The Bracco Italiano – The 200th AKC Breed

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184 – September, 2022

By Amy Fernandez

A few months back AKC announced that it was rounding up its roster of breeds to a neat 200 (in a strictly technical accounting).We just got the Mudi and the Russian Toy. Wow! So, the Bracco Italiano now competes from the sacrosanct AKC Sporting Group. Honestly, it deserved to be there way sooner than this. Despite its ancient heritage and innate aptitude as a bird dog, this rustic Italian treasure has never really hit the popular radar. No glamour attached to this one. No Kennel Club guys or Westminster clique backing the project. No, the Bracco has always been a workaday pointer. And we often forget that pointers, as a type, include plenty of diverse options.

Mainly, that’s because since the start of this dog game Britain has dominated the purebred picture–at least on that side of the Atlantic. That impression isn’t quite fair because plenty of significant breeds herald from nearby countries. Germany has given us Dobermans, Schnauzers, Poms and, of course, the ever popular German Shepherd. Tiny little Belgium gave us the Malinois and the Brussels. Tip of the iceberg. This isn’t a geographic tour of purebreds so let’s talk about Italy, a country justifiably celebrated for its rich cultural heritage. And as we know, dogs are inseparable from any culture’s traditions. In that respect, Italy’s contributions to the purebred compendium predates many of its neighbors.

Far too many breed histories cite Ancient Rome as their birthplace, but in this case, there’s some truth to it. The Romans were obsessive historians and multiple sources have documented their longstanding and wide-ranging contributions to purebred development. They created the forerunners of modern breeds ranging from the Bolognese, the Maltese and the IG to the Cane Corso and the Neo at the other end of the spectrum. Even though Italy is rarely mentioned as a major player in gundog development, the entire gundog concept sprang from traditions that were originally established in that part of Europe.

Click here to read the complete article
184 – September, 2022

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Posted by AnthonyA on Sep 17 2022. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.