Portuguese Podengo Breed Magazine - Showsight

HUNTING WITH PODENGOS T he dog excitedly works a zig- zag pattern through the patch of sorghum, her snout low and snuffling. Two shotgun-

toting hunters and a guide track the dog’s progress. What sporting breed is this, you might ask? Well, it’s a Portuguese Podengo, a hunting hound. This particular dog, Xana, was found on the streets of Portugal by Jonathan Sav- age, an attorney from the US. John and his wife grew fond of Xana and brought her home where they had her trained at the Hunters Creek Club, north of Detroit. The club’s dog trainer, Steve Harden- burgh, wasn’t sure how Xana would do, but he quickly found out she was “birdy as heck.” Using both sight and scent to find its prey, you would typically find Podengos in Portugal hunting rabbits, and the Grande hunting boar. In this Hunt Club in Michigan, however, you find the Podengo hunting pheasant. In a recent article in the Maticar , a newsletter of the PPPCA, longtime Podengo owner, hunter, and breeder, John Fernandes of Massachusetts, visited fellow rabbit hunter Tony Carvalho at his dairy farm in California’s Central Valley. John had this to say about Tony and his dogs: “Tony is a semi-retired dairy farmer. He came to the US from St. Michael [São Miguel Island] in the Azores with his par- ents when he was nine, and grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. He left home at 18 to seek his fortune in California.” Tony and his wife, Theresa, are keeping the Portuguese traditions; his grandchil- dren speak both Portuguese and English. Honoring another Portuguese tradition, Tony breeds and hunts with Podengos. Mostly he hunts with Pequenos. This is a picture of me and Tony. Tony is holding Garrotto, which means “boy.” I am holding Garratto’s daughter, Esplitta, which means “fuse” or “primer.” I brought Esplitta home with me and she will be my foundation bitch for a hunting pack of Podengo Pequenos. Tony got his first Pequenos from the famous Portuguese hunter and breeder Vasco Matias. Vasco is related to a bullfighter in California who

Powered by