Through my passion for greyhounds/galgos and subsequent involvement in publicising the plight of the galgos in Spain, I have been introduced to the Podenco, a smaller dog used in Spain and the Spanish Islands for hunting rabbit. Whilst they are not abandoned each year in such huge numbers as the galgos, the life of a podenco runs parallel in many ways.
Through Galgo News I have met Lynne Fisher and Jackie Kennedy, who live on Lanzarote and are very involved with the SARA animal shelter and raising awareness of the problems faced by the podencos there. What you will read here also applies to the life of a podenco on mainland Spain too.
In the past year, I have been lucky enough to foster and rehome 2 delightful podencas, and have also adopted one of my own. Like the greyhound/galgo, they make wonderful pets.
What is a podenco?
There are several types of podenco, the best known being the Ibizan Hound or Podenco Ibicenco, found on the island of Ibiza. From there we go to the Podenco Andaluz, Podenco Manchengo, my own miniature Podenco Enano (seen above), Andaluz and the Podenco Canario.
Jacky Kennedy, a volunteer with the SARA shelter on the Canary Island of Lanzarote, describes the Podenco Canario.
Podenco Canario is the breed name of the Canarian rabbit hunting dog. They spend their lives either kept on very short chains or in dark sheds, only released from their toturously boring and hungry lives during the hunting season – which runs from August to December. They are then expected to hunt all day long in often burning temperatures to flush out rabbits for their master’s table. This they do without complaint, because they are desperate to please him, they crave his attention and would do anything for just one pat and a kind word.
(Jazmin, a rough-haired podenco from Spain)
Unfortunately for the majority, these kind words and acts of affection never arrive. After a hard day’s hunting, they are roughly loaded back into a small cage on the back of their master’s truck and taken home to be put back into that dark shed or tied up again on a very short chain, hungry, thirsty and tired, until the next hunt.
Many of these dogs get separated from the rest of the pack and find themselves all alone, with no idea where they are. The hunter will not waste his time looking for a dog who doesn’t return; they are two-a-penny and he can replace them easily. If a dog is not a particularly good hunter, or he is past his best, he will simply be driven out to a remote part of the Island, far from home, and left to fend for himself. Others are abandoned at the end of the hunting season, because their owner doesn’t want to bother with them for the rest of the year, he will get another one next hunting season.
(Podenco Canario)
The dogs are kept hungry because the hunters believe the dogs will hunt better if they are hungry. There are some instances of hanging, but these are becoming much less. A bigger problem here is poisoning. As so many of the dogs are lost or abandoned during the hunting season, the farmers who do not want stray dogs around put down a mix of either bread or ‘Gofio’ (maize flour) and insecticides and, in some cases, strychnine. It takes little imagination to comprehend the terrible death of a dog eating this.
Here’s an example of the Spanish attitude which has to be overcome. Jacky has a friend who found a small podenco puppy under a rubbish bin. He’s called Kellogs because he is the colour of a cornflake! He’s now 4 months old, and responding to his obedience training. Jacky’s friend had called into a local cafe bar with an outside seating area where she and her daughter sat with Kellogs whilst they ate lunch. 5 local men were also having lunch in the bar and they were all very interested in the puppy. Unbeknown to them, her daughter could understand every word they said. They were discussing the puppy. They said it could not be a true Podenco because they cannot be trained to sit and behave in such a manner. They said that Podenco’s are stupid dogs and cannot be trained. They also said ‘what are 2 women doing with a Podenco – they are a man’s dog’.
(Navidad – a podenca puppy at SARA waiting for a home)
Jacky says, ‘this is what we are up against – but it seems that we are getting them talking so it’s a start. Freda, my podenca, is still too nervous of Spanish men to take her into a bar but given more time she will get there and we will begin to change the minds of these ignorant men who just do not know what an intelligent, loving and wonderful animal thay have on the end of a chain’.
SARA have over 100 podencos at their shelter on Lanzarote, waiting to be adopted. Some have found forever homes in Germany, where the breed is popular, so contact SARA direct if you can offer a home to one of these adorable dogs; the fact that you do not live in the Canary Islands is not a problem!
