Lagotto Romagnolo breed guide

Alert, intelligent and lively, Lagotto Romagnolos love to learn and to please their owners. They excel in agility, obedience and dock diving, since they naturally love water.

With their excellent nose they are natural candidates for scent work and search-and-rescue and the breed does not do well left to live alone outdoors.

Lagotto Romagnolos live 15 to 17 years. Breeders screen for juvenile epilepsy, storage disease and hip and elbow dysplasia and DNA testing helps avoid the diseases.

The rough-looking, waterproof coat forms thick, tight curls over the whole body except the head. It is hair and not fur, sheds only minimally, though little tufts may turn up now and then. It needs regular trimming. Some coats mat more than others.

The Lagotto Romagnolo is not hyper and does not need a great amount of exercise, but it does need both mental stimulation and physical activity and an active, engaged lifestyle.

Lagotto Romagnolos go back to at least Renaissance Italy, where they were bred as waterfowl retrievers working the marshlands of Ravenna and lago is Italian for lake.

For many years Lagotto Romagnolos have used an exceptional nose to find truffles in the Italian countryside and although many breeds may be trained for it AKC says the Lagotto Romagnolo is considered the world's finest truffle dog.