Italian Pointer

Some authors trace it back to Greco-Roman antiquity through the writings of Xenophon. The Italian Pointer is said to have been introduced to France at the court of Henry II by Catherine de Medici. It descended from a strain that also gave the Pointer. Initially intended for net hunting, it gradually evolved into a pointing dog. In the early 20th century, it was a rather massive, rustic dog, perfectly suited for hunting with the rifle practiced in the heat and in dry terrain. The coat was white, ticked with brown. With the addition of Pointer-type blood, its morphology evolved. It is now a finer and faster dog. One of his first representations in art dates from the Italian Renaissance. Andrea Mantegna drew him at the feet of his master in one of the frescoes of The Room of the Spouses in the San Giorgio Castle of the ducal palace of Mantua. It appeared in the 19th century in portraits of wealthy families such as The Young Girl and Her Italian Pointer, by Paul Saint-Jean (1842 - 1875), as well as in a famous painting by Gustave Courbet painted in 1856, a portrait repeated in his painting A Burial at Ornans.

The Italian Pointer is described in the FCI standard as resistant, docile, and easy to train. It loves to live near its masters. Its training requires some firmness. The Italian Pointer can live in the city as long as it is taken out often and not left alone for long periods.

The Italian Pointer is a large pointer of robust and vigorous conformation. Subjects with dry limbs, prominent muscles, and well-defined lines with a distinctly sculptured head and a visible sub-orbital chiseling are favored. The tail is strong at its root and tapers to the tip. It is carried horizontally or nearly so. Tail docking is practiced and leaves a tail of 15 to 25 cm. The gait of the Italian Pointer is an extended and rapid trot. The head is angular and narrow at the level of the zygomatic arches. The axes of the skull and foreface are divergent. The eyes are neither sunken nor prominent. They are oval in shape, ocre to brown in color depending on the coat color. The ears are drooping; they reach the tip of the nose without being pulled. Their width is at least equal to half their length. Set rather back at the level of the zygomatic line, the ear is preferably soft with an antero-internal edge forming a well-marked hem perfectly applied to the cheek. The coat is short, tight, and lustrous. It is finer and ras on the head, ears, front of the limbs, and feet. The accepted colors are white, white marked with brown spots, orange and amber, white ticked, white mottled.

The Italian Pointer needs balanced nutrition during its growth to strengthen a strong skeleton. It is prone to gastric dilatation-volvulus and it is advisable to divide the daily ration into two light meals.