Italian Greyhound nutrition: body condition, bones and teeth

An Italian Greyhound at the right weight shows its hip bones, but not its ribs. That is the American Kennel Club's description: the hip bones should just be seen, and the ribs should be felt under a thin covering of flesh without being visible. The same page warns that it is easy to let these dogs become overweight. A slim sighthound outline tempts owners to add food, and on a dog weighing 3 to 6 kg a few extra treats a day are a large share of its calories.

The AKC gives a weight of 3 to 6.5 kg (7 to 14 lb), a height of 33 to 38 cm (13 to 15 in) and a lifespan of 13 to 15 years. It describes a short-coated, low-fat breed that needs extra attention in cold weather.

Calories and body condition

No study has measured energy needs in Italian Greyhounds, so feeding starts from the general formula in the Merck Veterinary Manual. Resting energy requirement (RER), in kcal per day, is 70 multiplied by body weight in kilograms raised to the power 0.75. An intact adult dog needs about 1.8 times RER, a neutered adult 1.6 times, and an adult that gains weight easily 1.4 times. Rounded to the nearest 5 kcal:

Puppies need about 3 times RER until four months of age and 2 times RER after that, which works out at roughly 285 kcal a day for a 1.5 kg puppy under four months and 320 kcal for a 3 kg puppy over four months. Merck notes that two dogs of the same weight can differ by as much as 30% in what they need, so the table is a first estimate. Weigh the dog on a kitchen or baby scale every few weeks, since a change of 200 g is hard to see but is 5% of a 4 kg dog.

Treats are the usual problem. Count them as part of the day's calories, use very small pieces for training, and take them out of the meal ration. A complete and balanced food for the dog's life stage covers its nutrient needs. The high-fat, calorie-dense feeding sometimes recommended for this breed suits only a dog that genuinely struggles to hold its weight, and a vet should check that dog first.

Cold and heat

With a thin coat and little body fat, an Italian Greyhound loses heat quickly. A coat or sweater for cold walks and a warm bed away from drafts do more than extra food. A dog that spends long periods in the cold may need a little more, adjusted by body condition. Heat is a risk too. In an Australian study of heat-related illness in dogs, the Italian Greyhound was among the breeds at higher risk than crossbreeds, and older dogs were at greater risk. On hot days, walk early or late and keep water and shade available.

Legs and bones

The AKC singles out broken legs. It says the Italian Greyhound is not as delicate as it looks, but that care is needed to avoid situations that could lead to a fracture. A common break in toy and miniature dogs is of the radius and ulna, the two bones of the forearm, and these fractures are harder to fix than they sound. A 2026 study of forearm fractures in dogs under 5 kg notes that distal radius and ulna fractures in toy and miniature breeds have high rates of delayed healing, failure to heal and re-fracture, so a dog that suddenly will not bear weight on a front leg needs prompt veterinary attention.

Prevention is mostly about the environment:

• Use ramps or steps for sofas and beds, especially for puppies and young dogs.
• Hold the dog securely, and put it down rather than letting it leap from arms.
• Keep rough play with bigger dogs supervised, and be careful at dog parks. The AKC advises supervision and separate areas for small dogs.
• Keep the dog at a lean weight, since extra weight adds load on landing.

Diet cannot make fine bones thick. A puppy food labeled complete and balanced for growth already provides the calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D a growing skeleton needs, and Merck puts the optimal calcium-to-phosphorus ratio for dogs at about 1.2 to 1.4 to 1. Extra calcium adds nothing. The real dietary risk is the opposite one: Merck notes that calcium deficiency occurs in dogs fed high- or all-meat diets, so homemade diets for puppies should be formulated by a veterinary nutritionist.

