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Portuguese Podengo

The breeds · sighthound · sighthound

AKC Miscellaneous · UKC Sighthound & Pariah · FCI standard 94

Portuguese Podengo.

FCI 94: hunting dog, watch dog and companion dog. Large: used for hunting big game. Medium (the Warren Hound): natural aptitude as a rabbit hunter, hunting either in a pack or alone. UKC: the Grande was developed for deer and wild boar, exhausting and holding down the prey to await the hunter's gun; the Medio for rabbit chasing, flushing, hunting and retrieval, with catlike stalking and a jump above the prey to flush it from dense brush, rock crevices or burrows (it digs if necessary). AKC: the Podengo is a hunting dog; scars from honorable wounds are not a fault. Wikipedia: the large is used mainly for hare, alone or as a pair, and may run down deer; the medium and small usually hunt in packs for rabbit but may hunt alone..

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.

0INHeight · grande standardall null, all null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
35–66LBWeight, all linesgrande 44 to 66.1 lb; medio 35 to 44.1 lb.

The lines

Within one breed the line can matter more than the breed. Where the lines differ, the page says which one a value belongs to.

grande

Large Podengo (AKC Grande, FCI Large). Built for big game; rare in Portugal.

medio

Medium Podengo (AKC Medio, FCI Medium, the 'Warren Hound'). Built for rabbit.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

grande line21.7 to 28 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2010

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

medio line15.7 to 22 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2010

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

Weight

grande line44 to 66.1 lb

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2010

All three registries agree.

medio line35 to 44.1 lb

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2010

All three registries agree.

Coat

AKC: smooth (short, very dense, undercoat present) and wire (rough and harsh, not as dense as the smooth, no undercoat, distinct beard); shown natural. UKC: smooth short and very dense; wire medium in length, rough and harsh, without undercoat. FCI 94: smooth and wire varieties in all three sizes. Color: AKC yellow and white or fawn and white of any shade, or primarily white with patches; black or brown with white acceptable but not preferred; brindle and solid white are faults. UKC disqualifies brindle, black and tan, tricolor and solid white. FCI: yellow and fawn in all shades, with or without white, or white with patches; black or brown accepted only in the Small.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2010

Color rules differ by source and size.

Shedding

Shedding 3 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: smooth coat short and very dense with undercoat; wire coat rough and harsh, not as dense, without undercoat. UKC: wire coat medium length.

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2010

Derived from the standard's coat description (short dense coat = 4; wire coat less dense). No measured data.

The dog at home

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

Energy

AKC page (Grande and Medio): energy level 4 of 5, mental stimulation needs 4 of 5, playfulness 4 of 5 (AKC bands, not mapped). UKC: very lively and intelligent. RKC and Dogs Trust figures are for the Pequeno and are not used here.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands are not minutes; no RKC exercise band exists for the medium and large sizes.

Grooming load

2 of 5

Breed clubAKC

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

Grooming

AKC page: coat grooming frequency 2 of 5, shedding level 3 of 5 (AKC bands). AKC standard: the coat is shown natural, face and feet may be trimmed, no other trimming or shaving; it sheds in large sections starting at the base of the neck when changing.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands are not mapped to grooming_load; no RKC band exists for these sizes.

The work

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

Role

FCI 94: hunting dog, watch dog and companion dog. Large: used for hunting big game. Medium (the Warren Hound): natural aptitude as a rabbit hunter, hunting either in a pack or alone. UKC: the Grande was developed for deer and wild boar, exhausting and holding down the prey to await the hunter's gun; the Medio for rabbit chasing, flushing, hunting and retrieval, with catlike stalking and a jump above the prey to flush it from dense brush, rock crevices or burrows (it digs if necessary). AKC: the Podengo is a hunting dog; scars from honorable wounds are not a fault. Wikipedia: the large is used mainly for hare, alone or as a pair, and may run down deer; the medium and small usually hunt in packs for rabbit but may hunt alone.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 94, 2009

FCI, UKC and AKC wording plus Wikipedia (editorial); Wikipedia's hare for the Large differs from FCI/UKC big game and is shown beside them.

Primary game

Grande: deer and wild boar (UKC), big game (FCI 94); Wikipedia says mainly hare, alone or as a pair. Medio: rabbit (FCI 94, UKC, Wikipedia).

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 94, 2009

Both sizes are on this entry; the line is blank because one row covers the entry text.

Search pattern

UKC: the breed has an acute sense of smell, sharp vision and keen hearing and uses all of them when hunting. Medio: catlike stalking, a jump above the prey to flush it from dense brush, rock crevices or burrows, and digging if needed. FCI 94: the Medium Podengo hunts either in a pack or alone. Wikipedia: the medium and small usually hunt in packs for rabbit but may hunt alone. Voice on the line is not stated in any source read.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

UKC and FCI wording.

Field trial standard

FCI 94: Group 5 Section 7 (primitive type, hunting dogs), without working trial. No AKC, UKC or ASFA field trial standard for the medium and large sizes was read.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 94, 2009

More

akc bands

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

No KENAI kennel lists the Portuguese Podengo 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. 4 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Podengo Portugues, Portuguese Warren Hound, Podengo Medio, Podengo Grande

Every breed, read the same way.

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

All published breeds

Your portuguese podengo, on the record.

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