A Brief History of the Italian Greyhound
The Italian Greyhound (IG or Iggy) is the smallest member of the sighthound family, also known as the gazehounds. The word hound should give you some indication what this species was originally used for, hunting. When people think of using canines as hunting companions, the sense of smell comes to mind. In the case of the IG, rather than using their sense of smell, this breed uses the sense of sight as the primary hunting guide. Due to the small stature and quickness of the Italian greyhound, hunting small mammals, as seen in the painting by Pisanello, and/or being used to help get rid of vermin were thought to be it's primary uses. |
It is believed that the Italian greyhound is a descendent of the Jackal found in Africa. They may have been attracted to humans due to fthe presence of food and/or even out of curiousity as believed to be what happened with European wolves. Around 3000 BC, two different forms of writing were being developed, one type in Mesopotamian (modern day Iraq, and parts of northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran) and the other in Egypt. In early Mesopotamian hieroglyphs (cuneiform), there are images that appear to be Italian greyhounds. These small greyhound look alikes,although still resembling jackals, can also be seen entombed in Egyptian pyramids. Italian greyhounds can also be found within Greek mythology, the story of Aktaeon and the goddess Artemis. As the story goes, Aktaeon while hunting mistakenly comes across Artemis while bathing and the goddess punished Aktaeon by turning him into a stag. Unfortunately, Atkaeon's hunting dogs (Italian greyhounds) mistook him for prey and killed him (e.g., Aktaeon Vase). |
By the Middle Ages (5th to 15th century), the Italian greyhound was wide spread through southern Europe. In the latter part of the Middle Ages (14th to 17th centuries), during the Renaissance, the IGs became connected with nobleman. By the 16th century, this small greyhound received the name the "Italian greyhound" due to its extreme popularity with the Italians. Although the exact date is unknown, the IG came to England in the 17th century and became a popular breed for royal families in England, Russia (e.g., Catherine the Great), Denmark, and Prussia as well as for aristocratic ladies. By this time, the Italian greyhound was more of a companion animal than used for hunting purposes.
During the 19th century, efforts were made to try and make the already miniaturized greyhound even smaller. This led to complications in the breed due to a weakening gene pool caused by cross-breeding with other toy species. In 1900 the Italian Greyhound Club was founded and took it upon themselves to help revive the IGs to their original form. Unfortunately, during both World War I and World War II, the Italian greyhounds were almost wiped out of existence in England. Luckily, the IGs were introduced to America in the late 1800s and the breeding populations from the United States and Canada helped revive the European population after World War II. |
The Italian greyhound was first registered at The American Kennel Club in 1886 and is part of the Toy breed category. Today the Italian greyhound is a companion animal rather than used for hunting small mammals. Currently the IG is ranked 65 (as of 2011) out of 173 breeds. It has actually gone down in ranking since 2001 where it was ranked 51st.