"What kind of dogs are those?" We hear that question a lot! When people see us, they usually think we're either greyhound puppies or whippets. In fact, even our mom thought Vito was a greyhound puppy when she first met him; she had never heard of an Italian Greyhound before. But we have taught her a lot!
An Italian Greyhound (IG or Iggy for short) looks like a small, elegant version of a regular greyhound. An Iggy is usually between 13 and 15 inches tall, and weighs an average of 10 pounds. We're on the big side for our breed; Vito is about 17 inches tall and weighs about 19 pounds, and Bo is even taller and weighs about 24 pounds (we sometimes call him Pony)! No wonder some people think we're whippets!
IGs are great indoor dogs; we like nothing better than a comfortable, warm house. We especially like to sleep in our peoples' beds, usually wayyyy under the covers snuggled up by our peoples' feet (mom says she doesn't know how we breathe down there). Vito also likes to snuggle between the two pillows on mom's bed, otherwise known as his tent. We have a lot of cat-like qualities- we like to perch on the back of the couch and look out the front window, and we love to lay on our sides and strrrrrretch out our graceful little limbs.
Our coats are very sleek and short; this means that we don't do well in the cold weather! An IG should never go outside in the cold without a coat or sweater. (We hate being dressed in anything besides our fur, but mom says it's for our own good.) In another example of how we can be cat-like, we can even be trained to use a litter box - this is good because IGs don't usually like to be outside if it's cold, rainy, or very windy.
IGs are very inquisitive and clever little dogs. We have minds of our own, but we really do want to please our people! We dote on our mom and like to follow her from room to room to make sure we're not missing anything. And we love to play; our favorite toys are stuffed animals and any kind of ball. With a ball, Vito likes to "take his position" and fly high into the air to catch it when it is thrown to him. (Bo finally learned that trick... we'll always remember July 4, 1999, when he figured out to catch the ball with his mouth instead of his paws!) And with stuffed animals, we like to cuddle with them, and in Vito's case, tear out all of their stuffing as quickly as possible!
Even though IGs like to be comfy and indoors, we love to go outside if the weather is nice! We like to stretch out in the sun sometimes, like we're trying to get a tan (Vito actually managed to get a little pink sunburn on his tummy one summer, then mom introduced us to sunscreen). We also like to bring our mom "nature gifts." These are usually twigs and leaves, which we bring to the door as little offerings. They have included other things a couple of times, but mom says we're trying to forget about those! We also love to go "bye bye," for rides in the car, and for our walks in the park.
It is VERY IMPORTANT to have your yard fenced in if you have an IG or any kind of sighthound, like a greyhound or a whippet! These breeds have an instinctual need to chase things, like small animals. We have a real fence in our back yard, and an invisible fence in the front yard. The invisible fence people came the day after Vito ran out the front door, just wanting to explore, but almost ran straight into a car instead.
IGs may appear to be fragile, but we're tougher than we appear! The most important thing is to take care of our teeth. Our gums are so close to our teeth that they can't get really clean unless you brush them for us a few times every week. Otherwise, we're very likely to get periodontal disease. Our slender little legs are stronger than they look, but they are still prone to breaks and other problems - Vito dislocated his back kneecaps within a few days of arriving at his new home!
When you take us to the vet, it is very important to make sure that the vet knows that sighthounds, including IGs, cannot tolerate anesthetics containing barbiturates! These can be fatal to dogs with almost no body fat, like us... isoflurane is the best choice for our anesthesia. Please click here for more information about this!
Last, there is an addiction problem for people with IGs. Our mom heard that most people can't stop at just one IG, but she didn't believe it. She believes it now... in December 1998, we found IG Rescue and adopted Bo!
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