The Spinone Italiano is a very resistant hunting dog to fatigue, enters with ease into brambles and cold water, has strong aptitudes for a broad and fast trot and is naturally an excellent retriever.
It is believed that as early as 1683 these dogs existed in Italy, only they were called griffons, like almost all coarse-haired hunting dogs at that time.
The Spinone is a breed that has very ancient origins. Already Xenophon, Seneca, Arriano, Nemesiano, Grazio Falisco and other authors in the Roman age write about hard-haired dogs quite similar to today's Spinone Italiano.
The Spinone was celebrated for its talents in 1683, by the French Sélincourt, who wrote in his book Le Parfait Chasseur, that the best Griffons (as the wire-haired dogs were called) come from Italy and Piedmont in particular. Even in the pictorial arts of the fifteenth century the Spinone was depicted in hunting scenes. in a fresco by Mantegna in Mantua, in the Sala degli Sposi of the Palazzo Ducale, there is the image of the Italian Spinone.
This breed was used for centuries by hunters who used it to stop game on very difficult terrain, demonstrating that even then the Spinone enjoyed a clear reputation. For centuries this breed was kept pure, despite the hunters often finalizing the breeding to its practical use, without paying too much attention to selection principles. Its diffusion decreased with the advent of English dogs. The official recovery of the breed is recent and can be traced back to the 40s and 50s, thanks to the work of Dr. Brianzi, who oversaw the conservation of the standard. This breed is now protected by a fair number of serious breeders, who make the conservation of the morphological standard their main objective.
The Spinone has earned nicknames such as the "Grumpy Good-natured", the "Clochard", the "Philosopher Dog" or the "Poet Dog". It comes in two color varieties, orange white and brown and roan to date. The orange-white version is the most appreciated and most striking, as it is not affected by the introduction of other races into the bloodlines, which can be found instead in the brown roan, where the ideal "monk's tunic" is often almost impossible to find.
The Spinone, as a pointing hunting dog, has been classified by the FCI in the group 7 pointing dogs of the continental bracco type, with proof of work.
The gait is of a long and fast trot, with some gallop phases, but the gait of rigor, when facing the olfactory question, is of a trot. The lively and profitable gait takes place in almost always straight diagonals of a hundred meters in length and even more, well spaced and in any case with action always adequate to the terrain to be beaten, on which it adapts perfectly.
The concern of the olfactory task is in the foreground and the solution of the various questions, which in the great gallopers is given almost by instinct, requires on the part of Spinone a complex mental process, where concentration makes the difference. The rigorous look is enlivened by an almost continuous transverse motion of the tail. The posture is elegant and erect, with the neck slightly extended, in order to have the head high and constantly check the ground with the sight.
The weight varies from 32 to 37 kg for males, and from 28 to 30 for females, although individuals of about 45 kg can be encountered.
The height at the withers for males varies from 60 to 70cm, while for females it varies from 58 to 65cm. As far as character is concerned, it can be said that the Spinone is patient, to the point that in order to participate in the game he lets himself be scrambled without ever reacting or showing signs of aggression. All this means absolute security for his master and for the children: the sweet look and the thoughtful air of a poet, reveal all his generosity, intelligence and reliability.