Arnaldo Cotugno

Italy

Born in Naples in 1972, I spent my childhood surrounded by farm animals of my aunts in their old country house. I spent all my free time helping out with the daily work that went into these animals, which taught me a lot about breeding and helped me develop an instinct for livestock. The first dog to come into my life was a German Shepard and was later followed by a Dalmatian. From the love of the arts sprang my passion for Whippets, and later, it was Whippets that led me to find my wife, Annalisa, who at the time owned Afghan Hounds and Great Danes as well. After having bred a few litters of Dachshunds and Whippets, we were taken by the latter and the first Whippet litter to be registered under our prefix, ‘Sobresalto’ was born in 1997. Our hugely successful Whippet was European Winner & Veteran World Winner, Int.Multi.Ch. Sobresalto Jamiroquai. Having sired 29 Champion offspring, ‘Jami’ was to become a highly influential sire in the breed.
Besides Italy I have judged in Australia, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Norway, Latvia, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic. I enjoy various other activities of the sport, too and in 2000, I became a board member of “Gruppo Cinofilo Partenopeo”, a regional kennel club and member of the ENCI (Italian Kennel Club), that covers the territory of our home area. In 2018 I was elected vice-President of the Italian Sighthound Club. Besides dogs I like sailing and cycling.