One picture worth a thousand words

Maria who is a pure Podengo Medio from the Cape Verde islands is perhaps the most athletic of all the dogs that we have ever met. She is an out and out huntress and when she chases her prey - in London this is normally the North American grey squirrel, she reaches 25mph. She  accelerates like a Porsche. When on a leash she can  yank your arm near out of its socket, as she takes off in pursuit.  

When the squirrel inevitably runs up a tree,  she will jump close to the trunk to the height of my raised arm. I estimate this at over 7 feet.

Bianca, a white Podengo Medio mix, can jump more than her own height from a standing start.  This has sometimes surprised birds who have not met jumpers like her or the Springer Spaniel before.

But neither Bianca nor Maria have quite Brando`s love of walls.

The Podengo crosses that we find in the Cape Verdes share this ancestral desire to climb as high as they can. Brando who looks like a Labrador puppy but behaves like a Podengo, will leap onto any rock and always runs along narrow walls. Sometimes he gets stuck like a cat at the end of the wall and has to be rescued.

Jet a much more Podengo lookalike who has a fine, smooth black coat, with white waistcoat, tail tip and socks (see Avatar) will jump five foot onto a narrow window sill and perch there like a cat.

The Podengo strain brought to the islands by Portuguese sailors to keep down the rats on their ships seems to have won out in the tough survival over other introduced strains such as the Labrador brought by Portuguese fishermen from the ports near the Grand Banks.

It says much for this species that it still exists after the bi-annual poisoning of all loose dogs that take place in the islands.

Thats to funny.

I know my guy enjoys getting as high up as he can.

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Mokey likes the view from the TOP of the 6 foot tall kennel!