Bracco Italiano

The Bracco Italiano is recognized as one of the oldest European pointing breeds, with origins tracing back to the 4th or 5th century BC. Though its exact ancestry remains unclear, it is believed to have descended from a mix of the extinct Segugio Italiano and Asiatic Mastiff. Developed in northern Italy, the breed originally existed in two distinct forms: the white-and-orange Piedmont variety and the roan-and-brown Lombard type. By the medieval era, the Bracco Italiano gained widespread popularity among Italian nobility, spreading across Europe. Its peak fame came during the Renaissance, but numbers declined sharply by the early 1900s due to poor breeding practices and crossings with other hounds, nearly leading to extinction. The Piedmontese Pointer, a lighter, white-and-orange dog bred for mountain hunting, contrasted with the heavier, brown roan Lombard Pointer suited for marshy terrain. In the 1920s, the two varieties were unified to preserve genetic diversity, and the breed’s modern standard was formalized in 1949 with the founding of the Societa Amatori Bracco Italiano. The breed arrived in the UK in the late 1980s and reached the US around 1994, gaining AKC Foundation Stock Service recognition in 2001. The Bracco Italiano Club of America was established in 2007, following the first national gathering in 2005.