Temperament

The Lagotto pup and Lagotto dog have a bright happy deamenor.

They are very loving, loyal, adaptable and make a wonderful affectionate family companion. AKC describes truffle dogs as "affectionate, keen, undemanding, alert, intelligent, and lively". Lagotti are agile, intelligent and known for their vivacity. They love intellectual stimulation and exercise. They make excellent therapy dogs. They are an easy to train companion as the Lagotto want to please their owners. Most are active but not hyper.

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Life Expectancy

15-17 Years of Lots of Love

 

Sporting Group, Water group or Gun Dog

Lagotti are excellent swimmers or paddlers. Will retrieve from kinds of lakes, rivers, ocean, and streams. They can retrieve in breaking the ice on lakes and jumping in freezing water for hours as they don't have the water touch their skin because they have a double coat of hair. Traditionally they were used as waterbirdhunters.  When trained they will retrieve birds and small animals like rabbits. They are companion pets and known for being bred to hunt for truffles, the expensive underground delicacy which grow just u Dee the surface of the ground.

 

Coat Hair

Truffle dog have soft curly hair that can look wooly. Hair does not shed and therefore it is hypoallergenic. Hair also does not have the typical "wet dog smell" and dries quickly as compared to other breeds. The thick waterproof double coat is dense and curly. The coat needs to be groomed. They do not require frequent bathing and do not “smell like wet dog”.

 

Coat colors

A Lagotto pup can be roan which is found in many breeds of gun dogs. The pup is born with a clear, open white which begins to fill in as a pup with flecking and becomes an even mixture of which and pigmented hairs that do not become grey when aging. white, cream, white, and orange and and white colors, brown of various shades, brown and white. Some truffle dogs have flecking or ticking, and the rarer tricolor Lagotto of different shades of brown, white, beige, and orange.   

 

Size

Lagottos are classified as medium in size square, and well proportioned. Rustically built and gives the impression that the lagotto has the strength and endurance to work all day in difficult and challenging terrain.

 

Females

Height 16-18 inches (41-46 cm)

Weight 24-32 lbs (11-14 kg)

 

Males

Height 17-19 inches (43-48 cm)

Weight 28.5-35 lbs (13-16 kg)

 

Health

As a preferred Lagotto breeder we are listed in the VOLUNTARY Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) database. We test the dogs before breeding as per the recommendations of the AKC parent club Lagotto Romagnolo Club of America (LRCA). Careful breeding practices provides the best healthy dog for our buyers and the breed.

1. Hip Displasia (OFA or Penn Hip evaluation)

2. Eye examination by a boarded ACVO opthalmologist each year, with the results registered with OFA.

3. Patellelar Luxation (OFA evaluation)

4. Benign Familial Juvenile Epilepsy (DNA based test results from the approved lab registered with OFA)

5. Lagotto Storage Disease (DNA based test results from an approved lab registered with the OFA).

6. DNA Repository (Optional) (Participation in the OFA/CHICDNA) Repository

7. We test for over 220 DNS genetic health and phenotype tests prior to breeding (not just the few tests required by LRCA)

8. Our dams receive pre-natal vitamins

9. Our pups have early neurological stimulation, as well as socialization and lots of love with all members of our family, and with other pets.

10. Pups will have had appropriate deworming and up to date vaccinations.

 

Italian Truffle Dog History

Many Italian archeological sites during the sixth and fifth centuries BC have Etruscan representations of a small water dog with the appearance of a lagotto romagnolo. 

 

Lagotto Romagnolo is an ancient breed which can be scientifically traced back to 1474 AD (Pre-Romans).  It is thought that this breed is the foundation breed of which many of the sporting water dogs come from. Originally lagotti were used as water retrievers for birds. The name (Lago) means lake and Romagnolo means "from an area in Italy called Romagna". They were living in the lowlands of Comacchino and the marshlands of Ravenna which is in the sub-division of Romagna. When the marshlands were drained between 1840-1890 the waterfowl left and the lagotti with their amazing highly developed scent ability became trained to root out precious truffles.  The Lagotto Romagnolo is the only dog bred worldwide for the purpose of truffle hunting.There are few breeds of dogs that still to do the work that it has done for centuries, hunting truffles.

 

By the 1970's there were very few pure bred Lagotto. Before the breed became extinct, a few dedicated people through careful breeding established the lagotto romagnolo as a recognized breed. In 1988 the Club Italiano Lagotto was established. The breed was officially established in 1995 by the Federation Cynologique Internationale which is a federation of international kennel clubs (not including the USA or Canada) who promote the breeding of purebred dog breeds. In 2013, the Lagotto was able to show AKC conformation under miscellaneous breed. In 2015 AKC accepted lagotto romagnolo as a pure breed which allowed them to show as that breed. Lagotto romagnolo is still in the top ten rarest dog breed in the world. 

 

The Lagotto Romagnolo is the only dog breed that is bred worldwide for the purpose of truffle hunting.

 

Pedigrees and Grand Championships

Many of our dogs have Grand Champion pedigrees including World Championships. The parents of some of our dogs have been #1 Lagotto in the United States and Canada.

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If anyone wants to show our Lagotto breed they will have an excellent chance of having a Grand Champion!

 

Lagottio's are good at scent, rallying, agility, tracking, obedience and nose work.