Italian Greyhound

Gentle and playful, but dislikes cold and wet weather.
An Italian Greyhound
Photo: christina
Adult weight
3.6–4.5 kg
8–10 lb
Lifespan
14 yrs
Class · Lap dog
also Companion

What it's like

In temperament it is affectionate and gentle with its own people but may be reserved with strangers. Playful and agile, it dislikes cold and wet weather, having a thin coat and little body fat.

Day to day
Activity
Happy with modest walks
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Around the home
Sensitivity
Needs a calm, predictable home
Voice
Quiet
Prey drive
Likely to chase small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

It has a short coat. It sheds through the year rather than in big seasonal moults. Plan on a brush once a week. It needs a moderate amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

An Italian Greyhound is a toy dog, heavier than a Chihuahua and lighter than a Yorkshire Terrier.

It resembles a greyhound in miniature, with a long, narrow head, small ears folded back, a deep chest, an arched loin and a sharply tucked-up waist. Its high-stepping, springy gait is a hallmark. The coat is short, fine and glossy, in colours including fawn, cream, blue, black and red, with the extent of white markings permitted varying between breed standards.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
Italian Greyhounds reach half their adult weight at about 4 months. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight7
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
02462m4m6m9m12m18m
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Age
Male
Female
2 months
1.2–1.5 kg 2.6–3.3 lb
1.3–1.6 kg 2.9–3.5 lb
3 months
1.5–1.8 kg 3.3–4.0 lb
1.6–1.9 kg 3.5–4.2 lb
4 months
1.9–2.4 kg 4.2–5.3 lb
2.0–2.5 kg 4.4–5.5 lb
5 months
2.3–2.8 kg 5.1–6.2 lb
2.3–2.9 kg 5.1–6.4 lb
6 months
2.5–3.2 kg 5.5–7.1 lb
2.5–3.2 kg 5.5–7.1 lb
7 months
2.8–3.5 kg 6.2–7.7 lb
2.7–3.4 kg 6.0–7.5 lb
8 months
2.9–3.7 kg 6.4–8.2 lb
2.9–3.6 kg 6.4–7.9 lb
9 months
3.0–3.8 kg 6.6–8.4 lb
3.0–3.7 kg 6.6–8.2 lb
10 months
3.1–3.9 kg 6.8–8.6 lb
3.1–3.8 kg 6.8–8.4 lb
11 months
3.2–4.0 kg 7.1–8.8 lb
3.1–3.9 kg 6.8–8.6 lb
12 months
3.3–4.1 kg 7.3–9.0 lb
3.2–4.0 kg 7.1–8.8 lb
15 months
3.4–4.3 kg 7.5–9.5 lb
3.4–4.2 kg 7.5–9.3 lb
18 months
3.6–4.4 kg 7.9–9.7 lb
3.5–4.4 kg 7.7–9.7 lb

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Italian Greyhound lived to about 14 years, longer than the typical toy breed.

Where it comes from

The Italian Greyhound is a miniature sighthound, and dogs of its type appear on ancient Greek vases and on Egyptian and Roman tombs. It flourished at noble courts in Renaissance Italy and turns up often in Italian and foreign painting. When both world wars had come close to destroying it in Europe, American breeders helped restore its numbers there4,9,10.

The Italian Greyhound's later history owes much to its standing as a companion of royalty. Frederick the Great of Prussia kept several and lies buried near their graves at Sanssouci, while Catherine the Great and Queen Victoria are among other recorded owners. In Victorian Britain a fashion for ever smaller dogs led some breeders to produce undersized, poorly made animals, and later enthusiasts worked to restore soundness and proportion. Although built as a true sighthound and capable of a fast sprint, the breed has been kept chiefly as a companion; whether it was also used on small game is debated.

Breed standard

The Italian Greyhound is judged against standard no. 200, in group 10, Sighthounds4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Italian Greyhound figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a toy breed is most likely at the early end.

Compare with related

Whippet
Sighthounds · Medium
Greyhound
Sighthounds · Large
Azawakh
Sighthounds · Medium
Sloughi
Sighthounds · Medium
Or compare the Italian Greyhound with any breed you choose
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Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·