Bev Farmer of Podenco Friends writes about Pepe – a podenco whose life has been full of fear.

I wanted to give some insight into why Pepe struggles to cope with so many everyday things.  Piecing together his history, it likely began before he was even born.

Pepe was born to a very nervous Podenco living on the streets. During pregnancy, a highly stressed mother produces stress-related hormones, particularly cortisol, which can cross the placenta. This can affect the developing puppies’ brains and their stress-response systems, essentially setting their “stress threshold” much higher than normal. Puppies exposed to this are far more likely to grow up fearful, anxious, and easily overwhelmed.

After birth, life on the streets only compounded this. Their mother was in constant survival mode, unable to nurture or provide stability, her priority was simply to keep all nine puppies alive. For Pepe and his littermates, those first five months coincided with the most crucial learning period of their lives (roughly 3–14 weeks). Instead of safety, exploration, and social learning, they experienced danger, unpredictability, and fear.

It was the worst possible start to life.

By the time Pepe arrived at the rescue at around five months old, he had already learned to bite, not out of aggression, but as self-preservation. Fear had taught him that distance was safety.

After 12 months at the rescue, living with one of his littermates, neither dog was making significant progress. A post was shared about the two pups, and that’s when I reached out and offered to take Pepe, hoping that perhaps I might be able to help him.

I have so much to write about Pepe, and I’ll share it over a number of posts, the highs, the lows, and his slow, hard-won progress. Some of it may resonate with those of you who have adopted fearful or nervous Podencos and have recently reached out to me.

I’ve also had “well-meaning experts” tell me he would never live a normal life, that euthanasia would be the kindest option. And yet, as I write this, I’m watching Pepe running around the garden with his tail held high, having a grand old time. It took almost three months for him to realise he could do this. He’s now playful and increasingly engaged with the other dogs.

Pepe, and his littermates, are not a lost cause.

They simply need support, understanding, someone to guide them… and most importantly, time.