A Passion For Podengos: Sophie Meets Her Tribe

Hangin’
Sophie, Potter & Tango

Today was such an exciting day for us! If you don’t know by now, Sophie is a Portuguese Podengo Pequeno and, this year, the Podengo Pequeno makes its debut competing at Westminster. That, in and of itself, is exciting, and Bark and Swagger will be there to cover the Podengo competition and the Hound Group results. This may sound silly, but there’s only one other Podengo I know of in all of New York City, and Sophie and I haven’t been able to connect with Norman (that’s his name), although we’ve tried. So, when my friend Marilyn Piurek, who introduced us to the breed, told me her dear friend, Carol Houlihan would be in town with her Podengo pup, “Houla’s Potter,” for Westminster and offered to introduce us, I was ecstatic! Potter isn’t just any ol’ Podengo. He’s the #1 Podengo in the country! I am hopeless with a passion for Podengos and, finally, Sophie was going to meet her tribe.

To give you a bit of background, Portuguese Podengo Pequenos are a very lively little breed. They look like scruffy terrier mutts, but are actually hounds. They are a truly primitive breed; it’s believed they were brought over to the Iberian Peninsula by the Phoenicians and Romans about 2000 years ago, and they were already rabbit, deer and boar hunters of Middle Eastern and Egyptian origin for 2000 years before that!  They were ratters on ships  and became rabbit hunters on land.

The breed come in three sizes and two kinds of coat; the smooth coat and the wire haired. The Pequeno is between 8-12.5″ long; the Medio is 16 – 22″, and the Grande is 22-28″. When the AKC recognized the Podengo last year, they solely recognized the Pequeno, and determined it to be its own breed to avoid interbreeding between the sizes.

Because of their scrappy nature, the Pequenos were used to ferret rabbits out of the most ridiculous places, so the Medio could go in for the kill. These little, fearless creatures would go out on cliffs, down holes, wherever the rabbits went, they would follow. And, although Sophie is a bit shy and skittish in the big bad city, when she plays, I can see that fearlessness very clearly. She will run up her daddy’s body, without a second thought, to get her toy, just like those primitive Podengo Pequenos would run out on cliffs to get the bunny.

Houla’s Potter,
the superstar

Now, on with our story.  Sophie and I went to the Hotel Pennsylvania this afternoon and met Carol and Potter. It was thrilling! Besides being a serious show dog, Potter is also a pretty cool dude. When we walked in, he was roaming the lobby, wearing his hat, scarf and shades. He must’ve been looking for chicks. And he found one when Soph trotted in but, like dogs, they were only interested in sniffing each other’s butts and eating my lamb lung treats! That’s ok, because we were in for another surprise. Up came another Podengo! It was starting to feel like a Podengo Party. This little boy was Tango, owned by Stacy Faw, and he’s the #2 Podengo in the country and a relative of Potter’s. OK, so now it was starting to feel like we stumbled into a celebrity Podengo party. That’s cool…

Whereas Potter is an extremely handsome, well built boy, Tango is an adorable love bunny. I got more kisses on my face in a few seconds from Tango, that I think I’ve ever gotten from Sophie (she’s not a kisser, boo hoo).

And in a case of an embarrassment of riches, while the dogs were getting acquainted (Sophie was her shy self, looking at me as if to say, ‘Mom, can you get me out of here?’), a fourth Podengo came trotting up. Tinks, another little girl and another champion,  is owned by Georgina Nagy. She was here competing at Westminster, too. About now, I felt like I’d died and gone to Podengo heaven!

I didn’t want to let this moment go to waste! Being I had such an esteemed Podengo owner next to me, I had to ask her some questions about the breed. To give you an idea about Potter’s mom, Carol is the owner of Houla’s Kennels in Azle, TX., where she breeds and shows Portuguese Podengo Pequenos. Her kennel has spawned 6 of the Top 20 Podengo Pequeno champions in the country. Pretty cool.

A Podengo Party!

BaS: You’ve had Podengo Pequenos since 2007. What have you found to be some of the key characteristics of the breed?

CH: They love to hunt and they’re very active. Some of them are really good with people and some aren’t. Some just become their own person’s dog.

BaS: It’s funny how they’re all so different. What does it take to get to Westminster?

CH: You have to be a champion, which means you need a total of 15 AKC points with two majors. A major consists of a competition with at least 4 other dogs. Once they get their first champion, they go on for more points for grand champion.

BaS: Where is Potter in all of this?

Houla’s Potter
at work

CH: Potter is a Bronze Grand Champion and he’s working up to a Silver. He is the #1 in All Breed; the only Podengo to get two Group 1’s and a Reserve Best of Show. He’s #3 in breed only because there weren’t a whole lot of dogs showing in our area.

BaS: What are you feeling being here at Westminster?

CH: It’s so exciting to be here! To be the owner is great but, most important, to be the breeder of the #1 dog and the #2 dog in the country is amazing. We’ve been working on this since 2007 to breed great, happy, healthy dogs.

BaS: Wow! Those are some serious genes, Carol. Congratulations! And, best of luck tomorrow. I’ll be there rooting for Potter!

And, off we went…me, satisfied and sated from my Podengo fix; Sophie? Not so much. She looked mighty happy to get the heck out of there.

If you’re interested in more information on the breed, this book called Portuguese Podengo Pequeno: an Educator’s Perspective 2.0 by Ginger Bowles,

Portuguese Podengo Pequeno: an Educator’s Perspective 2.0

is a good research tool.

Stay tuned for coverage of the Podengos from Westminster. And keep your fingers crossed for Houla’s Potter! 🙂

Until next time…

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