Volpino Italiano | |||||||||||||||||||
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Other names |
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Origin | Italy | ||||||||||||||||||
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Dog ( domestic dog) |
The Volpino Italiano [a] or Volpino is an Italian breed of dog of Spitz type. [2] It is closely related to the Pomeranian [3]: 234 [4] and to the German Spitz. [5]
Small Spitz-type dogs resembling the modern Volpino have been identified in a number of paintings, of which the earliest may be St. Augustine in His Study by Vittore Carpaccio, painted in the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni in Venice in 1502. [6] The Florentine sculptor Michelangelo supposedly had such a dog. [6]
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries this type of dog was common in Tuscany, where it was known as the Cane di Firenze and was used as a guard dog by carters and shepherds, and in Lazio, where it was called the Cane del Quirinale. [3]: 234
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom visited Florence in 1888, and bought four dogs of Pomeranian or Spitz type. [7]: 323 [8]: 216
The first standard for the Volpino Italiano was drawn up by the Kennel Club Italiano in 1913, and the dogs were shown with some success. [6] It was fully accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1956. [2] By the 1960s the breed had virtually disappeared, and was close to extinction. A few examples were identified in 1968, and registrations recommenced in 1972. [5]
In the period from 2011 to 2019, new registrations in Italy averaged about 160 per year. [5]
The Volpino is a small dog, standing no more than about 30 cm at the withers. It is roughly square in outline, the body length more or less equal to the height. [1] The coat is long and stands away from the body. It is either solid white, solid deep red or black; however, in the updated breed standard, also any other colour is accepted/tolerated. [6]
It is one of many breeds affected by hereditary primary lens luxation, an eye disease which may cause pain or blindness. [9]