Portuguese Podengo
A Portuguese rabbit hound kept in three sizes and two coats, and the smallest hunts by going into the burrow itself. Ancient, and still working in Portugal.
Photo by Томасина, CC BY-SA 3.0
Overview
The Portuguese Podengo comes in three sizes and two coats, and the sizes do genuinely different jobs. The Pequeno, the smallest, was bred to go into rabbit burrows, while the Medio and Grande course and hunt above ground.
It is an ancient Iberian hunting type that works by sight, scent and hearing together, and it has large upright ears and a lean athletic build across all three sizes.
Temperament
Lively, clever and independent. Podengos are affectionate with their families and reserved with strangers, and they are alert watchdogs.
They are hunting dogs with a real prey drive and a real inclination to roam, and recall is unreliable. They are intelligent and they get bored, and they are diggers and climbers. They are also more biddable than most primitive breeds.
Care and grooming
Smooth coats need a weekly rub down and wire coats need brushing plus occasional hand stripping. Both are low maintenance.
The breed is generally healthy with a working gene pool and no widely documented breed specific condition. Twelve to fourteen years.
Living and exercise
An hour to an hour and a half a day depending on size, plus a secure fence.
They are rare outside Portugal. The Pequeno suits a flat given exercise, and the Grande needs considerably more space and work.
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