From the President: Summer 2025
Dog Days of Summer
For those of us preparing our dogs for fall field testing and hunting, these summer days are not the lazy, hazy days one might wish for. Spinoni are the largest of the 35 versatile breeds tested in NAVHDA, and while I prefer hunting after the first frost has set in, the summer is when we condition our dogs for the heat and work on core trained skills. We ask a lot of our dogs, often in climate conditions they would not have historically experienced. They are challenged physically and mentally, and need the form, function, and health to perform what is asked of them.
When we talk about breed preservation, a blend of conformation, hunting drive, temperament, and health all play key roles. Working dogs need the correct form to perform their jobs, but they also need the genes and epigenes for intense pointing, the drive to take them out there to hunt independently, the cooperation to make them good partners with their handlers, and the temperament to accept the pressure of training. Health is an over-arching necessity, without which none of the rest matters. And, conditioning the dogs to do what we ask of them is essential when many of us live in areas of the country that are experiencing extraordinary heat and humidity.
When a Spinone is well balanced in form and has the needed qualities to perform the function he is bred for, we say that the dog has breed type, which may be more important than any single trait by itself. It is this combination of certain unique qualities that make a Spinone a Spinone that distinguishes our breed from generic dogs. Who among us didn’t fall in love with the Spinone expression, so unique to our breed?
Before there was a breed standard, the Spinone came to be through selective breeding to perform work for its owners. Those that lived in the in the mountainous regions of northern Italy needed a dog that would be flexible and sure-footed, with an economical gait. To hunt the steep terrain, they needed deep-chested endurance trotters with a harsh coat and well-arched, thickly padded front feet. These traits, along with excellent game-finding skills, helped reduce the amount of ground to be covered, sparing both the hunters and the dogs. Along with that natural sweetness, the unique qualities of the Spinone are possibly why it is said that the peasants wanted a dog to find dinner and take care of the children at home; all this led to the development of our breed type.
In this way, form must follow function, and breed type, health, and training are inextricably woven with the work that Spinoni were bred to do. Today’s breed standard, when read in context with history and purpose, is recognized as a key to understanding our breed type. At our 2025 National Specialty, we were privileged to have Carolyn Fry as our judge, a world-renowned breed expert, and her comments on breed type in this newsletter are particularly interesting and relevant. I’d like to add that I first met Carolyn when she judged the National Specialty in Hustle, Virginia in 2006, and she is the only such judge I’ve met that got up the next morning at 5 am to walk the fields with the AKC master braces the next day.
We are seeing the picture of hunting Spinoni in this country change as breeders work hard to breed to type, as well as to work the dogs they breed to be sure we keep the hunting traits in the lines. The Spinone style of air scenting, ground tracking, and stealthily pointing the way for the gun is ideal for the cover many of us hunt and reflects the conditions for which they were originally bred. Whether or not you hunt your dogs, the qualities you love in your dogs originate from their role as hunting partners and sweet companions.
Our Breeders’ Education committee, with input from Spinoni experts across the globe, created Form and Function, an educational book to understand the function behind the form of the breed. This illustrated guide will be of interest to breeders and fanciers alike and is available through our store: Form and Function. If you haven’t seen it, it’s an excellent resource for better understanding our standard and how it has come to be.
Best of luck to all the dogs preparing for hunt tests and hunting this fall, and special good wishes to the exceptional Spinoni who will be testing in Iowa at the NAVHDA Invitational in September. You all represent our breed well!
