Base colour
Self-coloured (pale yellowish/beige) in all possible shades
- Permissible: White only on the chest and feet. in black, grey, and isabella
About the Italian Sighthound
Origin: ItalyItalian Sighthound
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Sighthounds
- Origin
- Italy
- Also called
- Pequeno Lebrel Italiano
- Known hereditary risks
- Not researched yet
About
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Racing dog
- Behaviour and temperament
“Lively, affectionate, docile”
Quoted from FCI standard n°200. 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: “Racing 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
- —
- 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 Sighthound
What you get with the Italian Sighthound
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Racing dog”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Lively, affectionate, docile”
What you are taking on
- High grooming needs — the standard’s own description is “The hair is short, silky and fine all over the body without the slightest trace of 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 Sighthound
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged permissible.
Coat
The hair is short, silky and fine all over the body without the slightest trace of fringes
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°200 — 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 breed standard says
- Size
- “Height at the withers: Males and females from 32 to 38 cm. Weight: Males and females: maximum 5 kg”
- FCI gives a bound on one side only, so there is no range to state.
Quoted from FCI standard n°200. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the Italian Sighthound 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.
- 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.
- Multi-coloured coat; white except in chest and feet as mentioned above
- Size below 32 cm or over 38 cm, as well in males as in females
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Italian Sighthound in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
What to ask for in a Italian Sighthound
No breed-specific health panel has been written up for the Italian Sighthound 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 Sighthound 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 Sighthound 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.