Podenco Post

Podenca Rosely enjoying the local dog park

As we now only have a small garden, on a Sunday morning I take Rosely to a local dog park to meet other small/medium size dogs. We've been going for abour 3 months now and she has blossomed from being a terrified little dog afraid of everyone and the other dogs to gaining confidence and coming out of her shell.

So I decided that for International Day of the Podenco, Rosely and I would celebrate it in our own way and for the first time I let her off lead to run free. It took quite a while for her to realise she was off lead and leave my side but she gradually wandered away to sniff piles of twigs and nettles bordering the enclosure. It does help that the hawthorn is now in full leaf and the nettles are grown, which adds depth to the sheep fencing surrounding the park.

By the end of the hour, she was watching a group of excitable little dogs playing on and around the A frame. Hopefully next week when her special friend Springer Spaniel Milo may be there, she will be off running with him.

Galgo Podenco Platform - what they do

Many years ago the Dutch Galgo Lobby worked to publicise the plight of the galgos and podencos in Spain. The Galgo Podenco Platform is now doing the same. Here's an extract from their website.

'Galgo Podenco Platform

The galgolobby is a developed lobby in Europe, where these dogs are much exploited for their specific characteristics as sight hounds, including their speed and hunting abilities. Galgos are traditionally used for hare coursing on the countryside and sometimes on enclosed tracks.

A very important development is that the galgo-lobby also represents the podenco: The Great Forgotten. Podencos are mostly used and abused in the Rehalas and Monterias: the driven hunt. The number of podencos greatly exceeds the number of galgos in Spain. These dogs live mostly hidden in dark and filthy barns on one meter chains.'

You can read more about their work on this link.

lst May Day of the Podenco

Celebrations are going on around Europe for these wonderful Spanish hounds who suffer so much horrendous treatment at the hands of the galgueros.

Polly Mathewson of Invisible Hounds organised a walk on Whistable Beach on 24th April to commemorate podencos.

What to consider when adopting a dog - Protectora Scooby

From Protectora Scooby

'All dogs are wonderful beings and amazing life partners but as much as we like animals, not everyone has to square up with our character and lifestyle, so it is best to be informed about the characteristics and necessities of the animal race/breed (if we know which one it is) before adopting him and above all, it is very important to be advised by the people who care and know them before taking the final step to expand your family with a four-legged companion.

Many times people adopt dogs or cats because of how beautiful they are physically or because they follow a fashion, regardless of the character and needs of the chosen animal and that adoption generally ends in failure.

This is said, to all of you who are thinking of sharing your lives with a dog or cat we encourage you to do so, but always responsibly and after meditating on it a lot.

There are lots of animals in Scooby waiting for someone to give them a chance.

adopciones@scoobymedina.org

www.scoobymedina.org

All Rescue Dogs are Different

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FROM Rebecca Hanlon - Canine Behaviour Practioner

Adopting a dog is a wonderful feeling for us. Full of excitement and the idea of saving a life. But the experience is not the same for them.

I often see posters stating the 3-3-3 rule. For the first 3 days they are totally overwhelmed but will then start feeling a little calmer. After 3wks they start to feel safer and more at home and then after 3months they have properly settled in.
This idea, at least, makes people realise that moving to a new home is a massive, life changing event for dogs and that they need time to settle in.

However, I find it a little too prescriptive and can set everyoneup for disappointment.

Galgos 112 - saving 70 abandoned dogs in Jaen

Galgos 112 don't just rescue galgos. They rescue podencos too. Here's their latest news.

'We aren't very good at posting numbers of our rescuers but for once, we're going to do it at least in partial mode.

From January 1 to March 8, 2022 there are 70 dogs picked up from the street alone in the Jaén delegation. Dogs that were abandoned, many with fractures and mostly sick, some in gravity. Of these 70 dogs one is a mastin, the other is a pointer, 3 are galgo crosses, 6 are podencos and the remaining 59 are galgos. 2 have passed away, 24 have been adopted and the rest some are still recovering and others waiting for adoption.

