Portuguese Podengo puppies

About the Portuguese Podengo

The Portuguese Podengo is an old rabbit and game hunting breed from Portugal, worked both in packs and singly, using sight, scent and hearing together. This entry covers the medium and large sizes, dogs of roughly 15.9 to 29.9 kg standing 41 to 71 cm, in both smooth and wire coats. The look is plain and functional: wedge head, pricked ears, lean frame. Podengos are alert, playful and quick to learn, with the independence you would expect from a dog bred to make its own decisions.

They need serious daily exercise and a securely fenced garden, and should be walked on lead anywhere there is game. Grooming is light: the wire coats shed in sections and want regular brushing, the smooths need very little. They are watchful and will bark at arrivals. Podengos generally live well with other dogs and, with supervision and socialisation, with children. Training works best kept short, rewarding and interesting, because a bored Podengo simply stops co-operating.

What to expect at eight weeks

At eight weeks a Portuguese Podengo puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A medium breed puppy at eight weeks is a manageable armful that will not stay that way. Most of the growth happens between now and six months, so buy for the adult dog where you can. This is a high energy breed. At eight weeks that shows up as intensity rather than stamina, and it will need a job to do long before it needs long walks. Grooming is straightforward, but start handling the coat, feet and ears in week one anyway so it is never a fight later. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything it meets calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of its life.

Health worth knowing about

Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.

• Food and contact allergies, identified by veterinary elimination trials
• Hypothyroidism, detected by a blood thyroid panel
• Genetic deafness, detectable by BAER testing

From Portuguese Podengo breed information at https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/portuguese-podengo/. Discuss any of these with your own vet.

Your Portuguese Podengo puppy's first six months

• Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
• Worming and parasite schedule.
• Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Medium for a Portuguese Podengo.
• Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 15.9 to 29.9 kg adult range.
• Puppy names and the first week checklist.

Other medium breeds

Previous: Porcelaine · Next: Portuguese Podengo Pequeno