This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, September 2018 issue.
This past October, my friend Laurin Howard and I—both members of the LRCA’s judges education committee and the breed revision committee—had the opportunity to take a memorable trip to Italy. Our goal was to clarify our thinking on the Breed Standard, and it was a historic time to do so. October marked the 30th anniversary show for the Club Italiano Lagotto (CIL).
One of the most interesting aspects of our ancient breed is how modern its history is. In the 1970s, a group of dog fanciers led by Quintino Toschi recognized the need to save the breed, which had been bred primarily for hunting truffles in the Italian hillside. While the breed had been kept alive, it was not necessarily “pure,” as truffle hunters bred the dogs to provide income for their families.
Joined by another Lagotto enthusiast, Kathy Hollinger, we aimed to speak with as many Italian experts about the breed and its standard as possible. We understood that for many original founders of the breed—some now in their 80s—this might be our last opportunity to answer questions and clarify our understanding. We attended two FCI shows (one featuring a Lagotto specialty) on the first weekend, visited six kennels during the week, and met many more breeders at the 30th Anniversary Show itself. It became clear that all the founders believed a true Lagotto must work, specifically in truffle finding.
One of our first visits was to the home of Mario and Piera Morara. In their 80s, the Moraras are probably the most fit couple you’ll ever meet, lending credence to the idea that truffles are a magical fungus that imparts health and well-being! We spent the morning viewing pictures and learning about their original dogs. “Arno,” a beautiful white male whose photo hung in their living room, would be competitive in any show ring today. I asked Sr. Morara about the most important characteristics of a working dog. His priority list was:
When selecting a Lagotto puppy, Sr. Morara emphasized that Character was the most crucial feature, followed by work ethic/potential, then intelligence, and physical traits such as a large nose. He also stressed the importance of the head’s morphology, including correctly placed and sized eyes, and a pedigree that suggested intelligence and potential for good work. Laurin showed him our new Judges Education brochure and got his feedback on the accuracy of our drawings.
Our next visits were to Fabrizio Cairo of Monte della Dea Kennel and Luca Rondinini of de Campo Leone Kennel. Both men have been breeding dogs that excel in the ring and in the field for years. They also treated us to a variety of delicious truffle dishes! Did I mention we enjoyed a lot of great food on this trip?
Monte Della Dea Kennel is located high on a hillside. During the summer months, there is an “infected” olive orchard that is expected to yield truffles in the coming years. Cairo is a full-time “first responder,” not a truffle hunter, but truffle hunting is a high priority on his days off. Most impressive were the older dogs. I had the chance to meet the grandfather of my foundation bitch, still going strong and looking good at 14 years of age.
At de Campo Leone, we saw a couple of the most famous dogs of the breed: Riki de Monte della Dea and Nutella. We also had the chance to see a litter of five-week-old puppies. Luca introduced us to all his dogs, discussed the puppies and their attributes, and promised we could follow his younger dogs on the weekend at the truffle hunt. More on that later!
No fact-finding mission would be complete without a study visit with Gilberto Grandi. Sr. Grandi is another of the breed’s founders. Originally a greyhound breeder, he was approached by Quintino Toschi with the famous words, “We must save the Lagotto Romagnolo.”
As many know, we are in a period where the AKC will allow us our first tweak to the AKC standard. The Club Italiano Lagotto (CIL) experienced a terrible surprise several years ago when the FCI standard was rewritten without their input, and they were horrified by the outcome. We wanted to ensure they knew we still respected the original standard and wanted to clarify it for AKC judges. We spent considerable time working on the language of the standard with Sr. Grandi, who speaks impeccable English. We aimed to avoid any errors in translation and be succinct without being vague. Sr. Grandi honored us by conducting his entire breed presentation in English. Among other things, he is a master at Photoshop, taking the same nearly perfect dog through various alterations (too rectangular, too short in croup, too short in loin, ribcage, leg). It was a great visual learning tool, and we hope to convince him to use some of those slides ourselves.
We also inquired about the rumor that, before FCI acceptance of the breed, the club had to prove a certain number of distinctly different bloodlines. Not having enough, they “chopped off” the ends of pedigrees to meet the requirement. “Yes,” he said with an impish grin, “that is true.” This is one reason some countries are hesitant to line-breed, as the true pedigree of dogs in the fourth and fifth generations is uncertain.
