- Pure white, white with orange markings, white speckled with orange, white with brown (chestnut) markings, orange roan or brown roan (chestnut).
- Preferred: The shade of brown is the colour of «Friar’s frock»
- Permissible: Not colours are: tricolour, tan markings, black in any combinations
About the Italian Spinone
Origin: ItalyItalian Spinone
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Pointing Dogs
- Origin
- Italy
- Also called
- Espinone
- Known hereditary risks
- Not researched yet
About
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Pointing dog
- Behaviour and temperament
“Naturally sociable, docile and patient, the Spinone is an experienced hunter in all terrains; very resistant to tiredness, goes easily into thorny underwood, or throws himself into cold water. He has remarkable dispositions for an extended and fast trot; by nature he is an excellent retriever”
Quoted from FCI standard n°165. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Characteristics
- Size
- —
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Pointing dog” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 4 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 3 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 4 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- Not researched yet
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Italian Spinone
What you get with the Italian Spinone
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Pointing dog”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Naturally sociable, docile and patient, the Spinone is an experienced hunter in all terrains”
What you are taking on
- High grooming needs — the standard’s own description is “On the backsides of the legs, the hair is like a rough brush, but never with fringes.”
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Italian Spinone
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged preferred and permissible.
Coat
Of a length of 4 to 6 cm on the body, shorter on the muzzle, the head, the ears, the front sides of the legs and the feet.
On the backsides of the legs, the hair is like a rough brush, but never with fringes.
Long and stiff hair-garnish form thick eyebrows and on the lips forming thick moustaches and also a tufted beard.
The hair is stiff, harsh, dense and rather flat, with lack of undercoat
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°165 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the Italian Spinone down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Disqualifying faults
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
- Upper cranio-facial axes convergent.
- Total depigmentation of the nose.
- Concave nasal bridge.
- Overshot or accentuated undershot mouth.
- Wall eye.
- Black pigmentation of the skin.
- Coat tricoloured, tan markings or black in any combination
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Italian Spinone in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
What to ask for in a Italian Spinone
No breed-specific health panel has been written up for the Italian Spinone on this platform yet. That is a gap in our records, not a clean bill of health — ask the breeder which hereditary conditions their lines are tested for, and ask to see the results for both parents, dated and from a named laboratory.
Gallery
No photographs yet
This is where Italian Spinone owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
Puppies
No puppies listed right now
No Italian Spinone breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.