james ensor Tue Apr 08, 2014 3:19 am
Fitz/Fritz certainly looks like a Podego Pequeno. In my fairly limited experience of seeing these dogs, they do not all have the erect ears, which are one of the defining marks of the Podengo Medio. Fitz or Fritz`s size would make him a Medio, but most of the ones that I have seen are shorter haired. In their native Portugal and in the early Portuguese colonies in New England, especially around New Bedford - where disembarking whalers recruited in the Cape Verdes mostly settled never to return home - dogs roamed and therefore mated freely.
So the breed is a catholic one like the Lurcher. The prime requirement for a Podengo in Portugal was not its looks but its ability to catch rabbits. It certainly sounds as though Fitz/Fritz has inherited these traits, along with the loving personality of the Podengo. When you say bouncy hops, do you mean the double-suspension gallop, which the Podengo seems to share with the greyhound and the whippet? This is part of the secret of their remarkable speed over rough ground as they can arch their back to get extra propulsion from the rear legs, rather like a tennis player serving.
Distinguishing marks of a Podengo include white socks around the paws, a sign of its descendancy from the pale-footed wolf of the Levant, a pink nose, white waistcoat or apron strings around the chest, very large pointed ears, often held erect and turned like radar scanners to detect threats or prey. They also often have a white patch on the forehead or along the nose and a white tip to the tail, which is usually held erect and tightly curled over their back like a scorpion`s, when they are happy. Hair can be short or long and of various colors, the most common being fawn.
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