Known in its homeland as the Piccolo Levriero Italiano, this tiny dog has been kept as a companion animal for thousands of years.
We know from paintings, reliefs and sculptures dating from early civilizations that this little dog was popular, not only in ancient Egypt (where it was sometimes mummified by the pharaohs), but also in both Greece and Rome. It was probably one of the very first dog breeds created exclusively as a companion. By breeding down from full-sized greyhounds to this diminutive creature, early pet-keepers were able to develop a dog which, although it could no longer take part in serious hunting, was of great value as a high-status adornment about the house.
This situation continued for many years. In the 15th century, for example, great artists such as Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling both included this dog in their paintings. In Britain it became a highly fashionable breed in the Tudor and Stuart periods and, by the start of the 19th century, its popularity had become so great that it was vying with the little Maltese and the King Charles Spaniel for the role of top dog in high society.
Royalty has frequently fallen under its spell and monarchs who have owned dainty, high-stepping, Italian Greyhounds include Charles I, Queen Anne and Queen Victoria, not to mention the African King Lobengula, who fell in love with one to such an extent that he exchanged 200 head of Matabele cattle in order to possess it.
Sadly, this craze for high-status pet Italian Greyhounds resulted in progressive miniaturization until the breed was in serious danger. As it became smaller and smaller, many unsound specimens began appearing. The breed was on its way to extinction, but towards the end of the Victorian period, in the 1890s, a group of serious breeders came to its rescue and began to return it to its former, stronger self.
Today the breed is fully recovered and a hardy little dog once more, despite its frail appearance. One owner recently observed his tiny Italian Greyhound leaping 15 ft (4.5 m) down from an open window and then, after a brief shake, running off across a lawn, all four of its matchstick legs perfectly intact.
In personality, it is fastidious, rather shy, gentle, retiring, good-natured, undemanding and comfort-loving. A discerning dog, it takes time to make friends, but for those who know it well, it is the ideal urban pet, and it is surprising that it is not more popular in this role today.
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