Italian Greyhound Grooming

About the Italian Greyhound

The Italian Greyhound is a sighthound in miniature, the smallest of the three alongside the Greyhound and the Whippet. The coat is the same idea taken further: extremely short, fine, single, lying tight to the skin, with no undercoat and nothing to do to it beyond five minutes a week.

Everything else is more extreme than on its larger relatives, because the same architecture has been scaled down to seven to fourteen pounds.

The skin is thinner, the insulation is closer to nothing, and, most importantly, the leg bones are genuinely fragile. Italian Greyhounds break legs at a rate few other breeds approach, and they do it jumping off furniture. That, and a dental record that is worse than the Greyhound's, is what this page is really about.

The legs, which is the whole handling problem

This is the most important paragraph on the page and it is why an Italian Greyhound needs a groomer who has met one.

The lower leg bones, the radius and ulna in the front legs, are exceptionally fine and long relative to the dog, and they fracture far more readily than almost any other breed. It is common enough that it is a defining feature of owning one, and the peak risk is between roughly four months and eighteen months while the bones are still developing.

What causes it is almost never dramatic. It is jumping off a sofa, a bed, or a grooming table, or being dropped, or landing awkwardly during ordinary play.

So on a table the rule is absolute: an Italian Greyhound is never left on a raised surface unattended, not for a second, and it must never be allowed to jump down. Lift it on and off with both hands supporting the body. Many groomers work small sighthounds on a lap or a low surface for exactly this reason, and asking for that is entirely reasonable.

At home, ramps or steps to furniture, and discouraging jumping down from height, genuinely reduce the risk.

Never pull or extend a leg to reach a nail. Bring the foot to a comfortable position instead.

A dog that yelps when a leg is handled, or that will not weight bear, is a veterinary matter immediately rather than a dog being dramatic.

The teeth, which are worse than the Greyhound

The Greyhound page says that breed has the worst dental health in dogs. The Italian Greyhound is worse still, and it is the single most under-treated thing about them.

Two things combine. Sighthounds as a group have a genuine predisposition to periodontal disease. And a toy sized dog has a full set of teeth crammed into a very small, narrow, elongated jaw, so they crowd, overlap and trap plaque exactly where a brush struggles to reach.

The result is that Italian Greyhounds routinely develop significant dental disease by three or four years old, lose teeth young, and do it while showing almost nothing, because dogs conceal oral pain extremely well.

Daily brushing with a dog toothpaste, started in puppyhood, is the only thing with real evidence behind it. Dental chews and water additives help slightly and replace nothing.

Expect professional cleanings under anesthesia to be a recurring part of this dog's life, and use a practice that knows sighthound anesthetic protocols, because Italian Greyhounds share the family sensitivity: very little body fat and different drug handling mean standard doses can leave them slow to recover.

Ask a groomer to look at the mouth and tell you what they see. They handle a lot of them and are often the first to notice.

A dog that has started dropping food, chewing on one side or turning away from a hard treat is telling you something.

The coat, the skin and the cold

The coat routine is five minutes. A soft rubber mitt or a hound glove once a week along the lie, which lifts the light shedding and puts a shine on it. No slickers and no stiff bristles: there is almost no coat and the skin under it is thin.

Shedding is very light and the hairs are fine, so this is a low mess dog.

A bath every couple of months at most. Over bathing dries thin skin and there is no coat mass to hide the result.

Cold is constant rather than seasonal. No undercoat, almost no body fat, a tiny lean frame and a large surface area mean an Italian Greyhound loses heat faster than almost any other dog. Shivering indoors in a cool room is normal for the breed rather than a sign of anxiety, and coats and fleeces are practical equipment rather than dressing up. Most will burrow under a blanket and stay there.

At bath time: warm water, a warm room, and a prompt dry on a low setting.

The skin tears like a Whippet's, on a smaller scale, so check the dog after any run in cover.

Two more things worth knowing. Many Italian Greyhounds dislike wet grass and rain enough to refuse to toilet outdoors in bad weather, which is a housetraining reality rather than stubbornness. And the breed is prone to alopecia on the chest, thighs and ears with age, which is usually cosmetic but worth a veterinary look the first time.

Nails, and a dog that is not fond of strangers

Nails every three to four weeks and they are the reason most Italian Greyhounds see a salon at all. A dog this light wears nothing down, and overlong nails change the angle of toes on legs that are already carrying an unusual load for their thickness.

Take small amounts frequently. Never extend a leg to reach a nail; bring the foot to a natural position instead, and stop if the dog objects rather than pushing through, because a struggling Italian Greyhound is exactly the situation where a leg gets hurt.

Many owners find a grinder easier than clippers, and doing two or three nails a day rather than eighteen in one sitting works better on a sensitive dog.

Temperament matters here. Italian Greyhounds are affectionate and deeply bonded to their own people and genuinely timid with strangers, more so than most toy breeds. They are not usually snappy, they are avoidant, and a frightened one will try to get away, which on a table is the dangerous outcome.

What helps is the usual and it has to start young: handle the feet and face daily as a non-event, and book short uneventful visits before anything needs doing.

Ears are rose shaped and folded back, open and rarely a problem. A weekly look is enough.

What to tell your groomer

Say the legs break easily, that the dog must never be left on a raised table or allowed to jump down, and that a leg is never to be pulled straight. This is the instruction that matters.

Ask them to work on a lap or a low surface if they are willing, which many will be.

Ask for soft tools only, no slicker, and a prompt proper dry because this dog gets cold fast.

Ask for the nails, a few at a time, and say the dog is timid rather than difficult.

Ask them to look at the teeth and say what they see.

And say it is a sighthound if the salon is not used to them, particularly if sedation is ever discussed.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Italian Greyhound