Teeth and gums

Dental care is the most important part of grooming for this breed, according to the AKC, which recommends brushing preferably every day and a veterinary dental cleaning yearly or as needed. Periodontal disease is common in the breed, and so is an inherited enamel defect. In a genetic study of Italian Greyhounds, 14% had enamel hypoplasia, with thin, rough, brownish-mottled enamel and small, pointed, widely spaced teeth, and 30% of dogs with normal teeth were carriers. The defect is recessive and a DNA test exists. It did not lead to serious fractures or cavities, and it was not related to periodontal disease, so dogs with normal enamel need the same brushing as affected dogs.

• Brush daily with a small soft brush or finger brush and a toothpaste made for dogs. Start in puppyhood with short sessions.
• Choose dental products carefully. Chews and diets carrying the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) seal have trial data for plaque or tartar control. Pick sizes made for toy dogs.
• Avoid bones and very hard chews. Small teeth fracture easily, and brushing does the cleaning without that risk.
• Plan for regular cleanings under anesthesia with dental X-rays, since some problems below the gumline only show on X-rays.

Bad breath, red gums, dropping food, chewing on one side or reluctance to eat hard food are reasons for a dental check before the next routine visit.

Digestion and feeding routine

Two or three small meals at regular times suit a dog with a small stomach. Change foods gradually over about a week. Stress from travel, boarding or changes at home can upset any sensitive dog's appetite or stools, and a stable routine helps more than frequent food changes.

Some Italian Greyhounds are picky. Offering a series of new foods to tempt a dog that refuses its meal makes any food intolerance harder to identify. Offer the meal, remove it after about 20 minutes, and offer it again at the next mealtime. The limit is health: a dog this small that eats nothing for a day, or has repeated vomiting or diarrhea, needs a vet. Limited-ingredient or hydrolyzed diets are tools for a diagnosed food intolerance or allergy, best used under a vet's guidance.

Screening, thyroid tests and surgery

The AKC lists hip dysplasia and Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, autoimmune thyroiditis, patellar luxation and eye disease, including progressive retinal atrophy, among the breed's health issues, and recommends patella, eye and thyroid evaluations for breeding dogs. Ask for the parents' results. A puppy or young dog that starts to limp on a hind leg should be seen promptly.

Thyroid results need care in any sighthound. In a 2010 study of 398 sighthounds diagnosed with hypothyroidism, three-quarters had been diagnosed on low thyroid hormone levels alone, and only 16% had a high TSH or thyroglobulin antibodies to support it. The healthy dogs measured in the same study were Salukis, and their normal total T4 range reached as low as 2.8 nmol/L. An Italian Greyhound with a low T4 but no weight gain, lethargy or coat change should have TSH and antibody testing before starting medication.

Before any surgery, including routine neutering or dental work with extractions, mention that the dog is a sighthound. Delayed bleeding after surgery is recognized in sighthound breeds and has been linked to a variant in the SERPINF2 gene, which affects how clots are broken down. A 2026 genotyping study found an Italian Greyhound with two copies of the variant and others with one. Ask the clinic whether testing or extra monitoring is advisable, and report new bruising or oozing from a wound promptly.

Sources

1. Italian Greyhound dog breed information. American Kennel Club.
2. Nutritional requirements of small animals. Merck Veterinary Manual.
3. Incidence and risk factors of heat-related illness in dogs from New South Wales, Australia (1997-2017). Australian Veterinary Journal, 2023.
4. Treatment of simple fractures of distal aspect of radius and ulna in miniature- and toy-breed dogs with locking plate in a non-rigid configuration: an observational study of 10 cases. Animals, 2026.
5. Simple recessive mutation in ENAM is associated with amelogenesis imperfecta in Italian Greyhounds. Animal Genetics, 2013.
6. Assessment of criteria used by veterinary practitioners to diagnose hypothyroidism in sighthounds and investigation of serum thyroid hormone concentrations in healthy Salukis. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2010.
7. Frequencies of the SERPINF2 c.605C>T variant implicated in delayed postoperative hemorrhage among dog breeds at a single referral center in Japan. The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science, 2026.