Maria loves to run and play with whippets

Greyhounds are raced in England, where they chase an electric hare around an oval track.  The races are run mostly for betting. The punters are less smart and less wealthy than the people who visit Royal Ascot or the Grand National to watch horses.

As the dogs slow down with age, the racing kennels discard them.  Dog homes find it very difficult to place them as they have a reputation for being difficult. Sometimes they are called lurchers, to disguise their origins.
 
We met two greyhounds in the 65 acres/13 hectares of park around the 18th century mansion formerly owned by Lord Burlington. It is now open to the public and a favorite for dog-walkers.  

These two were clearly ex-racers. They remained very much faster than any other dog in the park.  Maria, our female Podengo Medio, clearly liked them, and there was much sniffing and licking.  When she tried to chase them, she quickly gave up, as they sped away at astonishing speed.

Curiously their owner described them as lurchers - usually a cross between a greyhound and a working dog such as a collie. These were favored by poachers and in hare-coursing - now illegal in England.    It seems that perhaps the dog homes are reclassifying these elegant, retired racers  in a ruse to dupe owners into accepting them. I feel that Maria knew them for what they were - a distant relative.

There are very few Podengo Medios in England. A few Podengos have been rescued from Portugal and a few of the very similar Podencos have come from Spain, to what is hopefully a better life. But Maria seems to recognize the narrow,slim form of the whippet as a suitable running companion. Her technique is to approach and then crouch down in her stalking posture with the body along the ground but her powerful rear legs poised like springs for a jump start. She makes a single bark and if this works, she is off running in a large circle of about 50 metres (55 yards) diameter.  

She arches her back when she runs to obtain extra thrust from her back legs. The whippet`s running style seems similar, so I deduce that this is the double-suspension gallop. She runs at an estimated 25 mph (40 km/hr) and with her ability to jump long and high can make much the same speed over rough terrain.  She is generally faster than the whippets that she meets, although the english whippet is, I believe, smaller than the American.  Few dogs that she meets in the parks give her a run for her money, although a Rhodesian Ridgeback, bred to chase lion, can force her to accelerate.

Another favorite game is dodging left to right and feinting with partners. Whippets are no good at this but Jack Russels seem to enjoy it. Brando who we think is part Podengo and part Labrador once stole a tennis ball from another dog like this. The ball was right between them and I feared a scrap. But Brando just ran to the right, spun around and swept back, scooping up the ball, while the other dog was still running in the wrong direction. I swear that he was smiling as he ran off with his trophy.