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SIGHTHOUNDS OF ITALY
By David Hancock

 With fewer of us having to hunt for our food, it is understandable for hunting dogs to decline. Already the old Grecian Greyhound and the Old Bosnian Sighthound have disappeared. The Old Croatian Sighthound may just have been saved but twenty years ago only two dozen or so remained. Britons holidaying in the Canaries may under-rate the sporting potential there; but the Podencos Canarios, or hunting dogs, find plenty of sport on rabbit there, even in Lanzarote. This type of sporting dog is found too in Majorca, as well as Ibiza. The rabbits there don't live underground but in crevices, piles of rocks or in crumbling stone walls. As both the late Brian Plummer and Ted Walsh frequently pointed out, catching rabbits above ground is never easy. They may be classed as vermin and sneered at by the more privileged hunter but they can make a good hare-dog look stupid. The Sicilians pride their rabbit-dog, the Cirneco dell'Etna, on its scenting skill just as much as its speed and agility. Dry stone walls and rocky hillsides really test a dog's hunting ability. Volcanic lava really tests a dog's feet. The rabbit is worthy prey; Ibizan Hounds would be better in open ground, Cretan Hounds, Portuguese Podengos and Cirnechi dell'Etna in hedgerows, quarries, deserted mines or abandoned industrial sites.  Mainland Italy no longer lists a sighthound in its dog-breed lists, but old illustrations depict a whippet-like hound in medieval times there, and Sicily does still have its own ‘podenco’ now shown at Crufts and with enthusiastic  fanciers here.

  A specialist on rabbit and hare, but so silent a hunter it can catch unwary feathered game too, this 18”, 23lb Sicilian Greyhound is largely unknown to British sportsmen, yet now has a small enthusiastic bunch of supporters here, where there are now around fifty. Officially recognised as the Cirneco dell’Etna, it has been linked with the foothills of Mount Etna in Sicily for many centuries. Resembling a reduced Pharaoh Hound, being fawn, in all shades, with white markings permissible, it reminds me more of the Cretan Hound, but is much like the other podencos of the Mediterranean littoral, like the Ibizan Hound. I have seen similar hunting dogs in Corsica, with the smallest variety of the Portuguese Podengo also being utilised by hunters in a comparable fashion. Rather like its sister breeds from that part of the world, the Cirneco dell’Etna has superb hearing, aided no doubt by the bat-ears, and really durable feet, a basic feature so overlooked by many lurcher breeders here.

 Further north, the Segugio Italiano has a distinct sighthound silhouette, with light bones, the characteristic ‘tuck-up’ in the belly and sleek build. Talking to an enthusiastic Italian breeder at a World Dog Show about the breed, he described them in his fractured English as a Trotting Sleuth Hound, meaning, not a more active Bloodhound, but a tracking dog with an effortless trotting gait in the hunting field, backed by ‘infinite versatility’. He claimed that for centuries fast hunting dogs had been used extensively in the plains of the river Po. He stressed their remarkable scenting skill linked to the acute hearing of such hounds. He was proud of their field capability ahead of their appearance. Perhaps fanciers like him have ensured that the breed is still very much a sporting one, not mainly an exhibitor’s dog. They would look very ‘sighthoundish’ but for their long ‘scenthound’ ears but sporting hounds they certainly are, if employed quite differently from, say, the Sicilian hound.

 These Sicilian hounds, however, have their own field trial regulations, covering shooting over game and trials without guns. Around 150 hounds are newly registered there each year. It is worth noting that their field trial regulations stipulate that: Dogs that do not make a tenacious effort in their work; that hesitate on a scent trail; that are distracted and do not cover the ground designated for their turn within the first five minutes will be eliminated. They are used to working with ferrets and at 46 to 50cms (18 to 20 inches) lack the legginess of the 22 to 29inch Ibizan Hound, but display a squarer torso than the similar Pharaoh Hound. Like the Cretan Hound they use an effortless energy-conserving trot in the hunt, relying more on their remarkable agility, superb hearing, keen sense of smell and lightning-fast reactions than sheer speed. Crossed with a Whippet, their blood would have much to contribute to our hunting dog scene, although I’m not sure that their bat-ears wouldn’t have problems in a climate famous for cold winds.

  Dutch hound expert Leo Bosman links this breed with historic references to the Cane Cireneico, the dog of Cyrenaica, or eastern Libya of today, hinting at a desert origin. But others have held that the breed title comes from the Latin, cernere, to sift or separate (as in our word discern) or seek out or ‘sniff out’ its prey. Cyrenaica was based on the ancient Greek and then Roman city of Cyrene, with close trading links between Greece, Rome and the North African littoral. Sicily would be the closest part of Italy to Africa. Our word gazehound, using the original meaning of the word ‘gaze’, means a par force hound, shows how a name alone can indicate the function of hunting at force in a pack, as opposed to sighthounds that hunted by speed either singly or as a brace. The two words gazehound and sighthound are not synonymous. The Cirneco dell’Etna could have been ‘the hunting dog from the Etna area that fastened on to its prey using sight and scent’. Old breed names can usually be linked with function, as pointers, setters, terriers, bouviers and retrievers all demonstrate.

