History

Opinions vary widely concerning the origins of this dog. Some believe that he is descended from the same stock as the Setter and that the climate alone has affected the development of his thick coat. However, since relatively ancient times, we find the Setter and the Spinone prevalent in the same areas, and for this reason this theory becomes unacceptable.

Other commentators believe the Spinone stemmed from the Coarsehaired Segugio, well known throughout Piedmont. Nevertheless, some writers claim that the Spinone was prevalent beyond the Piedmont, in Venetia, Dalmatia, Istria and as far as the Danube, which would support the theory that the Spinone came from the East. Tele, a dog expert, states that about a hundred years ago the Roan Spinone was especially well - known in Venetia and Lombardy, and that this variety with longer hair than the classic Spinone and with silky hair on the ears and forehead is still extinct. Although some experts are convinced that the Spinone is a cross with the Griffon, he is probably the true Spinone of the Julian and Graie Alps which, having come from Russia, later spread into Lombardy and Venetia.

All this is in opposition to Tschudy's statements with which we also agree, namely, that during the Roman era the Setter was developed in Italy.

The Italian Coarsehaired Setter has origins comparable to the Pointer in Italy, where Greek traders and others from the western Adriatic coast brought Coarsehaired Setters in ancient times. The Coarsehaired Setter was called the Spinone. This breed was formed by crossbreeding an imported Coarsehaired Setter and a white Mastiff of those already prevalent along the coast of Italy.

Scientific classification places the Spinone in the braccoid group (according to the classification of Pierre Meguin). As a working dog he is classed as a hunting dog and a Pointer (NB). Purely Italian in origin: Xenophon, Grattius, Paliscus, Nemisianus, Seneca, Arrianus, .. all mentioned this dog twenty centuries ago or more. The general structure is that of a modified mesomorph (submesomorph) whose body outline is square, harmonious in regard to form and disharmonious in respect to profiles.

Classed by the K. C. as an H.P.R. breed.