small breed
Italian Greyhound
A true sighthound at a tenth of the weight - seven to fourteen pounds of arched back, explosive sprint and total devotion to the warmest blanket in the house. Italian Greyhounds are quiet, clean and easy in an apartment. Two things catch owners out, and neither is temperament: young dogs fracture legs remarkably easily, and housetraining a dog who hates cold and wet weather takes months rather than weeks.
Pup Height
13-15 in
Pup Weight
7-14 lb
A true sighthound in miniature rather than a scaled-down toy - the same arched loin, deep chest and high-stepping gait as a Greyhound, at a tenth of the weight. Any color except brindle or the tan pattern seen in black-and-tan breeds. The Italian Greyhound is an ancient type, appearing in Mediterranean art more than two thousand years old, and was a favorite of European courts for centuries. Source: AKC breed standard.
Pup Lifespan
14-15 years
Your pup, at a glance
What’s Life With This Pup Really Like?
The maximum. They burrow under blankets, seek out warmth constantly, and will sleep pressed against a person all night.
Poor as a general rule, and it is fragility rather than temperament. They are easily injured by ordinary rough handling, and better suited to a household of older children or adults.
Reasonable. Sociable with dogs and generally fine with cats, with a chase instinct aimed at anything small that bolts.
Low to moderate. They alert at the door and are not persistently noisy dogs.
Low to moderate. A walk and a sprint, and they sleep for most of the rest of the day.
Very low. A very short single coat that sheds minimally and needs no management.
Bursts of sudden, joyful speed followed by immediate collapse. They play in short increments and jump far higher than they should.
Minimal.
Moderate. Bright and cooperative with gentle handling, slow to housetrain, and unreachable once they are chasing something.
Low. They announce the door and have nothing behind it at nine pounds.
Among the lowest here for coat. Teeth are the routine that actually determines how their old age goes.
High. Apartments and small homes suit them perfectly - warmth and soft bedding matter far more than space.
Lifestyle fit
Could This Be Your Best Breed?
An Italian Greyhound suits an apartment, a warm home full of soft furnishings, and an owner who will supervise a fragile youngster around furniture and stairs. They are inexpensive at $1,100 to $1,900 a year and live fourteen to fifteen years, provided the teeth get real attention. A cold or chaotic home, small children underfoot, or no patience for slow housetraining all point to the Whippet page instead - the same outline in a far sturdier dog.
Living Space
Apartment or house, both work well - Italian Greyhounds are small, quiet and sleep most of the day. What they need is warmth, soft bedding and a securely fenced space to sprint in, not square footage.
Pup Experience
Manageable for a first-time owner who understands two things: they break legs easily as a youngster, and housetraining is genuinely slow. Neither is a temperament problem, and both surprise people.
Daily Pup Time
Thirty to forty-five minutes of walking plus a chance to run. Grooming takes five minutes a week - among the lowest here.
Allergies & Coat
The Italian Greyhound scores 2/10 for shedding and 1/10 for drooling. No dog is truly hypoallergenic. The allergens come from dander and saliva, and a coat that sheds this little leaves far less of them on your furniture, floors, and clothes.
Quirks & challenges
The Not-So-Easy Stuff
They Break Legs
Fine bones and reckless jumping. Fractures in young dogs are common enough to plan the furniture around.
Housetraining Is Slow
A small bladder and a real dislike of cold and wet. Expect months and a consistent routine.
They Feel the Cold
No fat and a paper-thin coat. Coats and heated bedding are function, not decoration.
Serious Dental Disease
Among the worst in any breed. Daily brushing and regular cleanings from the start.
Anesthesia Considerations
Sighthound physiology changes drug handling. Tell every vet before any procedure.
Recall Is Unreliable
A sighthound in miniature is still a sighthound. Fenced space or a long line.
The good, the bad & the hairy
Health, Care & Costs
Understanding the health risks and ongoing costs of a Italian Greyhound helps you plan for a happy, healthy life together.
14-15 years
$35-$55
per groom (bath, nails, ears, teeth check), every 10-12 weeks or done at home ($0-$220/year)
$1,100-$1,900/year
all-in (food, routine vet, grooming, insurance, incidentals)
Health Risks
Conditions this breed is prone to.
The defining practical risk and the most common reason a young Italian Greyhound sees a vet. Very fine leg bones combined with reckless jumping means fractures of the radius and ulna are common between about four months and eighteen months - often from jumping off a sofa. They usually need surgical plating, which is expensive. Ramps, low furniture and supervision through that window prevent most of them.
Among the worst of any breed. Crowded teeth in a very fine jaw mean severe tartar, gum disease and early tooth loss, often starting young. Daily brushing and regular professional cleanings are a genuine lifelong requirement, complicated by the anesthesia considerations below.
Like other sighthounds they carry almost no body fat and metabolize anesthetic drugs differently, so standard dosing can be dangerous. This matters more than usual because their teeth will need frequent work under anesthesia - tell every vet the dog is a sighthound.
The kneecap slips out of its groove, producing a skipping gait and sometimes needing surgery. Common across small breeds and screened by examining the parents.
The retina degenerates gradually until the dog is blind, usually starting with night vision. There is no treatment and a DNA test exists, so tested parents remove the risk entirely.
Seizures with no other underlying cause, usually first appearing between one and five years old. Controlled with daily medication rather than cured, and the drugs and monitoring are a lifelong cost.
Insurance & Health Coverage
Insure before an Italian Greyhound is four months old, because the fracture window opens then. A plated radius on a nine-pound dog runs into thousands, it is common in this breed, and the moment one leg is on the record insurers tend to exclude limbs.
Dental is the other predictable expense and most policies exclude it as routine - which matters more here than almost anywhere, because this breed's teeth are genuinely poor and every cleaning carries the anesthetic consideration. Budget for it as a planned cost rather than a covered one.
The anesthesia sensitivity itself is not an insurance question. Tell every vet the dog is a sighthound; a vet who has only treated toy breeds may not know.
Get a Pet Insurance Quote
Care needs
The Daily Routine
Grooming
A very short single coat that needs a weekly wipe with a rubber mitt and nothing else. Everything that matters is elsewhere: brush the teeth daily, keep nails short, check the skin for tears after any run, and keep them in a coat below about fifty degrees. They have no undercoat and no fat.
Exercise
Thirty to forty-five minutes daily plus a chance to genuinely sprint in a securely fenced space. They have explosive speed and no endurance, and they will not want to go out in cold rain at all.
Food & Weight
Two measured meals. They should look lean with the last ribs faintly visible - correct for a sighthound rather than underweight, and a vet unfamiliar with the type may say otherwise.
Similar breeds
If This Isn’t Quite the One
Greyhound
The same dog at ten times the weight - identical sighthound temperament, recall limits, anesthesia considerations and dental problems. The Greyhound is sturdier and needs more space; the Italian is far more fragile and fits anywhere.
Chihuahua
A comparable toy breed with similar fragility, cold sensitivity and dental issues. The Chihuahua is bolder and far louder; the Italian Greyhound is quieter, more sensitive and more athletic.
Whippet
The middle sighthound, and the sturdier choice by a distance. Whippets are roughly three times the weight with nothing like the leg-fracture risk, and they need somewhere safe to sprint; an Italian Greyhound fits a lap and an apartment.