 It’s of interest that in Hutchinson’s Dog Encyclopaedia of 1934, a 3 volume summary of dog knowledge at that time, reference is made to the breed: “The Cernecchi are undoubtedly the Sicilian Segugi”- the latter being referred to above - the racy, long-eared and drop-eared, 22”, 50lb hunting dogs, used on rabbit, hare and even boar, of mainland Italy. But going on to state “They are not coursing dogs, like Greyhounds, neither are they retrievers, or dogs going to ground, although many sportsmen use them for hunting rabbits.” This coverage points out that Sicilian sportsmen made use of a hybrid between the Cernecco and a pointing dog, used with ferrets and hunting with guile rather than speed. Sounds like a Sicilian lurcher to me! But today the purebred Sicilian hunting dog is worth a glance by sportsmen here. Rigorously selected over centuries to hunt on terrain formed by volcanic lava, in extreme heat and in pursuit of an often-under-rated quarry, the humble rabbit, this breed is robust mentally, physically hardy and relatively free from inherited defects. I have concerns about their being bred by non-hunting owners to resemble Italian Greyhounds – with the dreaded hackney front action favoured, and over their being bred bigger by some show-ring fanciers – to resemble small Pharaoh Hounds, spoiling breed type. Abroad the breed is recognised as a ‘primitive type’ not as a sighthound. They are much more than sighthounds in the hunting field, sheer speed alone being of limited value in their hunting grounds. You could argue too that our lazy division of hounds into just two categories, sight and scent-hounds, is in itself somewhat ‘primitive’. We should always recognise diverse talents in hunting dogs, and this little breed has talent in abundance. The early imports into Britain appear to be in good hands and that is very good news indeed. This is a hunting breed that really deserves to prosper.

  The development of the Italian Greyhound as a Toy breed does not exactly support its breed title.

 Despite its name, and the depictions of small sighthound-like dogs on Roman statues, this breed was developed in Britain and was probably originally just a miniature Greyhound. Many breeds can throw a small variety and they often become more popular as pets than their standard size sporting or working equivalents. The breed is allocated in Britain to the Toy Group but in some places in N America and on continental Europe their fanciers try to satisfy any latent sighthound abilities. It is, I believe, entirely fair to state that just as British breeders developed the breed they also have to take the blame for its deterioration too. In her authoritative book Toy Dogs of a century ago, Lillian Raymond-Mallock writes: “The original Italian seems to have been a much larger dog than is now in vogue, and weighed in the neighbourhood of fourteen pounds, while the present-day specimens must not exceed seven and one-half pounds, and the smaller they are the better. Reducing their size has also greatly reduced their stamina, and the inbreeding found in most purebred dogs, does not tend to improve their constitutions. Great difficulty is experienced in producing very small yet typical animals, without impairing their health, and unfortunately a toy terrier cross is sometimes used, which though it has the effect of producing diminutiveness, brings serious defects, notably the bulging eye, and the apple head, both of which are most difficult to eradicate. In appearance the Italian greyhound should resemble his ‘cousin of the leash’, in miniature…” Those final words should provide any breeder with a clear mandate. Yet at shows I see some almost handicapped specimens of this little breed, often it seems bred to be fawn-like rather than small sighthound-like. 

  In at least two places in North America, Michigan in the USA and Ontario in Canada, Italian Greyhounds take part in lure-racing, many of them show champions. The top hound in the breed in 2006 in Canada’s competitions was described as having ‘the prey drive, tenacity and enthusiasm of any good running sighthound.’ I would fear serious injury, being aware of the breed here, but I am assured that no Italian Greyhound has ever been severely injured while lure-coursing, with the only minor injury being, quite predictably, pad burns. Most of these trials are run on hay or horse pastures and not on specially-prepared surfaces. I was pleased but not surprised to read the critique of the Crufts 2010 judge for this breed, which contained the important words: “I just feel we must not overdo the hind angulation any further.” Already this feature looks harmful but seems not to bother many in the breed. Having been at the show, I could see what the breed judge at the 2010 Bath Dog Show meant when writing: “…why did I come home feeling worried about the future of the breed?…Rear movement is often disappointing…there is a lack of forechest, straight upper arms and consequently appearing out at elbow.” The breed in Britain desperately needs an elementary field test; any breed with Greyhound in its title really needs to honour that word. For me, too, it is most unwise for our Kennel Club to label its smaller companion dog breeds Toy breeds and collect them into a Toy Group. This can encourage some owners to regard their dogs as ornaments and treat them as toys for insensitive self-indulgence, rather than as sentient creatures with the distinct needs of respected pets.

  Whilst sighthounds do best in wide-open spaces, as the gazelle hounds in desert areas exemplify, the country being hunted over ultimately decides the hounds’ form. In southern Europe and along the Mediterranean littoral, the ‘going’ has dictated the physique of the podencos so that they have speed over short distances, keen eyesight, remarkable hearing, tough feet but light bones. In northern Italy there might still be river plains suited to classic sighthounds, but increasing industrial demands and city-sprawl, has led to the demise of old hunting types – perhaps in Greece too. In the meantime, we could honour the Italian sporting past and breed a much more robust and active Italian Greyhound; it would be good for the sporting heritage there and produce a stronger healthier breed, rather than one labelled a ‘Toy’!