How to care for an Italian Greyhound

The origin of the Italian greyhound is found in Ancient Egypt, that is, more than 5,000 years ago. They were dogs that delighted the pharaohs running around all the rooms of the courts. Subsequently, for many centuries it was a breed especially appreciated in Europe. At the end of the 19th century, it experienced its definitive reduction when the whippet, that is, a very small greyhound, saw its popularity increase. It was intended that both breeds should not be confused and the cynologists insisted on reducing its size until it was achieved, leaving it with its current appearance.

The physical characteristics of the Italian greyhound are the following:

• Its weight ranges from 4 and the 5 kilos.
• It has a height at the withers of between 32 and 38 centimeters, its body is slender and compactthe head is elongated as well as its snout.
• Their eyes are big and dark. They do not stand out too much because they neither protrude nor are they sunken.
• Their ears are smallset high and with a right-angled fold.
• The tail is thin and narrow towards the tip.
• The Italian greyhound stands out for having the soft, short and shiny hair. It can be black, slate gray or Elizabethan yellow. There may also be shades of white on the chest and limbs.
• italian greyhounds they are submissive, friendly, nice and affectionate. They really enjoy running, jumping, skipping and climbing. They are very sensitive dogs, so they require a lot of attention. In oneHOWTO we recommend that you don’t yell at him and opt for positive reinforcement so that he doesn’t get stressed.
• He feels great love for his owners. and follows them everywhere. You must be careful not to step on it because, normally, it will be on your heels. Having fragile bones, especially as a puppy, it is advisable to take extreme precautions.
• They require a lot of attention and affection.. If they don’t have it, they can become depressed and present aggressive behaviors. Also, if he doesn’t feel wanted enough, he might start relieving himself inside the home to get attention. In this article we teach you how to treat separation anxiety in dogs.

It is a healthy breed in general terms, that is, it has few congenital problems or diseases. Even so, you have a certain natural predisposition to suffer from the following health problems:

• Patella luxation.
• Epilepsy. We recommend you read How to know if my dog ​​has epilepsy.
• Fractures in the extremities during his puppyhood due to having a very delicate skeleton until he was a year and a half old.
• Periodontal disease.
• Vitreous degeneration, that is, hereditary vision defects.
• Hip dysplasia.
• Hypothyroidism, that is, an autoimmune thyroid disease.

A good diet is essential for your Italian greyhound to enjoy great health and present a good appearance. It is important to provide a dry feed quality markespecially one of the suitable for toy dogs. His weight does not usually exceed 5 kilos, so he must follow a maintenance diet appropriate to his weight.

Being a furry little one that adapts perfectly to life in an apartment or small city flat, the nutritional values ​​can be modified exclusively in females that are going through gestation and lactation periods. In addition, in specimens of very intense physical activity, their daily food needs increase.

In this article you will learn about the calmest dog breeds.

The Italian Greyhound requires several daily doses of exerciseespecially being young. They act like puppies until they reach an age between 2 and 4 years of life. They love to go for long walks – in safe conditions they enjoy doing a few runs.

while you walk, It is not recommended that you remove the leash because they are capable of detecting scents at a distance of 300 meters, falling into the temptation of chasing prey such as ferrets, rabbits, squirrels or cats, for example. Although they can keep you company in short runs, they will prefer walks and playing with other dogs, but they should not be too big to reduce the risk of an accident.

The hygiene of this breed is not complicated to maintain. It is prone to the accumulation of tartar and the formation of bacterial plaque on its teeth, causing bad breath. For this reason, it is important that you get him used to a good tooth brushing at least once or twice a week with a specific dog toothpaste.

About the bathrooms you need, enough with bathe him once a month to keep him neat. The Italian greyhound is a dog that has the great advantage of not smelling or losing hair, since it is hypoallergenic. Its coexistence is also recommended for people with allergies to canine hair. After each bath, you must dry it perfectly because it is very sensitive to cold and, if it is not dried well, it can fall ill.

For it to look like a perfect coat, you must rub it with the help of a silky cloth to give it shine quickly. As you can see, its hair is easy to maintain.

We recommend you read this article on Can I bathe my dog ​​with my shampoo?

Being an intelligent, affectionate and lively dog, the Italian Greyhound is quite willing to adapt to life in his adopted home. He loves the company of the family and does not adapt to living in dog houses placed in the garden. They should do it in interior of the home with his family human.

This breed is easy to educate and train because of its great learning ability. They are cheerful, brave and brave everywhere. He expects to be rewarded whenever he considers that he deserves it, so if you establish a reward system it will be a great incentive in the education process.

Regarding its socialization, it is a breed that does not present behavioral problems with other pets in the home if it is socialized as a puppy, but its small size makes it recommended that it be associated with dogs of a similar size so that it does not run the risk of being harmed by other dogs. larger due to the fragility of their anatomy.

His relationship with children must be taken care of, especially from the side of the little ones, since they must treat him very carefully so as not to harm him. Likewise, the Italian greyhound is Ideal for keeping the elderly companybecause they will see their affective needs covered by people who have more time to devote to their little furry ones.

Now that you know how to care for an Italian greyhound, you may also be interested in discovering another breed of greyhound and you can read this article on How to train an Afghan greyhound.

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