Some posts we write as an excuse to share a photograph that enchants us. In this case, it’s the group shot of Italian Spinoni (the plural version of the name) shared with us by Camkota Spinone‎ back in 2014.

Also known as the Italian Coarse-haired Pointer, or Italian Griffon,  the breed has consistently appeared on the Top Ten list of dogs voted the most popular in Italy, if not the most popular gun dog. It may certainly be one of the oldest. The Spinone can be traced as far back as 500 BC in the Piedmont region of Italy, though the dogs didn’t get a formal, or official name until the early nineteenth century.  Before then, many hunters simply called them “Spinoso,” but in time, they were called “Spinone” after a shurb called the “pino,” a thornbush virtually impenetrable by other breeds of dog, but one the Spinone had no qualms about plowing into to get at small game hiding there.

A review in a gun magazine many years ago written by a Spinone-owning hunter described his dog as “a laid-back house pet that turns into a methodical hunting machine in the woods.” Perceived by some to be a clumsy dog, this changes when the dog is seen moving gracefully through bramble and thicket with a long gait that covers a large area in a short period of time. This isn’t a big running, hard headed bird dog, but a dog that hunts close and at regular intervals, checks back with the hunter. This is a relaxed hunter with strong natural instincts and tractability which makes the Spinone compatible with someone hunting at a leisurely pace in restricted cover.