Dog breed · Italy
The Volpino Italiano or Volpino is an Italian breed of dog of Spitz type. It is closely related to the Pomeranian and to the German Spitz.
Characteristics: The Volpino is a small dog, standing no more than about 30 cm at the withers. It is roughly square in outline, the body length more or less equal to the height. The coat is long and stands away from the body. It is either solid white, solid deep red or black; however, in the updated breed standard, also any other colour is accepted/tolerated.
It is one of many breeds affected by hereditary primary lens luxation, an eye disease which may cause pain or blindness.
Characteristics: The Volpino is a small dog, standing no more than about 30 cm at the withers. It is roughly square in outline, the body length more or less equal to the height. The coat is long and stands away from the body. It is either solid white, solid deep red or black; however, in the updated breed standard, also any other colour is accepted/tolerated.
It is one of many breeds affected by hereditary primary lens luxation, an eye disease which may cause pain or blindness.
History: Small Spitz-type dogs resembling the modern Volpino have been identified in a number of paintings, of which the earliest may be St. Augustine in His Study by Vittore Carpaccio, painted in the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni in Venice in 1502.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries this type of dog was common in Tuscany, where it was known as the Cane di Firenze and was used as a guard dog by carters and shepherds, and in Lazio, where it was called the Cane del Quirinale.
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom visited Florence in 1888, and bought four dogs of Pomeranian or Spitz type.
