History of the Lagotto Romagnolo
Since Etruscan times (7th Century BCE) a little breed of duck retriever has existed as a distinct type of dog in the vast marshlands of Romagna in north-eastern Italy. The Etruscan necropolis of Spina (near Ferrara) contains updated representations of hunting and fishing which consistently include a dog like the current Lagotto Romagnolo.
 Painting from the 1600s shows an almost perfectly conformed Lagotto Romagnolo as the subject of a painting by il Guercino" Giovanni Francesco Barbieri. | ||
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For centuries the Lagotto was used to help hunt waterfowl but when large-scale draining of the marshland started towards the end of the nineteenth century, the age-old function of the Lagotto started to change. The vast flocks of waterfowl disappeared and the Romagnolo increasingly used their dogs for searching for the much prized and very valuable underground tuber known as a truffle. The evidence primarily locates the Lagotto along the East coast of the Italian peninsula, raging from Ravenna in the South, through Comacchio, the Venice lowlands, and North to Friuli and the Istria cape.
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| Frescoes of the Bridal Suite of Palazzo Ducale dei Gonzaga di Mantova, created by Andrea Mantegna in 1456 |
From the 16th century onwards books on folklore, local culture, customs and hunting are full of citations that mention the utilization of a small curly-coated dog used to retrieve water game.
Painting from the 1600s shows an almost perfectly conformed Lagotto Romagnolo as the subject of a painting by il Guercino" Giovanni Francesco Barbieri.
Thought to be the most ancient and the possible ancestor of all the water dogs, the Lagotto is a small to medium sized dog distinguished by his curly, water resistant coat.
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| Self-portrait in oriental attire with dog, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1631. |
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| Bartholomeus van der Helst: Portrait of a Man, 1644. |
Post 16th century we continue to find descriptions and drawings of hairy dogs in arts & literature.
The name Lagotto derives from the dog’s original purpose. In the local Romagna dialect “Cán lagót” means “hairy water dog”. Originally the Lagotto was used as a guard dog, protecting dwellings and real property. Towards the end of the 19th century, the Lagotto began its training as a locator of truffles. Ease of training, combined with an acute sense of smell, quickly turned the breed into an excellent locator of truffles.
By 1920, the Lagotto was known in Romagnolo Apennines, Valle del Senio, and Valle del lamone, however principally in Valle di Santerno. Despite this renown, there was little interest in establishing the dog as a pure breed.
As late as the 1970s, a group of Romagnan enthusiast (Quintino Toschi, Prof. Francesco Ballotta, Dr. Antonio Morsiani, and Lodovico Babini) decided to establish this dog as a recognized breed.
In 1988 they established C.I.L (Club Italiano Lagotto). In 1995 after many long years of work, the breed was officially recognized by the F.C.I.
A lagotto romagnolo Orca, bred in Croatia, has been crowned best in show at the 2023 Crufts dog show in the first ever win for the breed.
