Breed Priorities – Cirneco Dell’Etna

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282 – May, 2026

By Nikki Riggsbee

The Cirneco dell’Etna has been found for thousands of years on the island of Sicily, which is also home of the active volcano Mount Etna. It is thought that Phoenician traders of ancient times brought the ancestors of the breed to the island. There are Sicilian coins from as early as 500 BC with images of dogs resembling the Cirneco. The breed has been used for millennia hunting rabbit and other small game over the rough terrain of the island.

The breed was nearing extinction nearly a hundred years ago. An article on the Cirneco written by an Italian veterinarian inspired a Sicilian Baroness, Agata Paterne Castello, to help save the breed. The Cirneco was recognized by the Italian kennel club in 1939. Recording of the breed in AKC’s Foundation Stock Service began in 2006, and full recognition in the AKC hound group came in 2015.

Forty experts were invited to take a survey on breed priorities for the Cirneco dell’Etna. Twenty-three agreed to do so and were sent the survey. Thirteen surveys were received by the deadline. The contributors average nearly twenty years in the breed. Those who are approved to judge the breed have been doing so for thirteen years on average.

Cirneco dell’Etna Virtues

The experts prioritized a list of desirable characteristics taken from the AKC Cirneco breed standard. Below are the virtues in sequence by the average of the experts’ ranks, with 1 being the most important.

Click here to read the complete article
282 – May, 2026

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