The Segugio dell'Appennino or Piccolo Lepraiolo Italiano is an Italian

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of small

scenthound Canton_of_Bern.html" ;"title="Franz Rudolf Frisching in the uniform of an officer of the Canton of Bern">Bernese Huntsmen Corps with his Berner Laufhund, painted by Jean Preudhomme in 1785 Scent hounds (or scenthounds) are a Dog type, type of h ...

, bred specifically to hunt

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

. It may be either smooth-haired or wire-haired. It is one of four Italian breeds of scenthound, the others being the Segugio Italiano a Pelo Forte, the Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso and the Segugio Maremmano. It received full recognition from the

Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana The , usually known as the ENCI, is the national organisation responsible for the recognition, standardisation and registration of pedigree dogs in Italy. It is sometimes called the Italian Kennel Club. The association provides judging for dog s ...

in 2010; it is not recognised by the

Fédération Cynologique Internationale The (; FCI; ) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs and purebred registries. The FCI is based in Thuin, Belgium and has 98 members and contract partners (one from each country). History The FCI was founded in 1911 un ...

History

The Segugio dell'Appennino was described as a breed or type distinct from other Italian dogs of ''segugio'' type in 1882, in an article in the magazine ''La Caccia Illustrata''. A

breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include phenotype, physical or morphology (biology), morphological detail, genotype, g ...

was drawn up by the

in 2005, and the breed received full recognition in 2010. From 2013 to 2022 the number of annual registrations varied from 205 to 414. In 2015 an analysis of

microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain Sequence motif, DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organ ...

data found no significant

genetic distance Genetic distance is a measure of the genetics, genetic divergence between species or between population#Genetics, populations within a species, whether the distance measures time from common ancestor or degree of differentiation. Populations with ...

between the Segugio dell'Appennino and the Segugio Maremmano.

References

Hounds Dog breeds originating in Italy Hunting dogs {{dog-stub