Maria meets Nuala another Podengo Medio

We had been hoping that Maria, our Podengo Medio rescued from the Cape Verde islands, would eventually meet another.  In England, it would have been a fluke as there are very few. But we were more hopeful about Portugal.

Nuala we met in Villafranca de Xira, a small town on the Rio Tejo (River Tagus) a little upstream from Lisbon.  She is the same size and weight as Maria ( 13kg or 30lbs) and much the same fawn colour.   Both have long, narrow  bodies, and long necks. Maria seemed to recognise a fellow Podengo.as for once she did not bark at her, which has been her invariable habit on meeting new dogs. Nuala though has long thick hair, which even on her face grows in matted dreadlocks. whilst Maria`s hair is short and smooth.

Pretty soon they were chasing each other at high speed in the tight circles, that Podengos seem able to manage, emitting high-pitched hunting yelps. At a distance it was impossible to tell which dog was which as they flashed past at an estimated 25mph (40km/h).

With a smaller Podengo (about 10kg or 22lbs) Maria developed a game of lunge and dodge. Both dogs would lie face to face in a crouch position about 3ft (1 metre) apart. Suddenly one would lunge and the other would leap sideways or backwards to dodge the blow.  Both seemed to enjoy this hunting game and displayed an agility and speed that was quite breath-taking.

There are not many Podengos in Portugal as many Portuguese prefer imported breeds. The French bulldog and Jack Russell are currently in vogue.  Perhaps one in twenty dogs is  a Podengo, mostly Medios. A lot live on small farms where they are used to keep predators such as weasels at bay.  We did not see a single Grande during several weeks of dog walking.

Lets try again, as the panel above just deleted everything. Now I have a repeat so I will give another story;

Maria, our Podengo Medio from the Cape Verdes has just returned to her homeland for the first time, after an absence of two years. In the taxi from the airport, she was already sniffing the desert air and smiling.  Soon enough, she was racing around chasing the small birds that nest on the foreshore in Spring. These are I believe Kentish Plovers named for the county in south-east England where they were first recorded: though they have long since fled from the dogs that disturbed them on Romney Marsh.  They emit a whistle and fly just above the sand and scrub, deliberately inciting dogs to give chase and lure them away from nests.

Maria did not disturb any eggs as the birds were not yet laying; but she did wake up a butterfly dozing on a bush at night. How many other types of dog have such an incredibly effective sense of smell?  

We reckon about one in 50 dogs in Cape Verde is a Podengo Medio, many living on the streets. Most of the dogs, though have some Podengo features, typically with narrow, long Podengo bodies and faces but with floppy Labrador ears.

Sooty, for instance, looks a bit like Jet in the avatar. He is a Podengo in shape with magnificent ears, but has a soft black coat with a white waistcoat and white paws.  We think that he might be Jet`s brother form a later litter of the same parents.  When we met him he was starving and dehydrated having found neither food nor water. When we approached within 25 yards (22m) he would stand up and walk slowly away, with his tail between his legs. He was limping, where someone had hit his leg with a stick.  He never made a sound and avoided all humans. He used to hide behind a low wall, often forgetting that his long Podengo ears projected above the skyline. Latterly he would climb onto the wall to reveal himself after we had passed and eventually let us close in to five yards.    

Most dogs in Cape Verde survive only on food and water given by tourists or expats. We fed him whilst we were there and so did some Italians and some Belgians. Now we are trying to encourage other people to put out food and water, so that he does not die. Like other dogs born wild or abandoned in the islands he would have headed for the nearest bar/restaurant where people used to share their meals and give water. But now a Cape Verdean waiter comes out and beats them - leaving Sooty with a bad leg and a terror of all humans.

The local City Hall is now rounding up stray dogs and placing them in a concentration camp. without a roof.  They are fed mostly on leftovers from the tourist hotels but on holidays they get neither food nor water.

Anybody wishing to help could donate via Facebook accounts to either Save Cats and Dogs Cape Verde or SOS Cats and Dogs Cape Verde, ( both run by Europeans) where you can read much more about a dog`s life in a "tropical paradise".