Podenco Canario characteristics
Comments
18 responses to “Podenco Canario, Ibicenco, Enana, Manchengo, Andaluz – Learn More – Adopt One”
I can say from my own experience that these dogs make wonderful pets and companions. They are very intelligent and love to learn. My Podenco Canario arrived outside my house 6 months ago, starving and desperate for help. She was 2 yrs old and had most likely spent all of that time on the end of a chain or in a shed where she had learn’t nothing. She had never been inside a house or walked on a lead. Now she sleeps tucked up under her blanket on the sofa, walks to heel, stays, waits for me to climb walls and loves to jog along at the side of me. I was suprised how easy it was to house train her, once she got the idea that she should do her business outside we have had no accidents at all. Infact if she needs to go in the night she will come to my bedside and put her wet nose in my face. She keeps us entertained for hours with her comical ways. These dogs are misunderstood here on the islands with many people believing that they are untrainable. This is definitely not true, they are the most itelligent dogs I have ever had the priveledge of sharing my life with. Give them a chance and you too will fall in love. XX
Hi Jacky, what a lovely story many thanks for sharing it with readers of the site. Here’s hoping things improve for all the dogs out there.
All the best, Craig
Super article! I am delighted to see Podencos getting coverage in GalgoNews, which has such a far-reaching readership. As a member of Galgo rescue organisations, I have may times come across Podencos and their heart-wrenching stories. To further education about Prodencos I have made a video, and distributed it in English and Danish. I hope to inform and draw some attention to these dogs that so very much deserve our help. Thanks again for running the article!
TypePadHi Barbara
Thanks for your comments about including podencos. I’ve tried to highlight their plight at regular intervals on Galgo News, they are such adorable dogs, along with the galgos.
If you can let me have link details to your video, or some way of uploading it onto Galgo News, that would be wonderful.
And Jacky has promised to let me know about the rescue centres on Tenerife and Gran Canaria, and Valerie Wood is sending me something from Ibiza.
We mustn’t forget the Spanish islands also have their own problems with the hunters.
Thanks again for supporting Galgo News.
B
Amities
Beryl
http://www.galgonews.com
Helping to make a difference
A person who has never known a dog’s love has missed a wonderful part of life. Bob Barker
The dog has no ambition, no self-interest, no desire for vengeance, no fear other than that of displeasing. Count of Buffon
Hello Beryl,
Thank you very much for your kind comments. GalgoNews does a wonderful job of highlighting the plight of hunting dogs in Spain.
The url of my Podenco video is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCooxHaB6pw
Wishing you continued success,
Barbara
TypePadBonjour Barbara
Thank you for your kind words about Galgo News. My aim is to try and get the difference associations and refuges to work together sometimes and join together their individual campaigns into one big one, which might have more impact. But sadly there are minor squabbles and, whilst some are prepared to pull together, others refuse – which dilutes the impact they could have, and duplicated valuable monetary resources than would always be necessary.
Keep reading.
B
Thank you for your work, we just adopted podenco cross and are keen to learn more abour him. Lovely dog, once he got over his fears, affecionate with kids, playful and companionable, already learned a few tricks and behaves well on his walks, not mention – beautiful….
TypePad HTML Email
Bonjour
Great that you have adopted a podenco, doesnt
matter that it is a cross, it will still have a lot of the podenco
character. They are fabulous dogs, I love all the different breeds.
Theres a page on Galgo News written Susannah Hollesch which gives the history
of the breed. Do you know the background to your dog, which type it
is?
If you would like to write a rehoming story for me,
and send me a couple of pix, Ill be happy to post the tale. Email me
direct with the info.
Thanks also for reading Galgo News, spread the word
about the galgos and podencos, they need all the help they can get.
Amities
Beryl
http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/deuxsevres/
http://www.galgonews.com
Helping to make
a difference
A person who has never known a dogs love has
missed a wonderful part of life. Bob Barker
The dog has no ambition, no self-interest, no
desire for vengeance, no fear other than that of displeasing.
Count of Buffon
Podenco’s are clowns, they are the SHUNSHINE of YOUR LIFE. You don’t believe this untill you’ve experienced a podenco! They are SO VERY FUNNY.