For American Lagotto owners, there is a description in the standard that says the breed is “undemanding.” No one who owns a Lagotto for even five minutes would agree with that! Sr. Grandi mentioned that this is partly an error in translation. It should be closer to “easy,” which seemed to describe “easy-going,” “adaptable,” “accepting,” or “not needing a lot.” Most dogs in Italy are kept as kennel dogs, so it may refer to their ability to cope with that level of contact. We’ll continue looking for a better term, but it’s reassuring to know that “undemanding” isn’t accurate and that our dogs are not unusually different from the norm.
This year’s Raduno (literally “gathering”) saw a record entry of 240 dogs in the conformation rings and 140 in the truffle hunt. Sr. Grandi judged the females, and Giovanni Morsiani judged the males. Sr. Morsiani’s father is the author of the original Italian standard, and he himself is acknowledged as one of the important founders of our breed, although his own breed is St. Bernards. The two men together judged Best of Breed and the crucial categories: Best Head, Best Coat, and Best Construction and Movement—a triad of the most important morphological features in Lagotto (and something we have adopted for our National Specialty as well). The depth of quality in the dogs will be talked about for a long time, especially the quality of dogs from Scandinavia. Fourteen countries participated in the event, which was eventually won by the very beautiful Swedish bitch, Blixtra Contessa.
Another interesting event was the presentation of non-pedigree truffle dogs for evaluation. It was explained to me that if these dogs, after being measured and critiqued, were found acceptable and could prove themselves by earning a truffle certificate, they could be accepted into the Italian stud book as dogs with a zero-generation pedigree. This could then be bred from, enriching the gene pool.
The final day of the Raduno was the truffle hunt. As promised, we followed Luca Rondinini as he trialed two of his young dogs, Origano and Lucky. Truffle hunting “classes” (junior dog, puppy dogs, open males, etc.) are stationed over the mountainside, with each class having a cordoned-off area to search and 15 minutes to work. To receive a rating, the dog must find at least two truffles (areas are “salted” with truffles to ensure there is something to find) and must not eat the truffles before the handler reaches him. Watching Rondinini warm up Origano was very much like watching a top obedience competitor prepare to step into the ring. First, he took a piece of truffle from his vest and got the dog excited about it. Then, he had us hold the dog while he buried the piece of truffle and encouraged at de Campo Leone, we were able to see a couple of the most famous dogs of the breed: Riki de Monte della Dea and Nutella. We also had the chance to observe a litter of five-week-old puppies. Luca introduced us to all his dogs, went over the puppies and their attributes, and promised that we could follow his younger dogs on the weekend at the truffle hunt. More on that later!
No fact-finding mission would be complete without a study visit with Gilberto Grandi. Sr. Grandi, one of the breed’s founders, was originally a greyhound breeder and was approached by Quintino Toschi with the words, “We must save the Lagotto Romagnolo.”
We are currently in a period where the AKC will allow us our first adjustment to the AKC standard. The Club Italiano Lagotto (CIL) had a significant shock a few years ago when the FCI standard was rewritten without their input, leading to a result they were horrified by. We wanted to ensure that they knew we still respected the original standard and aimed to clarify it for AKC judges. We spent considerable time working on the language of the standard with Sr. Grandi, who speaks impeccable English. We worked to avoid any errors in translation and ensure that the standard was clear without being vague. Sr. Grandi honored us by conducting his entire breed presentation in English. Among his many skills, he is a master at Photoshop, and he demonstrated how the same nearly perfect dog could be altered in various ways (too rectangular, too short in croup, too short in loin, ribcage, leg). It was an excellent visual learning tool, and we hope to persuade him to use some of those slides ourselves.
We also asked about a rumor that, prior to FCI acceptance of the breed, the club had to prove a certain number of distinctly different bloodlines. Lacking enough, they “chopped off” the ends of pedigrees to meet the requirement. “Yes,” he said with an impish grin, “that is true.” This is one reason some countries are hesitant to line-breed, as the true pedigree of dogs in the fourth and fifth generations is uncertain.
