Talk:Spinone Italiano

Origin of the breed name
I would have guessed that the name "spinone" comes from the wired haired coat ("spina" in Italian means thorn, and its coat definitely reminds me of tough brush hairs). The current description for the name origin does not have any references, so I can't check whether this came from a reliable source. Just a thought. Besides, "pino" in Italian is the name of the pine tree, which does not grow at bush level anywhere (well, except on the wind swept beaches of Southern Italy). 173.206.231.136 (talk) 00:19, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

I agree with the comment above by 173.206.231.136. If you read the Italian language Wikipedia article on this dog breed, you'll see that there is no mention of the name, "spinone", being derived from "pino". The ONLY meaning for "pino" in Italian is "pine tree". However, there is an Italian noun, "spino", which means "thorn bush". Perhaps "spino" became "pino" by means of a typographical error by some non-Italian-speaking proofreader. (I've seen this same supposed derivation in "Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds" by D. Caroline Coile.) Also, the English language Wikipedia article says these dogs used to be referred to in some areas as "spinoso". In Italian "spinoso" is an adjective meaning "thorny or prickly", which could refer to the breed's coarse coat. To complicate matters further, the Spanish language Wikipedia article says that as the name implies, the breed is originally from the Piedmont region in northern Italy ("Región de Piamonte", in Spanish; "Regione di Piemonte", in Italian). Although there is a northern Italian town named "Spinone al Lago" ("Spinone on the Lake", in English), it is in Bergamo province in the Lombardy region ("Provincia di Bergamo, Regione di Lombardia"). In summation, "spinone" may be derived from "spino", "spinoso", or "Spinone al Lago", but it certainly isn't derived from "pino".