This post fulfills a promise made to a Twitter follower who “tweeted, “We’re considering an Italian Shepherd, what can you tell us?

Not a lot, as it turns out. We can share that this is a breed whose history begins around 1975 when Piero Accettella mentioned that average-sized black coated dog with wolfish traits were living amongst them in Italy. Accettella gathered some of these dogs and bred them with Abruzzese Mastiffs to increase their size.  The end result was an intelligent, tenacious guardian dog that never attacks without a reason, its serious and well-balanced nature guiding its behavior, and appears in an agouti or “wild” pattern with a black mask, grey brindle, leopard (merle), black, sable, and tan.

We invite readers who have more knowledge or experience with the Italian Shepherd to share their thoughts.