For American Lagotto owners, a description in the standard says the breed is “undemanding.” No one who owns a Lagotto for even five minutes would agree with that! Sr. Grandi explained that this is partly an error in translation. It should be closer to “easy,” which could mean “easy-going,” “adaptable,” “accepting,” or “not needing a lot.” Since most dogs in Italy are kept as kennel dogs, this may refer to their ability to cope with that level of contact. We’ll continue searching for a better term, but it’s reassuring to know that “undemanding” isn’t accurate, and our dogs are not unusually different from the norm.
This year’s Raduno (literally “gathering”) saw a record entry of 240 dogs in the conformation rings and 140 in the truffle hunt. Sr. Grandi judged the females, and Giovanni Morsiani judged the males. Sr. Morsiani’s father is the author of the original Italian standard, and he himself is acknowledged as one of the important founders of our breed, although his own breed is St. Bernards. Together, they judged Best of Breed and the crucial categories: Best Head, Best Coat, and Best Construction and Movement—a triad of the most important morphological features in Lagotto (and something we have adopted for our National Specialty as well). The depth of quality in the dogs will be talked about for a long time, especially the quality of dogs from Scandinavia. Fourteen countries participated in the event, which was eventually won by the very beautiful Swedish bitch, Blixtra Contessa.
Another interesting event was the presentation of non-pedigree truffle dogs for evaluation. It was explained that if these dogs were measured and critiqued, and found acceptable, and could prove themselves by earning a truffle certificate, they could be accepted into the Italian stud book as dogs with a zero-generation pedigree. This could then be bred from, enriching the gene pool.
The final day of the Raduno featured the truffle hunt. As promised, we followed Luca Rondinini as he trialed two of his young dogs, Origano and Lucky. Truffle hunting “classes” (junior dog, puppy dogs, open males, etc.) are stationed over the mountainside, with each class having a cordoned-off area to search and 15 minutes to work. To receive a rating, the dog must find at least two truffles (areas are “salted” with truffles to ensure there is something to find) and must not eat the truffles before the handler reaches him. Watching Rondinini warm up Origano was very much like watching a top obedience competitor prepare to step into the ring. First, he took a piece of truffle from his vest and got the dog excited about it. Then he had us hold the dog while he buried the piece of truffle and encouraged him to find it.
All of the work was done in a “pure positive” manner. Luca explained that the dog had much more practice on black truffle and needed to ensure he recognized the scent of white truffle on this day. Although he was a young, green dog, Origano successfully found his two truffles within the timeframe. Watching him weave through the branches and cover, it was evident why the dog must be both agile and strong to work effectively, and not too large to maneuver through tight spots.
When observing the second dog, Lucky, we anticipated a stellar performance. He found one truffle during his pre-run “poop” and another while in the holding area. However, his young age and excitement led to some zoomies in the forest. We stepped back to give him space to regain his composure, but it was not his day. He hadn’t yet developed the focus that Sr. Morara emphasized as an important characteristic for a truffle dog.
One of our final activities was to review the Judges Education handout with Sr. Morsiani and present him with the newly articulated standard, asking for his blessing or criticism.
As our 10-day odyssey came to an end, we made one final stop in Bologna at the renowned Casa Cleo Kennel of Luciano Landi. Sr. Landi, another early founder of the breed, almost ceased breeding in the 1990s after the loss of his wife. However, other breeders, notably Antonio Morsiani, encouraged him to continue, emphasizing that the breed needed him. Just this year, one of his young dogs won Jr. Best of Breed at the World Dog Show, ensuring his legacy will continue even after he retires.
With Sr. Grandi’s help translating, we examined dogs on the table. Sr. Landi communicated that a dog that was too soft was not one he wanted in his breeding program. The walls lined with famous pictures of the past allowed us to match names to faces of dogs we had seen but never known the identity of. It was a perfect end to our trip, having the opportunity to do an impromptu “hands-on” evaluation of why one dog was better than another. However, Sr. Landi is continually refining his breeding program and still brings in new dogs, some with only one or two generation pedigrees. Unfortunately, if imported, these dogs could not be shown.
As you might imagine, seeing the dogs in action for the activities for which they were bred and speaking with leading Italian breeders was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The sheer number of quality dogs we observed and interacted with was something only achievable during this special anniversary show. We hope it will enhance our ability to articulate to American judges why certain aspects of the standard are emphasized and how the distinct Lagotto form is designed for the role of the world’s foremost truffle hunter. Stay tuned for our updated standard in the coming year.
