Lagotto Romagnolo - Lottie

Brees Standard:

General Appearance Squarely built, small to medium sized dog of rustic appearance; sturdy and robust with dense, curly coat of woolly texture. Measurement from ground to elbow greater than from elbow to withers. Noticeable difference between sexes.

Characteristics Ancient Italian breed of duck retriever, also used as a truffle hunter. Excellent watch dog and family companion.

Temperament Lively, intelligent, affectionate.

Head and Skull Head moderately broad. When viewed from above the widest point is at the zygomatic arch. When viewed from the side, planes of muzzle and skull diverge slightly. Skull slightly convex, as wide as it is long and flattening at occiput. Length of skull from occiput to stop slightly longer than from stop to nose. Slight but evident stop. Well developed eyebrow arches. Muzzle strong, depth almost equal to length. Nasal bridge straight, with large nose protruding slightly with wide, open nostrils. Jaws wide, large and powerful. Lips tight forming a wide semi-circle when viewed from the front, covered with long, bristly whiskers.

Eyes Fairly large, nearly round, not too close together. Close fitting eyelids with rims in various shades of brown. Well developed eyelashes. Eye colour ranges from ochre to dark hazel and brown, depending on coat colour. Attentive, intelligent expression.

Ears Moderately large, triangular with slightly rounded tips, rather wide at the base and set slightly above the level of the eye. Hanging at rest, slightly raised when alert.

Mouth Well developed teeth, set square to the jaws. Scissor or pincer bite. Complete dentition highly desirable. Reverse scissor bite permissible.

Neck Relatively short, oval in section, slightly arched, muscular and powerful. Without dewlap.

Forequarters Shoulders muscular, moderately well laid back, long in blade and equal in length to upper arm. Elbows large and close fitting. Forearms straight with sturdy, oval bone. Wrist follows vertical line of forearm and is finer boned, robust and mobile. Pasterns sloping, elastic and slender compared to forearm.

Body Compact and strong. Length from point of shoulder to point of buttock equal to height at the withers, which are set high. Topline falls slightly from withers to croup. Muscular back, loin short, wide, very powerful and slightly arched. Long, wide and slightly sloping, muscular croup. Well developed chest reaches down to the elbows. Chest rather narrow in front, broadening behind the elbows. Slight tuck up. Skin thin, close fitting and without wrinkles.

Hindquarters Powerful upper thigh long with well developed musculature. Good bend of stifle; lower thigh longer than upper. Large hocks. Rear pasterns thin and upright. Angulation slightly greater than in forequarters but without exaggeration.

Feet Compact with strong, curved nails. Webbing between toes highly desirable. Front feet almost round, toes tight and well arched, turning neither in nor out. Hind feet slightly more oval shaped and toes less arched.

Tail Set on as a continuation of slightly sloping croup, tapering towards the end, just reaching the hock. Hangs in a scimitar position at rest and is markedly raised when alert. When working or excited may be carried over the back but never curled.

Gait/Movement Free, smooth and tireless with plenty of drive.

Coat Woolly and waterproof, rather rough on the surface forming very thick, ring shaped curls, with visible, waterproof undercoat. Curls evenly distributed all over the body except on the head where the curls are less tight, forming well-furnished eyebrows, whiskers and beard. Cheeks covered with thick hair. On the ears, curls tend to be open but very wavy. The inner ear flap is covered with hair. Tail covered with woolly, bristly hair. The coat should evenly follow the line of the dog. It may be longer on the head but must not obscure the eyes.

Colour Solid off-white; white with brown or orange markings; brown roan; solid brown (in different shades); solid orange. Brown or dark brown mask acceptable. Pigmentation ranges from light to very dark brown.

Size Height: males 43-48 cms (17-19 ins), ideal height 46 cms (18 ins). Females 41-46 cms (16-18 ins), ideal height 43 cms (17 ins). More than 1 cm above these heights highly undesirable.

Weight: males 13-16 kgs (28½ - 35 lbs); females 11-14 kgs (24-31 lbs).

Faults Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Note Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

Ok this is my first attempt at posting pics so fingers crossed!

Wow - have never seen one of these before. Absolutely beautiful dog - sorry not a real critique

Thanks. I hadn't heard of them until I went to Discover Dogs in 05 to look for a breed that would be right for me. A Lagotto ticked all the right boxes - they are lovely dogs (but then I am a biased!)

HAve you got a better picture of his head, face and side on, close up?

These were the best I could do of her head - cut from other pictures:







Any better?

Side on I can only zoom into to one from above:




There is this one as well:



Not sure if that helps or not!

Yes, thank you!

I looked at this breed a couple years ago at crufts and if Im honest I didnt much care for them, however, since then I have grown to like them quite a bit and chatted with owners for a long time this year at crufts whilst doing discover dogs.

I think she is a lovely bitch. Perhaps her topline could do with being a bit more level/sloping, but it could be the photo. I like her head and her eyes dont appear obscured by her coat (which is why I asked for the pics, the "wet" pic couldnt count as the coat will be heavy) Her coat looks very good, even individual curls and the correct longer looser curls on her head. She appears to have the desired strong muzzle, the correct tail length and a reasonable turn of stifle. Cracking!!

Id be interested if you have any working info on this breed and whether folk in the UK work them in any sphere. Thanks for putting her in this section.

Thankyou, I thought it would be nice to have a critique as I think she's great but I have no idea what I'm talking about! I would like to do some shows with her next year though.

I don't work mine (unless you count agility) but I have taken her to a water retieving day organized by the breed club and some of them were very good. I know one of her litter sisters is in a shooting home and is progressing well. The club also organizes an annual water test for all levels.

A few members of the breed club recently went over to Italy to learn more about training for tuffle hunting so I think that is something that the club is looking to encourage. I did Discover Dogs at Earls Court in November and one of the other Lagotto's had found their first truffle the day before.

Hope you do get to work them more over here, although we don't have many truffles in the UK!!

Very much like my breed in looks. Great to see some photo's.

Thaks for that Roo.