About Us
Welcome to Bonario Bracchi Italiani I hope you enjoy your visit and learn a little about my dogs. I have been involved in the dog world for nearly 40 years now and have enjoyed many of the canine pursuits both as a pastime and as a competitor. My dogs have been placed in both Working competition and Agility; have achieved their KC Good Citizen Gold. Their successes in the show ring can be seen on their individual pages. On a personal level I have judged both Bracchi and Spinoni at Championship level and passed to award CC’s in both. I have also judged the Gundog group at Open level. I am very proud and honoured to be judging Spinoni at Crufts in 2020 and Bracchi in 2022. But first and foremost I am proud to be an owner of and to be owned by such an ancient and noble breed. My love of animals in general and dogs in particular has always been there, as a child I would beg to be allowed to exercise my neighbours and friends dogs. Our first family dog was a Boxer x Dalmatian, his name was Rebel and if ever a name suited a dog it was him. I have also owned a Labrador, a Cocker, a Great Dane and an Irish Wolfhound. In 1986 the first of many Spinoni, an Abbeystag from the late Sheila Gray, joined us and our kennel name Bonario was granted by the KC. I knew Liz and Jonathan Shaw (Sentling) through the Spins and had admired their Bracchi. It was 1998 when I first started looking into the breed, watching ringside and learning all I could about them. Yes, they had much in common with the Spins but they seemed to have a bit more about them, mentally and physically. As I enjoy other canine pursuits they seemed to fit my ideal, an added bonus was their appearance; I still find them one of the most beautiful breeds to watch and their movement, the 'trotto spinto' can take your breath away. Having made the decision and spoken to Liz and Jonathan I was then to wait until 2001 for my fabulous Riley, Sentling Acquaro at Bonario, to arrive. Now, in 2020, I have 7 Bracchi, the youngest three being my fourth generation. In them we see Gt Grandsire Riley, Gt Grandmother Nuala & Grandmother Sorcha, keeping their memories alive. In '14 we lost Reuben our stunning Italian import at only 2 years old, such a tradgedy and a great loss to the UK gene pool, hopefully that will be remedied this year as we have his semen. I am also proud to have provided the foundation bitches for several kennels - Primo in Ireland, Laumidorn and Madreliath in the UK. I travel to Italy as frequently as possible to see Bracchi in their country of origin, both in the working environment and in the show ring. My aim is to continue to learn about the breed and its bloodlines thereby ensuring my stock retains its working ability whilst conforming to the Italian standard and to that end we have, over the years, imported three males to the UK each bringing new lines. Also taking Sorcha to Italy to mate her bringing in new lines again.

Welcome to Bonario Bracchi Italiani I hope you enjoy your visit and learn a little about my dogs. 


I have been involved in the dog world for 40 years now and have enjoyed many of the canine pursuits both as a pastime and as a competitor. My dogs have been placed in both Working competition and Agility; have achieved their KC Good Citizen Gold. Their successes in the show ring can be seen on their individual pages. On a personal level I have judged both Bracchi and Spinoni at Championship level and passed to award CC’s in both. I have also judged the Gundog group at Open level. I am very proud and honoured to have judged Spinoni at Crufts in 2020 and will be judging Bracchi in 2022.


But first and foremost I am proud to be an owner of and to be owned by such an ancient and noble breed.

My love of animals in general and dogs in particular has always been there, as a child I would beg to be allowed to exercise my neighbours and friends dogs. Our first family dog was a Boxer x Dalmatian, his name was Rebel and if ever a name suited a dog it was him. I have also owned a Labrador, a Cocker, a Great Dane and an Irish Wolfhound. In 1986 the first of many Spinoni, an Abbeystag from the late Sheila Gray, joined us and our kennel name Bonario was granted by the KC.


It was 1991 when I first developed an interest in the breed. This interest grew as time went on, I began watching ringside and learning all I could about them. Yes, they had much in common with the Spins but they seemed to have a bit more about them, mentally and physically. As I enjoy other canine pursuits they seemed to fit my ideal, an added bonus was their appearance; I still find them one of the most beautiful breeds to watch and their movement, the 'trotto spinto' can take your breath away. Having made the decision I approached Liz and Jonathan Shaw (Sentling), who I knew through Spinoni. I was then to wait until 2001 for my fabulous Riley, Sentling Acquaro at Bonario, to arrive.


Now, in 2023, I have 5 Bracchi, the youngest Kiva being my fifth generation. In them we see Gt Grandsire Riley, Gt Grandmother Nuala & Grandmother Sorcha, keeping their memories alive. In '14 we lost Reuben our stunning Italian import at only 2 years old, such a tradgedy and a great loss to the UK gene pool. As we had stored his semen this has now been remedied, with the aid of UK Clone he gave us Kiva, Bonario Galatea in 2020. I am also proud to have provided the foundation bitches for several kennels - Primo in Ireland, Laumidorn and Madreliath in the UK.


I travel to Italy as frequently as possible to see Bracchi in their country of origin, both in the working environment and in the show ring. My aim is to continue to learn about the breed and its bloodlines thereby ensuring my stock retains its working ability whilst conforming to the Italian standard and to that end we have, over the years, imported three males to the UK each bringing new lines. Also taking Sorcha and Fi to Italy for matings which brought new lines to our kennel.
Share by: