KENAI
Bracco Italiano

The breeds · gun dog · versatile

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 202

Bracco Italiano.

Pointing dog of the continental 'braque' type: 'The Bracco is tough and adapted to all types of hunting, reliable, docile, and easy to train.' FCI: 'Pointing dog', Group 7 Section 1 Continental Pointing Dogs, Braque type, with working trial.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

13.8YRMedian lifespanmeasured on real dogs.
25 / 23INHeightdogs 25, bitches 23. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
55–90LBWeight, all linesbreed 72.5 lb (55 to 90).
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayMore than 2 hours per day. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 25 in (23 to 27) · bitches 23 in (21 to 25)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2018

Midpoint. FCI: females preferred 55-62 cm.

Weight

72.5 lb (55 to 90)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2018

Midpoint of the standard's range; the standard gives no weight by sex. FCI: 25-40 kg depending on size. The AKC breed page prints the same 55-90 lb.

Coat

Short, dense and glossy; finer and shorter on the head, ears, fronts of legs and feet; ample tough elastic skin. Base color white: solid white, white with orange, or white with brown (chestnut) markings as patches, ticking or roan; any black disqualifies

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2018

AKC breed page coat type 'Smooth', length 'Short'.

Shedding

Sheds; AKC breed page shedding level 2 of 5, RKC 'Sheds: yes'

Breed clubAKC

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · 'Coat - Short, dense and glossy, fine and shorter on the head, the ears, front part of the legs and feet'

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2018

Derived by the coat rule (4 = short dense). The standard does not say whether there is an undercoat, so the short-single score of 5 is not claimed. Not a measurement.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

13.8 years

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

McMillan et al. 2024 method, but a small sample: 22 deaths. The table prints the upper confidence limit as NA, so high is left blank. The BICA health statement puts the median lifespan at 11 years from its own survey; the RKC band is 'under 10 years'; the AKC breed page prints 10-14. These disagree, and the small UK sample should be read with that in mind. Not in Teng 2022, so life_expectancy_yr is omitted.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC exercise band; RKC 'Town or country: Country'. AKC breed page energy level 4 of 5; the standard: 'tough and adapted to all types of hunting'.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

AKC breed page energy level 4 of 5; 'gentle in the home and tireless in the field' (BICA); 'reliable, docile, and easy to train' (standard)

Breed clubAKC

RKC: more than 2 hours of exercise a day.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · Once a week (RKC grooming band); coat length short

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

AKC breed page grooming frequency 1 of 5 agrees in kind.

Grooming

Once a week

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Pointing dog of the continental 'braque' type: 'The Bracco is tough and adapted to all types of hunting, reliable, docile, and easy to train.' FCI: 'Pointing dog', Group 7 Section 1 Continental Pointing Dogs, Braque type, with working trial

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2018

A NAVHDA recognized breed (BI): bred 'to dependably hunt and point game, to retrieve on both land and water, and to track wounded game on both land and water' (NAVHDA rules). The BICA: 'one of the oldest of the pointing breeds ... a versatile gun dog'.

Primary game

Game birds found and pointed; as a NAVHDA breed it is tested on upland birds in the field and on ducks in the water, and the BICA gives awards for NAVHDA and AKC hunt test results

Breed clubNAVHDA, 2024

No standard or club page names a species. Fewer than three sources behind this value.

Search pattern

'Extended and fast trot, with powerful reach and drive. Head raised, nose held high in such a way that, when hunting, the nose is' carried above the topline: a high-headed, trotting search

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2018

The standard's gait clause ends mid-sentence across its page break in the AKC PDF; the FCI standard carries the same trotting, head-high description.

Field trial standard

AKC pointing-breed hunting tests (an eligible breed): Junior must point, Senior and Master steady to wing and shot, retrieve and honor. AKC pointing-breed field trials (eligible from June 29, 2022). NAVHDA Natural Ability, Utility Preparatory and Utility tests: field search, pointing, steadiness, retrieve of shot bird, search for a duck, retrieve of duck. The BICA also points members to UKC upland, VHDF and NSTRA events

Breed clubAKC

Hunting test standards from akc_ht_rules; field trial eligibility from akc_ft_eligible; NAVHDA test content from navhda_rules; venue list from bica_hunting.

Water work

Water work comes through the tests, not the standard: NAVHDA judges the search for a duck and the retrieve of a duck for every versatile breed, while neither the AKC nor the FCI Bracco standard mentions water. AKC Senior and Master hunting tests require land retrieves of shot birds

Breed clubNAVHDA, 2024

AKC hunting test retrieve requirement from akc_ht_rules.

Cold water

2 of 5 · Short dense coat; neither the AKC nor the FCI standard mentions water, though NAVHDA tests the breed on duck work

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2018

Derived from coat plus the breed's water work being test-driven rather than written into the standard. Not a measurement.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

11% · 364 OFA hip evaluations on file (all evaluations on file, read Oct 2026; the service prints no start year): 88.2% normal (35.2% excellent, 46.4% good, 6.6% fair), 11.0% dysplastic (6.3% mild, 4.4% moderate, 0.3% severe); rank 123 of the breeds listed

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Voluntary registry skewed toward breeding stock, and a small breed sample. The BICA asks that all Bracchi be screened for hip dysplasia before breeding.

Elbow dysplasia

12.6% · 342 OFA elbow evaluations on file: 87.4% normal, 12.6% abnormal (8.8% grade 1, 3.2% grade 2, 0.6% grade 3); rank 40 of the breeds listed

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Same voluntary-registry caveat; rank 40 is high among the breeds the service lists. The BICA lists elbow dysplasia among the breed's primary health concerns.

Most common disorders

BICA (2025 club health survey, as summarized in its health statement): median lifespan 11 years; most common causes of death cancer 26.6%, old age 25.3%, kidney disease 14.6%, gastric dilatation-volvulus 9.3%. Primary concerns named by the club: hip and elbow dysplasia, eye disease (entropion, ectropion, cataracts), and hereditary kidney disease (renal amyloidosis and renal maldevelopment), with GDV, ear infections, allergies, osteosarcoma and lymphoma also reported. Amyloidosis: most often diagnosed around 5 years (range 13 months to 10 years); about 13% of apparently healthy Bracchi showed kidney disease on a single screening at a US national event against about 0.4% in dogs generally; median survival 75 days after diagnosis (Bracco Italiano Club UK, quoting the US research)

Breed clubBracco Italiano Club of America, 2025

Club-survey and club-statement figures, not a veterinary-record prevalence; the full 2025 survey report is linked from the BICA site but was not opened. No VetCompass or Kennel Club survey row exists for the breed (not in the Wiles 2017 prevalence file; Lewis 2018 counted 1 death). The BICA recommends annual kidney testing from one year of age for every Bracco and says prophylactic gastropexy 'should be considered for all Bracchi'.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 5; Barking Level 2; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 4; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 4; Shedding Level 2; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 3; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

No KENAI kennel lists the Bracco Italiano yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 9 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Italian Pointer, Italian Pointing Dog, Bracchi Italiani (plural)

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

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