Spinone Italiano: Beautiful and handy, the spinone is a truly grandiose dog that today does not know the fame it deserves neither in Italy nor in America; especially overseas, however, it seems that the trend is reversing.
There are hunting dogs to showcase, versatile and complete, but which often do not enjoy the fame and diffusion they deserve. It could be said that this is the case with Spinone Italian, known in the peninsula, but not only. To describe it, it could be said that it is a very large animal, which during the hunting is committed, it takes experience and intuition. Its nature helps it to adapt to any terrain in which it is placed, even though it seems that water is its natural habitat; it is a dog capable of making spontaneous and almost idyllic contact with its handler, it has energy, vigor, rusticity but pure elegance. He does not hesitate, he is courageous and he is not frightened by reeds, brambles, fallen trees or who knows what else. Solid in the still, he has an energy and a vigor in resolving the wild that really leave you speechless; in short, to put it in a nutshell, it is the dog that every hunter dreams of, excellent in steadfastness, excellent retriever, brilliant in looking and docile.
The spinone in Italy
Yet things for spinone in Italy are not going very well. Few specimens participate in trial rounds, absenteeism which makes it difficult to carry out reliable zootechnical checks, furthermore the number of hunters who renew their firearms every year decreases by about 5% each year; finally the spinone as hunting dog and ideal companion of the hunter, sees its presence in Italy constantly decrease. It is estimated that approximately 500 are born every year: a truly negligible number when compared to the births of setter and breton whose diffusion is enormous. To encourage the presence of the dog on the Italian territory, the Italian Club of the Spinoni has really done everything: official and unofficial events dedicated to the breed, zootechnical checks of a certain importance, severe and very selective tests. Yet the responses have been few and of relative importance.
The spinone in America
The spinone is liked abroad: the first to become aware of this five-star animal were the British about thirty years ago, followed by some interest in the Americans. It is a pity, however, that this friend of the four-legged man, born for hunting, is considered to be a companion animal abroad. The situation has been unfortunately exploited by the not very serious breeders who find it rather advantageous to send animals over the sea that cannot be compared with their own kind and that will probably never be tested on a hunting field. The fact remains that the spinone is entering the good graces of many Americans and especially in North America it is reaping many victims among dog lovers and lovers of the outdoors. The new trend is also interesting; the spinone is no longer just a show and companion dog, given that real spinonists are being born with increasing frequency, who want to test their animal on a hunting ground.
Exactly as it happens in Italy, also in America the number of dogs that undergo serious tests is rather negligible: this makes a realistic evaluation of the animal difficult. Yet the trend related to hunting, especially in North America, has presented an interesting reversal as previously mentioned: not only the hunters increase, but more and more women are fond of this activity and strangely more and more women hunters choose the Italian spinone as a hunting companion. Even the problem related to tail docking, which is of great concern in America, seems to have come to a conclusion: today in the USA and Canada the tail is cut, but there are many clubs that are proposing a change to the current standard. In fact, a spinone with an intact tail would be preferred, while in the event that this should be cut, it should respect fixed fees. In short, the prerequisites for a rich and happy future are all there: you just have to wait and trust in the good taste of hunters, Italians, English and of course Americans.