The is an ancient Spanish
breed
A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...
of
warren hound used to hunt small game in
Andalusia
Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
, Spain.
It is one of four podenco breeds recognized by the
Real Sociedad Canina de España
is the Spanish kennel club. It was founded in Madrid as the on 27 June 1911, and became a legal entity on 12 July 1911; on 1 December 1911 it received the royal patronage of Alfonso XIII, and the word 'Real' was added before the name.
It has ...
.
It is an agile dog generally used to hunt ducks, rabbits, boar and fowl.
There are three accepted sizes (small, medium and large) and three coat types (wire-haired, long-haired and smooth).
History
As with some other Mediterranean sighthounds, it is sometimes claimed that the Podenco descends from Egyptian hounds such as the
Tesem or
Saluki
The Saluki or Persian hound (Persian:سگ تازی، Arabic: سلوقي) is a standardised breed developed from sighthounds – dogs that hunt primarily by sight rather than strong scent – that was once used by nomadic tribes to run down game ...
, distributed by
Phoenician traders in the 1st century BC.
However, it was not until 1990 that a breed club formed to promote the development of breed standards. Phillipe Bloque-Rentón and colleagues at the
University of Córdoba's
veterinary medicine
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...
faculty undertook the research work required to specify the breed; their study, presented at the second ''Simposium de las razas caninas españolas'' (Spanish dog breeds symposium) in 1992, was recognized by
Real Sociedad Canina de España
is the Spanish kennel club. It was founded in Madrid as the on 27 June 1911, and became a legal entity on 12 July 1911; on 1 December 1911 it received the royal patronage of Alfonso XIII, and the word 'Real' was added before the name.
It has ...
in April of that year as a defining breed standard.
In Spain, podenco Andaluz were included within Group V - Spitz and Primitive Types, under Section 7,
Primitive type - Hunting dogs. However, the breed is recognized neither by the
Fédération Cynologique Internationale
The (; FCI; ) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs and purebred registries. The FCI is based in Thuin, Belgium and has 98 members and contract partners (one from each country).
History
The FCI was founded in 1911 un ...
(FCI) nor by any other international
dog breeds association, due to the large number of matches with the
Portuguese Podengo standard — a fact which casts doubt on its claim to be regarded as a separate breed. Genetically the Podenco Andaluz is most closely related to the
Galgo Español
The Galgo Español, or Spanish Greyhound, is an ancient breed of dog, specifically a member of the Sighthound, sighthound family. The Greyhound, English greyhound is possibly a descendant of the Spanish greyhound and, for several years in the 20 ...
. In January 2015 it was recognized by the
Verband für das Deutsche Hundewesen
(VDH) is a kennel club that represents Germany in the international federation . Founded on 11 June 1949, it is headquartered in Dortmund.
As the country-wide controlling body, VDH represents 176 member organizations, such as the :de:Deutscher ...
in Germany.
Characteristics
There are three sizes – large, medium and small – and three types of coat – wire-haired (Spanish: Cerdeño), long-haired (Spanish: Sedeño) and smooth.
This combination of factors can results in nine different varieties.
This variability may be the result of adaptation to the different microclimates within Andalusia, including mountains, agricultural land and marshes, as well as the diverse game targeted by hunters.
Coat colors ranges from white to deep red.
Podenco Andaluz have a trot as fast as their gallop.
Like other warren hounds, the Podenco has excellent sight, hearing and sense of smell.
They are renowned for their methodical hunting style, as well as stamina and endurance while working in the mild winters with irregular precipitations, and dry, hot, sunny summers of Andalusia.
Podenco Andaluz are lively dogs, affectionate, loyal to their owners, but wary with strangers.
Podenco Andaluz are used either singularly, in pairs or as part of a large hunting pack known as a rehala. Small and medium podenco Andaluz hunt rabbits with one dog entering the bramble to drive out the rabbit, while the rest lie in wait to catch it.
Medium and smaller dogs search out
deer
A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
or
wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
, while the larger hounds are used for attacking the prey.

One of the most typical functions of the large Andalusian hound was that of the so-called ''quitaor''
[''Quitaor'' is the dialectal Andalusian word corresponding to the ]Castilian Spanish
In English, Castilian Spanish can mean the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain, the standard form of Spanish, or Spanish from Spain in general. In Spanish, the term (Castilian) can either refer to the Spanish langu ...
''quitador''. Hunting dogs with this role were trained not to eat or tear apart their prey. accompanying the
Spanish greyhound ''colleras''
[According to the '']Diccionario de la lengua española
The (''DLE''; English: ''Dictionary of the Spanish language'') is the authoritative dictionary of the Spanish language. It is produced, edited, and published by the Royal Spanish Academy, with the participation of the Association of Academies ...
'', in Andalusian Spanish the word
collera
' is defined as ''Pareja de ciertos animales'', as in ''Una collera de pavos'' ("a pair of animals, such as a pair of turkeys"). In hunting, the partners do not have to be a male and a female, although the meaning of ''collera'' is usually that of a mated pair. during
hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...
hunting. The ''quitaor''‘s job consisted primarily of flushing out the hares from their home or hiding place and killing them; then, together with the greyhounds, retrieving them for the owner. Andalusian farmhouses would use the larger hounds as watchdogs, and the smaller hounds were used to kill rodents.
References
*
{{hounds
Sighthounds
Dog breeds originating in Andalusia