Portuguese Podengo

About the Portuguese Podengo

Portugal has kept the Portuguese Podengo for centuries as a rabbit dog, working alone or in small packs across scrub and stone walls, and the breed exists there in three sizes and in two coats, smooth and wire. Registration arrangements differ from country to country, so anyone planning a mating should confirm with the Royal Kennel Club exactly which size and coat a particular dog is registered as before anything is agreed.

Whatever the size, the type is the same: a wedge-shaped head, large upright ears, a light frame and an alert, faintly foxy expression, in yellow, fawn or black shades with or without white. The smooth coat is short and dense; the wire coat is harsh and rough with a beard. These are primitive dogs, resourceful and independent, and a stud should be sound, agile and confident with people rather than shy.

Podengos have not accumulated a long list of breed-specific DNA tests. Ask for a current eye certificate and hip scores, and add a patella examination for a dog of the smaller size, where luxating patella is a more realistic concern. Ask what the breed club currently advises, and about the health, longevity and working ability of the parents. Where numbers are small, relatedness between the two pedigrees is worth calculating before the mating rather than afterwards.

Health & breeding

We check every hip, elbow, eye and DNA result you give us against the Royal Kennel Club’s public records by hand, and we record who checked it and when. The Royal Kennel Club’s public records may not include all the screening a dog has had, so a dog with no Royal Kennel Club record showing is not necessarily untested.