Back in the day when Italians called the Old Country “Il Bel Paese, the shaggy dog so prized by hunters was called the Piedmontese Spaniel. These dogs could point, they could retrieve, they could hunt close, and they worked in cold deep water. They could sneak up on a moving bird without making a sound, and they could get through a nearly impenetrable thorn bush called the pino. Before the dogs acquired an official name in the 19th century, hunters in some areas were already calling them “Spinosos,” later to became the breed we know now as the Spinoni Italiano, one of the oldest breeds of gun dog in existence.

What makes hunters such devotees of the breed is the dog’s willingness to work with the person carrying the shotgun. In an article in GunDog magazine,  Spinoni owner, Ed Applegate, was quoted as saying, “They maintain contact with you and are not prone to become self hunters. They are a good foot hunter’s breed. While they can range out as far as any of the versatile breeds, their natural tendency is to work at medium range or within gun range.”

Occasionally soft, the breed is extremely smart and never forgets anything, something owners come to regret if they do something wrong.

Photo of “Hunter,” an Spinone Italiano, by Alexandria M Costello‎