half the length of the head, which has slightly rounded sides. Lower orbital region well chiselled. Muscles of the head must not show any heavy appearance. Marked eyebrow bones. Not prominent occiput. Only slightly marked median depression. 
Stop
 Frontal nasal depression only very slightly marked.

Facial region
Nose
 Of a dark colour, preferably black with well opened nostrils.
Muzzle
 Tapered.
Lips
 Thin and tight, with edges of lips very darkly pigmented.
Jaws and teeth
 Jaws elongated with well aligned incisors crown shape, strong in relation to size of dog. Teeth sound and complete, set square to the jaws; scissor bite.
Cheeks
 Lean.
Eyes
 Large, roundish, and expressive, sub-frontally positioned, neither deep-set nor protruding. Iris of dark colour, eyerims pigmented.
Ears
 Set very high, small, with fine cartilage, folded in itself and carried well back on the nape and upper part of the neck. When the dog is attentive, the base of the ear is erected and the lobe tends to stand out laterally on the horizontal, position commonly known as “flying ears” or “propeller ears”.

Neck
The nape is slightly arched and broken at its base towards the withers. The throat line is slightly convex. Neck length equal to that of the head. Shaped like a truncated cone, well muscled. Skin lean without dewlap.

Body
Body
 Its length is equal to, or barely inferior to the height at the withers.
Topline
 Straight profile with slightly arched dorsal-lumbar region. The lumbar curve merging harmoniously into the line of the rump.
Withers
 Quite well defined with closely placed top of shoulders.
Back
 Straight, well muscled.
Croup
 Very sloping, wide and muscled.
Chest
 Narrow, solid but elegantly modelled with slight spring of ribs. Deep, let down to the elbows.
Underline and belly
 The rather short sternal arch is accentuated and rises without abruptness to the belly.

Tail
Low set, fine even at base, tapering progressively to its tip. It is carried low and straight in its first half, the 2nd half curved. Stretched it should reach the top of the hock. Covered with short hair.

Limbs

Forequarters
Generality
 On the whole straight and vertical with lean muscles.
Shoulders
 Very slightly sloping with well developed, long lean and salient muscles.
Upper arm
 With a very open scapular-humeral angle parallel to the median plane of the body. The upper arm is slightly longer than the shoulderblade.
Elbows
 Neither out nor tied-in at elbows.
Forearm
 Straight. Refined bone structure, flat and lean; in perfect vertical position as much from the front as in profile. Well evident furrow from the carpus to the elbow. Length from ground to elbow, just slightly more than the length from elbow to the withers.
Pastern
 Dry. Seen in profile it is slightly bent.
Forefeet
 Of almost oval shape, small, with arched and closely knit toes. Not voluminous pads, pigmented. Nails black or dark according to coat colour or that of the feet, where white is tolerated.

Hindquarters
Generality
 Well angulated. Seen from behind on the whole straight and parallel.
Upper thigh
 Long, lean, not voluminous, with very distinct muscles.
Lower thigh
 Very sloping, with refined bone structure and well apparent groove in leg muscle. They are a little longer than upper thighs.
Metatarsus
 Seen from behind, must be parallel.
Hind feet
 Less oval than the forefeet, with arched and closely knit toes; not voluminous pads and nails pigmented like forefeet.

Gait and movement
Springy, harmonious, slightly raised trot, covering the ground. This means that the front legs must be moved forward with good reach and with slightly lifted and bent pasterns. Gallop fast with sharp spring.

Skin
Fine and tight on all parts of the body except for the elbows where it is slightly less tight.

Coat
Hair
 The hair is short, silky and fine all over the body without the slightest trace of fringes.
Colour
 Self-coloured in black, grey, and isabella (pale yellowish/beige) in all possible shades. White is tolerated only on the chest and feet.

Size and weight
Height at withers
 Males and females from 32 to 38 cms.
Weight
 Males and females: maximum 5 kgs.

Faults
• Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and its ability to perform its traditional work.
• Faults listed should be in degree of seriousness.

General faults
 Continuous ambling.
 Hackney movement.
 Movement close to the ground with short steps.

Disqualifying faults
 Aggressive or overly shy.
 Accentuated convergence or divergence of the facial-cranial axes.
 Nose totally or half de-pigmented.
 Nasal bridge concave or convex.
 Overshot or undershot bite.
 Wall eye; total de-pigmentation of eyerims.
 Tail carried over the back; anury or short tail, whether congenital or artificial.
 Dewclaws.
 Multicoloured coat; white except in chest and feet as mentioned above.
 Size below 32 cms or over 38 cms, as well in males as in females.
 Overshot bite.
 Chryptorchidism; unilateral

NB :
• Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
• The above mentioned faults when occurring to a highly marked degree or frequently are disqualifying.
• Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
• Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation should be used for breeding.

Bibliography
http://www.fci.be/
Details
Also available: Français (France) Deutsch (Deutschland) Español (España) Nederlands (nl-NL)
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