Italian Greyhound
A miniature sighthound built for short bursts of speed and long hours of sleep. Almost no grooming, but fine bones fracture easily, dental disease is severe, and the dog is genuinely cold-sensitive.
- Weight
- 3.2–6.4 kg
- Lifespan
- 14–15 years
Weight and lifespan are reference ranges from the breed guide. They vary by sex, lineage and individual dog and do not predict your dog’s ideal weight or lifespan. Read the care descriptions alongside the individual dog’s history.
Background and characteristics
The Italian Greyhound is an old Mediterranean sighthound in miniature, familiar from Renaissance portraits where it sits beside its owners. Structurally it is a Greyhound scaled down: built to spot movement and sprint, not to jog for miles. Daily life follows the same pattern.
An IG sleeps most of the day, often burrowed under a blanket, wakes to run flat out for a few minutes, and goes back to bed.
Exercise and play
Thirty to forty minutes of exercise a day covers the requirement, but the quality matters more than the distance. Give the dog a few chances a week to sprint properly in a securely fenced space. Off-lead freedom in unfenced areas is a bad idea: a sighthound that locks onto movement stops hearing you, and at that speed a road is only seconds away.
Recall training is worth doing, but never treat it as reliable around prey.
Coat and everyday care
Coat care is the easiest part of the breed — a short, fine coat that needs little more than a weekly wipe and carries almost no odour. The tradeoff is temperature. With virtually no undercoat and little body fat, IGs need coats in winter and will burrow into every blanket in the house.
Many refuse to toilet outdoors in cold or wet weather, which is why house-training this breed is notoriously slow; setting up an indoor toilet option alongside outdoor training saves months of frustration.
Health considerations
The health item to plan around is fractures. The leg bones are extremely fine, and broken forelegs from jumping off sofas and beds are common, especially between six months and two years. Provide steps or ramps and never teach the dog to launch from furniture.
Periodontal disease is unusually severe in the breed, so daily toothbrushing is genuinely part of ownership rather than an aspiration. Also discuss luxating patellas, progressive retinal atrophy, and sighthound sensitivity to certain anaesthetic protocols with your vet before any procedure.
Home environment and care planning
In a flat this is an easy dog: quiet, clean, and content to lie on you. Add rugs where the dog takes off and stops, since slick floors cause injuries in a breed that accelerates hard indoors. In summer, check pavement temperature with the back of your hand before walking, because thin pads burn quickly on hot asphalt.