We don't lie when we ask for financial help or foster homes, nor when we say we can't anymore and that we need adoptions. I wish it wasn't necessary, but the situation of Galgos in Spain is what it is. Numbers sing though many deny it and want to shut us up.

Donate by Paypal through this weblink

Podenca abandoned - a complicated rescue by SOS Rescue

From Vincente Cervero Lopez, a member of Paws for Freedom: united for Galgos and podencos.

'A complicated rescue, in which this little podenca did not want to enter a cage trap due to absolute distrust, but thanks to the union of the SOS RESCUE SEVILLA, SOS RESCUE MARBELLA AND SOS RESCUE CÁDIZ team they were able to organize a great rescue with nets closing streets to be able to catch her without that there was a chance of escape.

The podenca had been in the same area for more than 2 months, and through REFUGIOKIMBA they gave us the notice so that we could try to help it. We couldn't get her to enter the cage since all the people in the area who saw her fed her, between that and her mistrust we had to schedule a rescue with nets in which everything went perfectly.

Thanks to Rosa for giving the notice, informing us of all her movements and making her a routine all this time. Thanks to Olga and Marisa for spreading the word to find people to help us in the rescue. Thanks to Santi, Jose, Manuel, Ana, Pablo, Cintia, José and Mónica for helping us in the rescue and in general to all those who were willing to come and help.

Thanks to the Kimba Shelter for taking over UMA.

HELP US KEEP SAVING LIVES! JOIN FOR ONE EURO A MONTH! www.teaming.net/sosrescue-vicentecerverolopez

The Senior Sighthound Sanctuary US - helping older podencos to a new life

Regular readers will know that 5 months ago my OH and I adopted 2 podencos from Spain, both 8 years old, one of which is blind.
This is an association in the US working to help these older podencos to forever homes and the good life they deserve.

The Senior Sighthound Sanctuary provides a safe haven for senior & special needs sighthounds, either at the sanctuary or through a network of forever foster and adoptive families. We also provide education on the special needs of senior sighthounds. The Sanctuary was formed out of a true love and passion for senior sighthounds. These amazing & endearing dogs take a huge piece of our heart & we would move heaven & earth for them. It's not easy work to take in a senior hound but the love far outweighs any sadness when they pass, for their time with us is far more important than ours is with them.

The founder writes.

'Recently eight senior podenco girls were pulled from a shelter in Spain, all over the age of 8. It was discovered, once they were out of the shelter, that two of them are pregnant. All of these girls have led hard lives at the hands of hunters, usually being bred over & over again with no vet care whatsoever. These dogs have been reserved for the Sanctuary & I've made the commitment to bring them here to the US to be adopted out, where they can forget the miserable lives they previously led.

Dealing with fear in rescued dogs

Many years ago on one of my many trips into Spain with French association L'Europe des Levriers we were asked to take a fearful galga who had been in foster in Southern France and was not improving. So Carmela came into my life and home. At 4 years old she had found herself dumped in a perrera, rescued by the association's vice president in Spain, passported and blood tested and into foster in France.

At the time we had a French lurcher, 2 other galgos and a small podenca. So plenty of company for Carmela to give her confidence. She was fearful of my husband - not surprising as most Spanish rescued hunting dogs are fearful of men - whatever do the hunters inflict on them?! She would exit the farmhouse into the enclosed courtyard following the other dogs but coming back inside was a different matter. All the doors had to be open and we humans had to hide out of sight. Eventually she would rush in like a tornado. Frequent shaking if my husband appeared, even though he doesn't look Spanish, only eating food if we were out of sight.

Podenca Blanca - a happy tripod with Podenco Friends

From Bev Farmer of Podenco Friends.

'Blanca has severe arthritis in her elbow. We have kept her comfortable with meds but it’s now affecting her wrist. We looked into the option of having the elbow joint replaced with an artificial joint. A specialist clinic here in Spain was able to do the procedure. However with all the MRIs needed including one to map out an accurate image of the joint for the surgery, manufacture of the joint in the USA, 3 months post care surgery, the cost was in the region of 8,000 Euros. With no guarantee it would work.

She does use the leg especially when she is running but more and more she is holding it up. It’s never going to get better and the pain management meds are now becoming less effective.