A medium-sized hunting hound with a coat that can be rough or smooth, in a range of colours from cream to red and black and tan, the Segugio Italiano is a very active dog with considerable stamina.

In his native Italy, he was originally used to flush boar rather than actually catch his prey, but as boars are not present in great numbers in modern Italy, he is now used more often to find hares and spring them to the gun. The breed is rare in the UK: it made its first appearance here in 1989 and numbers have been very small ever since.

Temperamentally, the Segugio Italiano is a quiet breed, tending towards cautious, though his natural intelligence makes him relatively trainable.