The Spinone Italiano (plural Spinoni Italiani) is an Italian dog breed. Its original purpose was as a versatile gun dog, which the breed is still a master of today.
The Spinone is a loyal, friendly and alert dog with a close lying, wiry coat. It is an ancient breed that can be traced back to approximately 500 BC.
It is often used for hunting, pointing, and retrieving game (HPR), but the intelligent and strong Spinone can be used for practically anything ranging from companions to assistance dogs. The name of the breed is pronounced spee-no-neh (singular) and spee-no-nee for plural.
The Spinone has a square build (the length of the body is approximately equal to the height at the withers). It is a strong-boned, solidly built dog with a well-muscled body and limbs that are suited to almost any kind of terrain.
Brown and white Spinone can sometimes be confused with a German Wirehaired Pointer by someone not familiar with the breeds. However, the long head and pronounced occipital are unique to the breed. He has an expression that shows intelligence and understanding and is often described as having human-like eyes.
The tail of the Spinone is customarily docked at half its length (approx 5.5 to 8 inches or 140 to 200 mm from the base of the tail), and it sports dewclaws on all four feet, giving its hind legs a substantial appearance. Even as adults, Spinoni retain disproportionate, puppy-like, webbed paws which make them powerful swimmers.
The coat is tough, slightly wiry, and close fitting. The preferred length is 1½–2½ inches (4–6 cm) on the body; however, the ears, muzzle, head, and parts of the legs and feet are covered with shorter hair. Eyebrows have longer and stiffer hair; longer but softer hair covers cheeks and muzzle, creating a profuse moustache and beard.
The Spinone should not have an undercoat. A long, soft or silky coat is undesired and is a sign of excessive grooming.
Acceptable variants (UK and US) are solid white, white with orange markings, orange roan with or without orange markings, white with brown markings, and brown roan with or without brown markings.
Pigment of skin, nose, lips, and the pads on their feet should be a fleshy red-orange in white dogs, slightly darker in orange and brown roan dogs. The white and orange coloration is unique amongst the wirehaired gun dogs.
Height at withers:
Dogs: 60–70 cm (23.5–27.5 in)
Bitches: 59–65 cm (22.5–25.5 in)
Weight should be in the correct proportion to size and structure:
Dogs: 34–39 kg (75–86 lb);
Bitches: 29–34 kg (64–75 lb).
If you can't find a local breeder in your area don't worry, many breeders are using the major airlines like American, Delta, Continental and Northwest airlines for shipping their puppies.
At this time the airlines will ship puppies to the following States: Alabama AL - Alaska AK - Arizona AZ - Arkansas AR - California CA - Colorado CO - Connecticut CT - Delaware DE - Florida FL - Georgia GA - Hawaii HI - Idaho ID - Illinois IL - Indiana IN - Iowa IA - Kansas KS - Kentucky KY - Louisiana LA - Maine ME - Maryland MD - Massachusetts MA - Michigan MI - Minnesota MN - Mississippi MS - Missouri MO - Montana MT - Nebraska NE - Nevada NV - New Hampshire NH - New Jersey NJ - New Mexico NM - New York NY - North Carolina NC - North Dakota ND - Ohio OH - Oklahoma OK - Oregon OR - Pennsylvania PA - Rhode Island RI - South Carolina SC - South Dakota SD - Tennessee TN - Texas TX - Utah UT - Vermont VT - Virginia VA - Washington WA - Washington, D.C. - West Virginia WV - Wisconsin WI - Wyoming WY - Hawaii HI.
Spinoni Italiani puppy and the couch youtube video
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