Podenco Post

Tribute to animal rescuers

To love a rescuer you must love all of her. You must love the scars covering her body from panicked and hurt animals she was trying to help. You must love her fractured heart, that has been broken so many times she no longer even takes the time to mend the pieces.

To love a rescuer, you must embrace her grit and determination, and know that although she fights a war she can never win, she can and does win a few battles. You must love the tears she will shed over those she lost. You must give her comfort that she refuses to accept, as she blames herself for things she could have never foreseen.

To love a rescuer you must acknowledge the rage she feels towards the world at times, and know that anger is driven by a love of life too few have. You must give her space and room to cry and mourn for the losses that others have caused out of carelessness or cruelty.

Podenca Zarita - a fantastic ambassador for podenco adoption

From Bev Farmer of Podenco Friends.

'Zarita always has a special place in my heart for many reasons. She let me stay by her side has she was giving birth I had no clue what to do but she was so calm and it was a wonderful moment to share . Our walks out together with Alba, Katrina, Mica and Zorro, all smaller Podencos, zip zip zipping around the campo, having a blast and often Teddy Nestor her buddy and her would go for a walkabout. When done they'd turn up at the gate wanting to be let back in. She had the most loving of natures and was very maternal with disabled Hope and so smart.

I always had in mind what home I wanted for her and waited and when Helen contacted me I knew this was the perfect match. For Helen it was a very personal decision to adopt and Zarita brought light back into her life after a very sad time. Helen was very low key about her experience in training in agility, I had no idea she was so talented. I told her it would be great to see Zarita compete but no pressure so long has you were both happy.

Overfeeding podencos - don't do it!

From Mo Swatek of Future4Podencos, now living in the USA.

'Today a friend showed me a picture of a terribly fat podenca adopted in the US. I felt so sorry for the poor dog because I could see it was not a happy healthy dog.

Podencos and galgos are light weight dogs, their bones are not built to carry lots of extra weight. Podencos and Galgos need to show at least 2 ribs, should not have any fat bellies and a slim waist line. If you want to show them love, don't do it with food, take them for long hikes or play with your hounds at the dog park etc.

You don't do your dog a favor by overfeeding it. He will have soon very very painful arthritis, diabetes, heart issues etc and we all know that obese dogs have a much shorter life span. Keep your dogs slim and healthy by giving them as a treat a nice walk instead of a cookie.

FAT DOGS CAUSE FAT VETERINAY BILLS'

#SighthoundsAreSlimDogs
#DontOverfeedYourDogs

Photo copyright of the American Kennel Club

A Dog's Love

It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how much cruelty is meted out on a dog, it will still be loyal to that person! So much abuse of dogs, when their loyalty and love is second to none.

Whole Dog Journal - things to consider on fostering a dog

In the 13 years I've been involved in the plight of the Spanish galgos and podencos, I've fostered several dogs which I've brought back with L'Europe des Levriers from Spain for rehoming. Only 3 of them didn't go on to forever homes elsewhere. Podenca Bebe, galga Carmela and galgo Bracken remained with us. Why? Well, Bebe was my nickname at school and she was rescued by a wonderful young Spanish girl called Marisa - which is my daughter's name. So you see, I couldn't let her go! Carmela came as a foster with serious behaviour problems and by the time over 2 years had passed and she had become what I would term a 'normal' dog, I could not break her trust by homing her elsewhere. And Bracken? He was already reserved by a couple in the UK and we took him and handed him over ourselves. Sadly a few months later due to unforeseen very serious health problems with the couple, their hounds had to be rehomed. As soon as my husband knew, he hopped in the car and drove back to the UK to bring Bracken home!

Fostering a dog is very rewarding and it helps the shelters insofar as when one dog is fostered, it leaves room for another needy dog to be rescued. Unfortunately at the moment, our household is not suitable for fostering. Bracken and Polar would not tolerate another male dog introduced and Bebe is such a dominant bitch she would not tolerate another female.

So here are some other points to consider about fostering.

Read the full article on this weblink.

Akira Dog Sanctuary - stunning Podenco Cooper looking for his forever home

This stunning podenco is Cooper, he's only 12 months old and was found on the street. He's in a foster home as the shelter stressed him. If you can offer this gorgeous boy a forever home, please contact Akira Dog Sanctuary direct.

You can read about Cooper on this weblink.

Dental care for your Podenco's teeth

My little podenca Bebe was about 5 when she was rescued injured from a Seville road, very thin and petrified. Her teeth were already in a poor state. In the 12 years she has been with me, she has had her 4 front teeth removed because they were bad, and also a couple of back teeth. Despite being given chews regularly.

The Blue Cross charity has the following advice on dental care for canines. Click on this link.

Canine Ten Commandments!

Akira Dog Sanctuary - introducing Podenco Cody

From Hayley at Akira Dog Santuary. 'This is the stunning Podenco Cody. He is so beautiful and I don't know why he always seems to be the one who is overlooked. He is good with dogs and good with people. He walks well on the lead. Just 2 years old he deserves a chance at a happy life. If you can offer him the forever home he deserves, please get in touch.'

http://www.akira-animals.com/animals/cody/

In Memory of Podenca Tilly

A beautiful poem for Bev Farmer in memory of her beloved Podenca Tilly.

'Krista Wells an artist and writer in Nova Scotia contacted me about Tilly and wanted to honour her story in a book she is creating "March of the dogs 2020".. I told her about Tilly and our time together. She wrote this tribute, words I could never find, captured everything about the plight of the Podencos and my beautiful girl.'