KENAI
Ibizan Hound

The breeds · sighthound · sighthound

AKC Hound · UKC Sighthound & Pariah · FCI standard 89

Ibizan Hound.

FCI 89: used mainly for hunting rabbits without guns, by day and at night; because of a particularly good nose, coupled with hearing, which he uses more than sight, he scents and hunts out rabbits even in dense cover; nimble, he catches his prey quickly, especially hunting with other dogs. AKC: a hunting dog whose quarry is primarily rabbits, bred for thousands of years with function of prime importance; as fast as top coursing breeds and without equal in agility, high jumping and broad jumping. UKC: although a sighthound, he uses sight, scent and sound while hunting. RKC: the rabbit hunter of Ibiza. Wikipedia: a fast dog working by scent, sound and sight on all types of terrain..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
40–55LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 50 lb (46 to 55); breed bitches 45 lb (40 to 50).
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayRKC: more than 2 hours per day; large house and large garden; country. AKC page energy level 5 of 5 (AKC band, not mapped). Wikipedia: active and athletic, needs a lot of daily exercise; can jump very high from a standstill, so needs very tall fences, and has a strong prey drive (not safe off leash unless enclosed).. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 23 to 28.3 in · bitches 22 to 26.4 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2022

Low is the UKC floor, high is the FCI ceiling; no standard prints an ideal.

Weight

dogs 50 lb (46 to 55) · bitches 45 lb (40 to 50)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2022

Center is the AKC and UKC printed average; range is the UKC's.

Coat

AKC: two types, smooth (short) and wire-haired (1 to 3 in on all or part of the body, possible moustache), both hard, neither preferred. UKC: smooth, rough or long haired, neither preferred, left untrimmed; smooth coat not silky; longhaired coat hard and wiry, at least 2 in. FCI 89: smooth, rough or long, a beard highly valued in the rough; smooth coat not permitted in fawn. Color: AKC and UKC white or red (lion to deep red) solid or in any combination, any other color disqualifies; FCI prefers white and red, fawn allowed only for an exceptionally good rough or long coated specimen. RKC: two coat types, smooth and rough.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2022

Color rules differ and are stated by source.

Shedding

Shedding 2 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · AKC: two coat types, both untrimmed; smooth is short (shortest on head and ears), wire-haired 1 to 3 in on all or part of the body; both hard in texture.

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2022

Derived from the standard's coat description (short hard single coat, wire up to 3 in = 4). No measured data.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

RKC: more than 2 hours per day; large house and large garden; country. AKC page energy level 5 of 5 (AKC band, not mapped). Wikipedia: active and athletic, needs a lot of daily exercise; can jump very high from a standstill, so needs very tall fences, and has a strong prey drive (not safe off leash unless enclosed).

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

Energy

5 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · RKC: grooming once a week; short coat; sheds. AKC page: coat grooming frequency 1 of 5 and shedding level 2 of 5 (AKC bands, not mapped). Both coat types are shown untrimmed.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 89: used mainly for hunting rabbits without guns, by day and at night; because of a particularly good nose, coupled with hearing, which he uses more than sight, he scents and hunts out rabbits even in dense cover; nimble, he catches his prey quickly, especially hunting with other dogs. AKC: a hunting dog whose quarry is primarily rabbits, bred for thousands of years with function of prime importance; as fast as top coursing breeds and without equal in agility, high jumping and broad jumping. UKC: although a sighthound, he uses sight, scent and sound while hunting. RKC: the rabbit hunter of Ibiza. Wikipedia: a fast dog working by scent, sound and sight on all types of terrain.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 89, 2000

FCI, AKC, UKC, RKC wording plus Wikipedia (editorial, last resort).

Primary game

Rabbit (FCI 89, AKC, UKC, RKC). FCI 89 adds that the Podenco Ibicenco is also used for hunting hare and large game. Wikipedia: rabbits and other small game; in the United States some parts of the country also course live jackrabbits.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 89, 2000

Also used on

FCI 89: also used for hunting hare and large game, and is a good retriever. Wikipedia: rabbits and other small game; in the United States some parts of the country course live jackrabbits. AKC and UKC list tracking, obedience and lure coursing as other pursuits.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 89, 2000

FCI wording; Wikipedia for the jackrabbit coursing.

Search pattern

FCI 89: hunts rabbits by scent first, then hearing, then sight, in a pack. When one dog indicates game, the others surround it and keep a certain distance, standing in wait. They bark only when they see or hear the game and when they have surrounded it. Dogs wag the tail fast both when indicating and catching. With certain exceptions only bitches are used for a pack, or at most one male, as males do not work together and are quarrelsome. A pack that has caught several thousand rabbits may refuse to hunt until rested (the Spanish 'enconillarse'). Wikipedia: hunters run mostly female packs; a farmer traditionally kept one or two dogs; locally one dog, a brace, or packs of six to eight and as many as fifteen; the sport form can put five to fifteen dogs on one rabbit. Rosello's working trial (reported by Wikipedia) scores careful tracking and scenting 0 to 30, signalling the game with a patient stand and a strong jump into the air 0 to 10, chase with tongue and speed 0 to 30, putting game to cover 0 to 10 and the catch or correct indication 0 to 20. UKC: able to turn abruptly without losing speed.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 89, 2000

FCI wording; the working trial scoring is Wikipedia's report of Miquel Rossello's description, not read at source.

Field trial standard

FCI 89: classified Group 5 Section 7 (primitive type, hunting dogs), without working trial. Wikipedia: Rossello describes a working trial of one or two braces (a brace is a 'colla') tested on two to five rabbits, no other hunting aid, with the five-part scoring above. In the United States the breed is frequently competed in lure coursing through AKC and ASFA, and in LGRA straight racing and NOTRA oval track racing (Wikipedia). AKC and UKC standards say he is well suited to the breed ring, obedience, tracking and lure coursing.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 89, 2000

AKC/ASFA lure coursing rulebooks themselves were not read.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

1.7% · 655 OFA hip evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026; 1.7% dysplastic (mild 0.5, moderate 0.9, severe 0.3), 98.3% normal (excellent 38.6, good 55.7, fair 4.0)

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics (rank 214). OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, with normal results over-represented.

Most common disorders

Wikipedia: typical of the hound group in rarely suffering hereditary illness; minor concerns are seizures and allergies; very rarely axonal dystrophy, cataract, retinal dysplasia and deafness; sensitive to barbiturate anesthesia. The parent club's health statement asks for hip, eye, BAER hearing and thyroid testing of breeding stock.

EditorialWikipedia

Editorial single source; no VetCompass or club survey found.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 5; Mental Stimulation Needs 5; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 2; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 4; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

No KENAI kennel lists the Ibizan Hound yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 7 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Podenco Ibicenco, Ca Eivissenc, Ibizan Podenco

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your ibizan hound, on the record.

Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.

Get the app