Podencos Ria and Inca – finding forever together in Italy

Alicia Andrews lives in Italy and has two rescued podencas. She is now involved in helping to rehome podencos, especially from Lanzarote, Canary Islands. She tells the story of how she became involved with the podencos.

‘When my last remaining dog died back in January 2013, he left a huge hole in my life. I’ve loved animals from the time I was born into a household where there were always rescued dogs and birds around. So when Peanut left me to run over the rainbow bridge and join his mother and siblings (or, at least I like to think that he did), I felt “lost”. Who was going to leap excitedly around my legs when it was time for a walk?

At first, we thought we’d wait a while before getting another dog, but as I had already started doing some voluntary work finding homes for dogs for a couple of the rescue associations here in Italy, where I live, and had read about the plight of podencos and galgos in Spain, I decided not to wait and to take in a podenco needing a home.

I run a parrot rescue here, and usually have a number of ill, convalescent, or feather-plucked birds (from the stress of captivity) in the house with me. My dogs, Peanut, and his mother, who had died two years previously, had always been really good with the parrots, and would have them walking on the floor right under their legs without any problem. However, I knew podencos are used for hunting, and I wasn’t quite sure about how that would work out with the parrots around.

In the meanwhile, I had seen a photo of Ria, a small sized podenca andaluz, on the page of one of the rescues in Spain, and contacted them to ask about her. They told me she had been brought to them by a man claiming to have found her, and even though they didn’t believe him, they were happy that at least he hadn’t taken her to the perrera!. The said she was very badly traumatised and very frightened of everything – she didn’t walk, she almost crawled, she was so afraid.

I explained about the rescued parrots, and they kindly offered to take Ria to a chicken farm nearby and see how she reacted. It turned out that she was so scared, that she sat in the middle of the chickens, trembling, till one of them decided they’d had enough of this funny chicken in their midst, and chased her! So that was that for me, and I immediately signed the adoption papers and waited impatiently till they completed all her documentation and her European passport so that she could travel to Italy.

I’ll never forget the day she arrived – this tiny, scrawny little thing, between five and six kilos of her, ribs showing, afraid of anything and everything, and me weeping my eyes out as they put her in my arms.

The third day after her arrival, there were workmen outside the house and as I walked past with her on her lead, they started the cement mixer going, and she shot off, pulling the lead out of my hand, and headed straight into the nearest bushy area between here and the sea. We spent all day searching the area with friends to help, and after a couple of hours we found her lead which had been chewed off, but no sign of her. She still had her harness on with her name tag attached, but I was desperate! I thought there was no way she would come out of the bushes, so nobody would find her.

We gave up late that evening and returned home to spend a sleepless night till dawn the next morning when we were up again, searching. Finally at 11am, I received a call on my mobile phone from someone who’d found her as she came out of the trees and onto a quiet road, Luckily it was someone who had a very frightened dog himself, so he knew how to approach her so as not to scare her off. In tears of relief, I went to fetch her. We have never looked back.

She soon learnt that she was safe here with me, and would run to me whenever she felt afraid of anything, but it took her four months to let my husband approach her. Before that she would run away and hide when he got home. She’s now become a lovely, cuddly and very playful little dog who loves her walks, snuggles up to my husband on the sofa for an afternoon nap, and runs to him joyfully when he comes home from work. She’s good with the parrots, is also obedient when off the lead, and has excellent recall.

Three months ago we decided that she could do with some doggy company, and when I looked for another small sized pod, I saw pictures of a tiny, scrawny, very frightened looking podenca orita, two years old, with one ear a little flopped. On the same page there was another small and very beautiful, rough haired girl of the same age who’d also been found on the street. They both gazed out at me with their soft, frightened podenco eyes, making my heart melt. We were told that the orita girl would growl, bare her teeth and even bite when she didn’t want to be touched, and she’d never been walked on a lead.

We hummed and hawed between the two, and had a family pow-wow before deciding that the more frightened one needed a home more. So, after doing the chicken test and passing it, little Inca arrived in our lives, scrawny, scraggly, smelling of vomit and poo from her trip, and looking a very sorry sight. Her fur was so rough that it looked and felt like she had straw on her back. Her outer fur was actually the colour of straw. We think she must have some podenco enano blood in her too as her body is elongated and her legs are shorter than normal.

She spent most of the first two months hidden away under the furniture and had to be dragged out to eat her food or sit on the sofa with us, but she never once growled or threatened to bite.

She’s now filled out nicely, her fur is soft and shiny and we don’t have to drag her out to eat her food or to sit with us. On the contrary, when she hears me preparing food, she’s there in the kitchen with Ria, both wagging their tails and looking up at me imploringly. She’s becoming playful, happy and very sweet, and she even comes running with a wagging tail to put on her harness and lead when it’s time to go out for a walk.

When I look into the eyes of a podenco, all I see is softness and kindness. How anybody can ill treat such a placid and wonderful dog is beyond me, and I have nothing but total disgust for the vermin who make them lead a horribly cruel life, starve them, then abandon, shoot, poison or hang them!

I am now doing whatever I can to help save podencos, galgos and other dogs from the cruel fate which awaits them in the perreras in Spain, working with several rescues, one of which I represent in this region, and helping generally to rehome these dogs. I hope the Spanish people themselves will wake up soon and realise just what wonderful pets podencos and galgos can be.

Alicia Andrews
Trieste, Italy

http://www.progettoanimalistaperlavita.it/

http://www.angelisenzavoce.it/