A wink and a nod may let a size discrepancy pass in some breeds, but it should never be allowed to squeak by under a judge evaluating a Cirneco dell’ Etna. Size is critical to the breed’s ability to do its job, and that is to work though bramble and rocky terrain borne of treacherous lava flows to run rabbits to their burrow. Burrows are a tight fit, and a Cirneco needs to be able to get into, and maneuver around, tight spaces. So important is size to this breed that height not within the standard is a disqualification.

Others have written of the importance of remembering that sizes in the US aren’t not exactly equal to the ones established for the breed in its native land, or in places where there’s been a conversion from the metric to the English system,  and then again to the AKC’s quarter-inch wicket system. While some believe this typically means that the American standard allows for a tolerance of a greater range than anywhere else, the AKC standard reads: “Height – Dogs 18 to 20 inches; bitches 17 to 19 inches. Height not within the stated limits is a disqualification.”

Image: Cirneco dell’ Etna by otsphoto