Spinone Breed Standard 1939

 Ethnic data of the breed 1939
By Mr.Solaro approved by the E.N.C.I.  
Rassegna Cinofila, E.N.C.I., Milan, N. l. 1939. 

• Scientific classification:
  Dog belonging to the group of  the Italian Bracco (according to the classification of Mr.Pierre Megnin).
  Utility classification:
  Hunting dog.
  Origin:
  Italian: Senofonte (500 B.C), Grazio Falisco, Nemesiano, Seneca, Arriano already talked about this breed. Selincourt (Le Parfait Chasseur, 1683) says: les meilleurs griffons viennent d'Italie et du Piemont (the best griffons come from Italy and from Piemonte).
  General characteristics of the breed:
  (general appearance, proportions, harmony, aptitudes).
  The general structure is that of a mesomorfus, temperate  (submesomorfus), the trunk is  harmonious and square in comparison with the shape and discordant in comparison with the profile. Solid, rustic and vigorous dog. Strong bone structure and well-developed muscles and distinct aptitude towards fast and wide gait. He can hunt on all terrains, in different climates, but especially into the bramble and in the woods. The breed has a docile character, patient and sociable. His  physiognomy is intelligent, indicating strength and courage.
  Expressive eyes with almost human sweetness. Resistant to tiredness, he can easily enter in the bramble bush and into deep and cold water having a very thick skin layer covered with hard hair.
  He's known for his instinct as the best retriever and as a really good swimmer.
  Head:
  The total length is 4/10 of the height to the withers; the length of the muzzle has to be half of  the total length of the head, so that half of the length is over the horizontal line that joins the two internal angles of the eyes. The  width of the two skull between the cheek bones doesn’t have to exceed  half of the total length of the head, better if less. The skull index doesn’t have to exceed the number 50 and the best would be 45. The direction of the longitudinal axes of the skull and of the muzzle are  divergent, in fact, prolonging the superior line of the nose, it has to pass above or tangentially to the occipital apoptosis, but never below.
   
• Nose:
  Should be on the same line of the nasal bridge spongy, big and with a  very big and rounded edge.. Of rosy color in the whites brighter in the white-orange, brown in the roans and in the browns. In profile  the nose protrudes over the forward vertical line of the lips.
   
• Nasal bridge:
  Slightly straight and hilly. Length: see “Head”.
  His width measured at half of its length has to be 1/6 of the total length of the head or 1/3 of the length of the nasal bridge.
   
• Lips and muzzle:
  The upper lips are thin and divide under the nose and become round to the anterior extreme, they cover the the lower lips and they show a fold on their labial  joint so that the lower profile of the muzzle depends of the profile of the upper lips which have the joint as the lower part of the profile itself. The lateral faces of the muzzle have to be parallel and seen from the front it has to be square.
   
• Jaws:
  Strong and with the set of the teeth perfectly fit together. Healthy set  of the teeth. The branches of the lower jaws have to be slightly curved.
   
• Depression of the frontal nose:
  The depression of the frontal nose has to be slightly inclined: see “ Skull”.
   
• Skull:
  Its length has to be the same as the one of the muzzle and its width (cheek-bones) does not have to exceed half of the total length of the head.See “Head”.
  Its shape is oval, the occipital apoptosis is very developed and the inter-parietal crest is marked so that the lateral walls of the skull( on  their superior border) are slightly inclined and of a convex shape. The lateral walls of the skull softly decline so that the superior line is  never flat. The bulge of the forehead are not very developed and  slightly  escape to the back. The supercilious arches are not too prominent .
   
• Eyes:
  The eye has to be big and well opened, the inferior eyelid has to tend  to the roundness, it has to closely fitting the eyeball and the lower lids does not have to be overturned.
  The eyeball doesn’t have to be neither protrude deep set.
  The joining line of the external and internal angles has to be almost horizontal.
  The color of the iris is intense yellow in the whites and white-orange; it tends to be ocher in the brown roans.
  The pigmentation of the eyelids has to be the same of the nose.
   
• Ears:
  Triangular shape, the length never exceed 5 cm, the inferior line of the throat has to have a normal position.
  The width occupies the area that goes from the point of insert of the head to the neck until the middle of the zygomatic arch..
  The joint of the ear has to be on the up-pest part of the  zygomatic  arches. The ear has  to drop adherent to the cheek, never rolled up but slightly turned inwards. It has to be almost constantly relaxed with scarse erectile capacity.The tip of the ear is slightly rounded. The  skin is thin and covered with a short and dense hair interpolated by a light scattered hairs that thickens at the edges.
   
• Neck:
  Strong and muscular clearly distinguished from  the nape of the neck, it is harmoniously merged  with the shoulders. Its length is 2/3 of the  length of the head and its perimeter is 1/3 of the height at the withers.
  The throat has to have a light abundance of skin which shows a lightly developed double dewlap.
   
• FOREQUARTERS
   
• Shoulder:
  The shoulder has to be strong with muscles and free in the movements. The length has to be ¼ of the height at the withers and with an inclination of 46 - 60 degrees. In comparison with the median plane if the body, the point of the shoulder-blades are not very close to one  another.
   
• Arm:
  The arm has to be oblique but it has to be inferior to the one of the shoulder (65  degrees), it is well muscled; its position is almost parallel to the medial axis of the body. The scapular-humerus angle  is of 125 degrees with an inclination of the scapula of 60 degrees.
   
