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THE BREED
Get to know the Podengo

The Portuguese Podengo is The National Breed of Portugal.
 
They come in three sizes, Small, Medium and Large.
 
The small Podengo has been known since the 15th Century.
 
Classified in Europe by the FCI as a Primitive Breed and shown in Group 5 at European Shows. They are classified in the Hound Group in the UK.
 
The Small Podengo was first imported into the UK in 2002 and the breed was recognised by The Kennel Club on 1st October 2003. There are now over 300 small Podengos in the UK both Smooth and Wire coat varieties.
 
The Portuguese Podengo Pequeno is the smallest of the three sizes of the Podengo breed. ’Podengo’ means Rabbit Hunter and Warren Hound. ‘Pequeno’ means small.
In each of the three sizes there is a smooth and wire coat variety, and both coat types require very little grooming. The coat is progressive, and any shedding hair is combed out, leaving very few hairs around the house. The breed is shown untrimmed. The tail is never docked.
 
The Small Podengo was used to control vermin around the house and provide food for the table, they hunt by sight, sound and smell, and still retain their hunting instincts. Believed to be to be the smallest hunting dog, they are still used extensively in Portugal for hunting, and are either used singly or in a small pack.
 
What they lack in size they make up for in character. A small dog with a big heart. A superb companion dog, due to their obedient, friendly disposition. Very agile, lively and alert. Due to their small size they are equally at home in the town as well as the country.
Happy, loyal attentive and fearless, a very good house guard, easy to keep, good with children and other dogs, they love attention and are very playful.
They are very intelligent and are very quick to learn.
 
Renowned as a Hunting Dog, Guarding Dog and Pet Dog.
 
Life expectancy of a small Podengo is around 12 to 16 years.
 
Height is 8 to 12 inches or 20 cms to 30 cms.
Weight 8 ¾ lbs to 11 lbs or 4 to 5 kgs.
 
Colour. Any colour. Fawn and Yellow in all shades with or without white markings being predominant.


More about the Podengo.

Portuguese Podengo Pequeno

Appearance

  • WIRE COAT

The WPP is a small-sized type with a rough coat. The single coat (without undercoat) does shed but not very much.

  • SMOOTH COAT

The SPP is a small-sized type with a dense smooth single layer coat that is extremely low maintenance. It naturally sheds dust and dirt and dries very quickly. The single coat (without undercoat) does shed but not very much.

Temperament

Both kinds of Podengo Pequeno are small, friendly, hardy, lively and intelligent companions. They are very active and usually good with children and other animals when socialized from an early age. They enjoy time with their human family.

Like their Medio relatives, they are very watchful and observant and will bark when something gets their attention. They enjoy digging and sunshine and must have a secure enclosed fence. The Podengo Pequeno is trained well with positive techniques and should be kept on leash all of the time during training as they can be quite autonomous and have their own ideas about what constitutes proper behavior. They can be remarkably silly in the home, running around and jumping off furniture with abandon, therefore care must be taken to not allow them free roam of the house or hurting themselves by jumping from too high a perch. A walk with many Pequenos can be a delight and they will continually come back to the owner to make sure they are coming along.

History

The Portuguese Podengo Pequeno accompanied Portuguese explorers on their ships for ratting purposes after the Portuguese took back their country from the Moors in the 11th century, (after the Moorish 400 year occupation).

Wire Coat Pequenos were first shown in the United States in 2001. Smooth Pequenos were first shown in the United States in 2003.

Wire Coat Pequenos were first imported to the UK in 2002. The smooth coated Pequeno followed in 2004.

Most (80%)of the purebred Portuguese Podengos in the United States consist of the Pequeno size, and most of these (75%) are of the wire coat variety.