Home / Breeds / Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso
Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso
Calm, sociable, musical and single minded on a trail. From Italy.
Houndmedium breedItalyStandards checked
Standards checked: this profile's facts are checked against the breed standards of the AKC, The Kennel Club and the FCI, as described on our methodology page.
Gallery
Real photos from licensed sources only, each credited to its creator.
.JPG){kind=link}
Photos show different individual dogs from licensed libraries, not one dog growing up. Stage labels are approximate, the way a careful editor would judge them.
About the Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso
Italy produced the Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso, a medium sized scent hound bred to follow scent trails for hours, on game from rabbits to boar, baying so hunters can follow. The nose is in charge outdoors and the stomach indoors: this breed needs scent games, steady training and strict portion control.
History
Scent hound packs were the engine of mounted and foot hunting across Europe for a thousand years, and most of today's breeds descend from those great kennels. The AKC recognizes the breed today, and its standard is the reference most US breeders work to.
Personality
Calm, sociable, musical and single minded on a trail is the record's Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso: the smooth coated form of Italy's ancient hare hound, the Segugio Italiano, a breed whose elegance is carved into Renaissance art and whose voice is the soundtrack of the Italian hare hunt. Segugi are gentle, capable and notably devoted, with a fine nose, a famous musical cry and a sculptural build. Puppies are bright, fawn charmers; adults are athletic, devoted companions. Owners describe the complete Italian hound: antiquity, music and sweetness in a dog built like a classical statue.
Temperament and traits
Energy (4/5)
Trainability (3/5)
Grooming needs (2/5)
Shedding (3/5)
Barking (4/5)
Good with children: Good with children
With other dogs: Good with dogs
With strangers: Friendly with strangers
Apartment life: With enough exercise
Coat and care
Coat: Short and smooth over the entire body.
Colors: Standard colors: fawn, from dark red to very pale.
Measure meals rather than free feeding; this breed does best on a routine of consistent meals, training in short sessions and daily exercise matched to its type. The easiest coat in dogs: a weekly brush with a rubber mitt and the occasional bath. Long ears drag through everything and need weekly cleaning. Weight creeps up silently in this food loving type, so weigh monthly.
Exercise and grooming
Exercise
Sixty to ninety minutes a day of Italian hunting exercise: the Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso is the smooth coated variety of Italy's great hare hound (its rough coated sibling, the Pelo Forte, has its own page on this site), an ancient breed type celebrated since the Renaissance for its voice, nose and statue like build. Long hikes, tracking and scent games fill the programme. The nose is in charge outdoors and the stomach indoors, per the overview: scent games, steady training and strict portion control are the deal. Puppies need gradual building. A worked Segugio is a calm, devoted house dog of unusual elegance.
Grooming
The easiest coat in dogs: a weekly brush with a rubber mitt and the occasional bath, in the care notes' own words, for the short and smooth fawn coat. Long ears drag through everything and need weekly cleaning, per the notes. Weight creeps up silently in this food loving type, so weigh monthly and measure meals rather than free feeding. Nails need trims, teeth benefit from brushing. Puppies need kind ear handling habits from the start. Owners rate the grooming as nearly effortless.
Training and daily life
Training
Train the Segugio with food, patience and respect for the nose. The nose is in charge outdoors and the stomach indoors, per the overview, so lessons are paid in excellent food and kept short and clear. Recall exists in two states, reliable when the nose is idle and fictional when it is trailing, so the goal is management plus manners: secure areas, long lines, an emergency response and excellent household skills. Tracking formalises the profession. Kindness and clarity produce a polished, devoted companion.
Living with a Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso
The Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso suits active households, in country or town with the programme delivered, that want Italy's classical hare hound in its smooth form: calm, sociable, musical and single minded on a trail in the record's portrait, good with children, good with other dogs and friendly with strangers. It rates flats as possible with the full hunting programme genuinely delivered. Expect a companionable, elegant dog that treats every walk as an Italian detective story. Owners describe a hound of antiquity and quality: the smooth Segugio, a Renaissance statue that sings.
What a Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso costs
Food cost
About $34 per month for a typical 53 lb adult eating roughly 3.2 cups a day of a standard quality food ($1.60 per lb). Full breakdown in our food expense calculator.
Activity and exercise
Plan 60 to 90 minutes a day of walks, play and training. Under exercised dogs of most breeds invent their own projects, and they rarely pick good ones.