Let the sun into your life and adopt a podenco! Old, young, middle aged, they are and stay THEATRICAl COMICS.
TypePad HTML Email
Bon Soir Marije
This is SO TRUE – my little Podenca Andaluz is just
the most adorable little personality and always makes us smile, because she is
so full of antics and fun and joy. Unbelievable when she was rescued,
traumatized and badly injured, from a Seville motorway. The podencos are
adorable.
Thank you for commenting, and reading Galgo
News.
Beryl
I love the information above. I adopted my podenco 1 year ago. I believe she is a podenco andaluz, but I am not entirely sure. She came from Malaga where she was found as a starving pup in a barn where her mother had hung herself on her chain. Several of the other pups in the litter died or were eaten by rats. Moxie is the most delightful little dog! I love her so much. She is my running companion and makes me laugh every single day with her antics. I am an American living in Belgium and I had never heard of this dog or seen one until I started researching adoption agencies. I am always trying to learn more about this breed which is totally unknown in the States.
Cheers! Meryl
TypePad HTML Email
Bon Soir
Absolutely Great, you have found the
podencos. Arent they the most wonderful dogs for company – galgos sleep,
podencos entertain – and you are so right about them being delightful. And
they are certainly a working dog, so running with you is perfect.
There are several different types of podenco, how
high does your podenco stand to the shoulder? My Bebe is 15, 38cm, but
with a BIG personality.!
I love them like I love the galgos; the
podencos often get caught in snares, and lose a leg; they dont tend to get hung
from trees or thrown down wells, but they still suffer at the hand of the
hunters. And Especially on the Spanish Islands.
Look at the Websites for Ibizan Hound Rescue and
SARA Lanzarote and you will learn more about them, and the different
types.
And thank you for reading Galgo News and commenting
– we need as many people as possible to support our campaigns for a better life
for Spains hunting dogs.
Amities
Beryl
http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/deuxsevres/
http://www.galgonews.com
Helping to make
a difference
A person who has never known a dogs love has
missed a wonderful part of life. Bob Barker
The dog has no ambition, no self-interest, no
desire for vengeance, no fear other than that of displeasing.
Count of Buffon
Moxie is about 45 cm to the top of her shoulders. She weighs 12 kilos. She looks very much like the dog in the picture second from the top of this post. This past summer, I was in Chicago with her and took her to the dog parks to meet and play with other dogs. I had people tell me I should breed her and sell the puppies because they had never seen the likes of a podenco (usually people recognize the likeness to the pharaoh hounds.) I told them that defeats the purpose of rescue and if they want one to go to spain and adopt one that is already born and in need of a loving home.
I always joke that she has 2 settings. ON and OFF. Not much in between. Mostly she is ON all the time, but at night, when she is OFF, she is the most affectionate, loving dog who just wants to snuggle. For me, it is the perfect balance to have an active, playful dog who still seeks human interaction and attention. She is really a very sensitive dog.
Thank you for the additional info Beryl. I am writing my story about Moxie to e-mail to you.
Meryl
TypePad HTML Email
Great to read about Moxie, she sounds great
fun. And also interesting about your introducing the public to the Podenco
too. Have a look at Podenco Rescue on Facebook, they are new, and need all
the support they can get.
Thanks for reading GN. And I look forward to
getting the full story about Moxie.
Amities
Beryl
hello evrybody!!!
i am from greece i live in the island of crete and i am passionate with podenco canario and i desperatly looking for owning one! can anybody help me and tell me how i can find/buy one?!?!?!
I can only suggest you contact an association. I do not know of any which home podencos to Greece. It is always best to adopt through an association so that if you had problems, then there would be experienced people to support and back you up. There is a list of Galgo and Podenco associations on my blog – click on the link on the left hand side of the home page. Thanks for reading and taking an interest in these wonderful hounds.
hope there is more rhomings to come
Hi
Im now away in Spain for 11 days and access to the Internet and emails will be very limited. If your message is important, please resend it to me after 1st October. If it relates to a dog needing help, please try one of the associations listed on Galgo News and Podenco Post or post on my facebook pages Save the Galgo, Podenco Post and Help the Podencos.
Thank you.