• Forearms:
  A vertical line, strong bone structure; its section is. The hind tendon is strong and detached. Its length has to be a little bit more than 1/3 of the height at the withers and exactly 3,5 4/10 of the height. The height of the whole arm at the elbow is 57% of the height at the withers. The elbows have to be covered by a soft and relaxed skin and they have to be parallel to the median plane of the  body. The point of the elbow has to be perpendicular from the back point of the scapula.
   
• Carpus:
  It follows the vertical line of the forearm, covered by thin skin with the a prominent bone.
   
• Metacarpus:
  They have to be flat forward and backwards and seen in front, they follow the straight line of the forearm. The length doesn’t exceed 2/9 of the length of the elbow arc.
   
• Feet:
  Round picked with well adherent fingers between themselves and covered by a short and dense hair even between the fingers.The pads are lean and thick-skinned, the pigmentation depends of the color of the coat. Nails are strong and curved; in the whites and white-orange the nails could be white or with a light pigmentation. In the roans and in the browns the color has to be dark but never black.
   
• Body:
  The length of the body is equal to the height at the withers.
   
• Breast:
  Wide and well opened with well developed chest muscles. Its width has to be the 30% of the height at the withers. The handle of the stern has to be lower than the point of the shoulders and the closer is to the horizontal line of the stern the better.
   
• Chest:
  Large and deep going down until the elbow. Its transversal diameter has to gradually decrease until the stern but it never has to be carinate so that the cartilage of the ribs are still convex. The ribs arcs have to be opened; the profile of the sternum area tends to be horizontal.
  In a Spinone of 65 cm (height of the withers) the chest should be: perimeter (behind the elbow) 79 cm;  perimeter ( ribs arcs) 69 cm; depth 38 cm; height 26 cm; traversal diameter 22 cm. So the chest index will be given by a number not exceeding 6, better if lower.
   
• Ribs:
  Well rounded, oblique, large space between the ribs, long, oblique and well-opened fake ribs.
   
• Back:
  Withers raised on the dorsal line and large because of the points of the shoulder-blades that are well apart. Upper profile of the back is made up of two segments: the first, nearly straight, slopes from the withers to the 11th vertebra with an inclination of 15 degrees; the other, slightly convex, joins with the solid and well arched lumbar region.
  The length of the back is 38% of the height at the withers.
   
• Loins:
  They follow the second part of the back and they are merged with it, slightly convex, they have well developed muscles in width. Their height is little more than ¼ of the height at the withers.
  Their width is similar to their length and is like 14, 15 to 16.
   
• Hips and stomach:
  The lower profile of the abdomen (seen from the profile of the stern) ascends towards the hip of   few centimeters (maximum 6). The hips have to be almost equal to the length of the renal region. The hollow of the hip has to be minimum.
   
• Rump:
  The rump has to be wide, strong and well muscled. The traversal diameter, between the two hips, has to reach 1/7 of the height at the withers. Its length is 1/3 of the height at the withers,  29% of this height. Its inclination is about 40% on the horizontal so that the rump is a little bit “sunk”.
   
• Hindquarters
   
• Thigh:
  Long, large, muscled with the back border slightly convex. Its length doesn’t have to be less then 1/3  of the height at the withers. Its external side (from one border to the other) has to reach ¾ of its length. Its direction is slightly oblique and, in relation with the vertical, it has to be parallel to the medium plane of the body.
   
• Leg:
  With strong bone structure, dry muscles in the upper part. The furrow is marked and evident. The length of the leg has a ratio with the thigh of 25 to 23. Its inclination is about 65° below the horizontal.
   
• Hock:
  The distance between the the point of the hock and the pads doesn’t have to exceed 3/10 of the height at the withers. Its two faces are never too big. Its angle is opened due to the inclination of the tibia, Seen from the back the line that goes from the hock to the ground must be on the vertical as an extension of the buttock.
   
• Metatarsus:
  Strong and dry, its length is given by the height of tr hock. It has a simple articulated ram.
   
• Foot:
  Little more oval then the front one with all its characteristics
   
• Tail:
  Well inserted in the rump, thick at the base, it is carriedeither horizontally or down, cut at about 15-25 cm from the base.
   
• Coat:
  The admitted colors are: white, white orange markings, white speckled with orange, white with brown markings; white speckled with brown (roan brown) with or without brown markings.
   
• Hair:
  Hard, dense slightly rough hair close fitting to the body. Length 4 to 6 cm, shorter on the nasal bridge, ears, the head, the front sides of the legs and the feet. On the back sides of the legs, the hair is rough brush but never with fringes. The hair can be shorter and thinner during the pack of hounds but it never has to prevail the hard hair. Long and stiff hair garnish the eyebrows,part of the cheeks and the lips forming eyelashes, mustache and beard giving the Spinone his own typical good-natured expression.
   
• Skin:
  Close fitting to the body it must be thick and lean. It covers the body forming two folds which go from the sides of the lower jaws and disappear at the first half of the neck. When the head is carried low one just notice a fold which descends from the outer corner of the eye over the cheeks. The pigmentation of the skin varies according to the color of the markings. The color of the external mucous membranes depends of the color of the coat and they never have to be black or with no pigmentation (disqualifying fault).
   
• Size and weight:
  Male from 60 to 70 cm, females from 58 to 65 cm. Weight : males from 32 to 37 kg, females from 28 to 32 kg.
   
• Gait:
  When hunting easy gait and extended fast trot; during the first moments of the search he can interrelate paces of gallop.
• Translated by Mrs. Sonia Mari
  Indonesia