Insurance cost
Typical US range $35 to $62 per month for accident and illness cover. Estimate only, based on market ranges for this breed's risk profile; see the insurance estimator and the insurance guide.
On the monthly figures above, a typical adult year runs to about $411 for food and $420 to $744 for insurance, before routine vet care, grooming and gear. Year one costs more: vaccinations, spay or neuter surgery, a crate, bedding and training all land at once.
Growth: puppy to senior
How weight typically builds with age for a medium breed, and when full size arrives.
| Stage | Age | Typical weight |
|---|---|---|
| Puppy | 8 weeks | about 6 to 9 lb |
| Puppy | 4 months | about 14 to 20 lb |
| Young | 6 months | about 23 to 32 lb |
| Young | 9 months | about 33 to 46 lb |
| Adult | 12 months | about 39 to 55 lb |
| Adult | 18 months | about 44 to 62 lb |
| Adult | Full grown | 44 to 62 lb (standard range) |
| Senior | From about 8 years | Healthy weight stays in the adult range; watch for slow gain or loss |
Growth pattern follows the size class growth curves published by the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, applied to the adult weight range in the breed standard. Individual puppies vary; steady growth matters more than hitting any single number, and your vet's growth checks come first.
Life stages
Puppies need socialisation, ear care habituation, gradual exercise building and secure fencing audited before the nose fully engages. Adolescents are at maximum stamina and curiosity, and tracking plus long lines carries the household through. Adults enjoy a long, sturdy prime: eleven to fourteen years. Keep weight measured, ears clean and the Italian countryside walks serious. Senior status arrives around nine to ten: twice yearly checks, joint friendly exercise and continued sniffy rambles. Old Segugi stay calm, musical and devoted.
Health
Hip screening and eye checks are the standards for scent hounds, and the long ears need watching for infection. Keeping this food loving type lean is itself a health measure.
Conditions to know about
- Hip dysplasia: Hip screening is a standard for scent hounds, per the record. Ask for scores in writing, and keep this statue of a hound lean.
- Eye conditions: Eye checks are the other standard named in the record. Ask for current results for both parents.
- Ear infections: The long ears need watching for infection, in the record's words: weekly cleaning is the prevention, and head shaking or ear odour books the vet visit.
- Weight management: Keeping this food loving type lean is itself a health measure, per the record. Strict portion control, in the overview's words, and monthly weighing.
Facts follow the Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso breed standard (AKC, The Kennel Club and FCI standards agree on the essentials for this breed). Health notes summarize the conditions breed clubs and veterinary bodies most often flag for this breed. They are general information for choosing and caring, not a diagnosis or a substitute for your vet.
Gear for Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso owners
Our team is hands on testing products for this guide right now. Recommendations will only appear here after real testing, and this module will always carry a plain affiliate disclosure at the top.
Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso questions
How long do Segugio Italiano a Pelo Rasos live?
A typical lifespan is 11 to 14 years. Weight control, dental care and screening for the breed's known conditions give a dog the best chance of reaching the top of that range.
How much does it cost to keep a Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso?
Food for a typical adult runs about $34 a month at a standard quality tier, and accident and illness insurance usually falls between $35 and $62 a month in the US. Try the full cost calculator for a complete year one and yearly picture.
Are Segugio Italiano a Pelo Rasos good with children?
Good with children. As with every breed, supervise dogs and children together and teach children to respect the dog's space.
How much exercise does a Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso need?
Plan on 60 to 90 minutes a day, split between walks, play and training games. Puppies and seniors need gentler, shorter sessions.
Segugio a Pelo Raso or a Pelo Forte, what is the difference?
Coat only: the Pelo Raso is the smooth coated variety (this page), the Pelo Forte the rough coated one, recognised as separate breeds in Italy with their own pages here. Everything else, the ancient hare hound underneath, is shared.
How old is the Segugio Italiano?
Among Europe's oldest hound types: dogs of its stamp appear in Italian art and writing from the Renaissance and arguably antiquity, and the modern breed counts its fanciers in the hundreds of thousands in Italy, where it is one of the most popular hunting dogs.
Are Segugi good family dogs?
Yes, increasingly kept as such in Italy: calm and sociable in the record's pattern, gentle and devoted. Real hunting exercise and scent work are the conditions.