KENAI
Cirneco dell'Etna

The breeds · sighthound · sighthound

AKC Hound · UKC Sighthound & Pariah · FCI standard 199

Cirneco dell'Etna.

FCI 199: hunting dog, in particular used for wild rabbit; with working trial in Italy. UKC: a primitive style hunting dog mainly used in the pursuit of wild rabbits. AKC standard (club copy): a keen hunter, adaptable to difficult terrain, hunts by scent, sight and hearing. RKC: an athletic, all-round natural hunter using scent, sight and hearing. Club article (Showsight): specialised in locating, flushing, following and directing the hunter to the prey; the primary sense is scent, with sight and sound developed but not primary..

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.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
18–29LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 20 to 28.7 lb; breed bitches 17.5 to 25 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRKC: up to 1 hour per day; small house; small or medium garden; town or country. AKC page energy level 3 of 5 (AKC band, not mapped).. 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 18 to 20.5 in · bitches 16.5 to 19.5 in

Breed clubCirneco dell'Etna Club of America, 2020

Low is the UKC ideal floor, high is the UKC tolerance ceiling; no standard prints a single ideal.

Weight

dogs 20 to 28.7 lb · bitches 17.5 to 25 lb

Breed clubAKC

AKC weight is from the page header, a summary. Range spans the UKC floor and the AKC page ceiling.

Coat

UKC: smooth on head, ears and legs; about an inch, sleek and close lying on body and tail; straight and stiff like horse hair. Color: self colored fawn from fairly dark to Isabella, with white markings on head, chest, feet, tail tip and belly (white collar less appreciated); solid white or white with orange patches acceptable but not preferred; UKC disqualifies any black, brown or brindle. FCI 199: fawn in all shades, or tan and white with the listed white markings. RKC colors: tan, and tan and white markings.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2009

Color rules stated by source.

Shedding

Shedding 1 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

5 of 5 · UKC: smooth on the head, ears and legs, about an inch and sleek and close lying on the body and tail, straight and stiff like horse hair; skin fine and close.

DerivedUnited Kennel Club, 2009

Derived from the standard's coat description (short single sleek coat = 5). No measured data.

The dog at home

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

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day; small house; small or medium garden; town or country. AKC page energy level 3 of 5 (AKC band, not mapped).

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

Energy

3 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · RKC: grooming once a week; short coat; sheds. AKC page: coat grooming frequency 1 of 5 and shedding level 1 of 5 (AKC bands, not mapped).

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

The work

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

Role

FCI 199: hunting dog, in particular used for wild rabbit; with working trial in Italy. UKC: a primitive style hunting dog mainly used in the pursuit of wild rabbits. AKC standard (club copy): a keen hunter, adaptable to difficult terrain, hunts by scent, sight and hearing. RKC: an athletic, all-round natural hunter using scent, sight and hearing. Club article (Showsight): specialised in locating, flushing, following and directing the hunter to the prey; the primary sense is scent, with sight and sound developed but not primary.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 199, 2017

FCI, UKC, AKC (via the parent club), RKC wording plus the parent club's Showsight article.

Primary game

Wild rabbit (FCI 199, UKC, club). Showsight (club article): artifacts show small mammals, predominantly rabbits, and also wild boar; the breed is capable of hunting small mammals and fowl for extended periods over rugged volcanic terrain.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2009

Also used on

Parent club article: small mammals and fowl; artifacts also show wild boar. Capable of retrieving though not normally trained to, and the strongest hunters will enter water to do so. The author reports that in the United States most Cirnechi 'point', particularly when hunting fowl, while noting that others believe few do.

EditorialShowsight Magazine, 2013

Search pattern

Parent club article: the Cirneco must track the rabbit by scent; the hunt is typically limited to encumbered ground (a riverbank, rocky slopes, forest, an agricultural field) rather than large open land, and calls for dexterity and athleticism. CdECA site: hunts by scent, sight and hearing; the Sicilian terrain is volcanic lava. Single or pack work and voice on the line are not stated in any source read.

EditorialShowsight Magazine, 2013

Club editorial; the author notes this is US experience.

Field trial standard

FCI 199: Group 5 Section 7 (primitive type, hunting dogs), with working trial in Italy. Showsight (club): considered an excellent candidate for hunting, obedience, agility, tracking and coursing. The Italian working trial rules themselves were not read.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 199, 2017

Rules not read.

Water work

Parent club article: not trained to retrieve, but capable of it, and the strongest hunters will enter water to do so.

EditorialShowsight Magazine, 2013

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 2; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 4; Openness To Strangers 4; Good With Other Dogs 4; Shedding Level 1; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 0; Affectionate With Family 4; Playfulness Level 4; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC

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

No KENAI kennel lists the Cirneco dell'Etna 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. 6 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Cirneco, Sicilian Greyhound, Cirnechi (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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