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.
