Brief History of the Breed in the UK

The first recorded visit by Spinone to these shores was by 2 males imported in the 1950’s by Semprini the musician. Unfortunately these dogs did not make a positive impact on the British dog scene and one died in kennels and the other one was transported back to Italy.

It was a further 20 odd years in 1981 before the breed became established when 4 dogs were imported into the UK by Dr. Ruth Tattersall and Mary Moore of the Odivane affix. Since then it has gone from strength to strength and since 1982 there has been over 5000 dogs registered with the Kennel Club. They were on the Rare Breed list until 1994 when they were given Championship status by the KC.

The breed although relatively new to this country is in fact an ancient breed of gundog in his country of origin, Italy where he is still a valued worker.