Podencos come in many shapes and sizes, from the little Podenco Erbano and Maneto to the big Podenco Campanero, with several different types in between!
But they all have one thing in common, a real zest for life, no matter what hardships they have suffered in their previous life before rescue.
Jane Jones has recently adopted one, and she would like to share her experience of training a podenco.
Do you remember these 3 terrified little babies, in Almeria perrera? There was confusion as to whether and which associations had saved them. Sadly, one of them died, but the other two were saved and went to Levriers du Sud in France. So now, let me introduce you to Gasby, rehomed already. Thank you to everyone involved in giving him and his sibling a forever life.
At the beginning of July, I posted the story of Beatriz, a podenca rescued from Spain and now enjoying a new life in Devon. 6 weeks on, her Mom has written an update on her progress.
‘Having rescued beautiful podenca Beatriz from a little private rescue in Ontinyent, Spain, two months ago to a small farm in Devon, UK, she is now almost unrecognisable, temperament wise. She is still a little timid, especially with male strangers, but like all things, this will take time.
You remember the story of the Bullas, Murcia, rescue of 120 hunting dogs, mostly podencos. It’s great to follow the stories of their rehomings and here is a tale about a really special Bullas Boy, who was born deaf. Denise Heaton adopted him and tells his story so far.
‘Fanta’s story starts from when heavily pregnant Mama named Maya was rescued from the Bullas Camp by Ibizan Hound Rescue along with around 120 other dogs that went to various other rescues. On 4/4/12 Maya gave birth to 8 gorgeous pups under the care of Ibizan Hound Rescue fostered by Diane Hughes, who did a brilliant job with both Mum and her babies.
This photo is the very first one I saw of Fanta, and it made me fall in love with the little guy. I decided at that moment that I wanted to adopt him. A week or so later Diane Hughes & Valerie Wood contacted me to tell me the news that Fanta was profoundly deaf and asked if I still wanted to proceed with the adoption. I felt that the fact he was deaf shouldn’t make much of a difference only that it made him even more special.
On 27/07/12 I finally got to pick up my special boy in Birmingham. It was such a special moment to finally meet him along with his Mamma, Siblings & the other adopters & not forgetting Diane & Brian who transported them from Spain.
Fanta is a wonderful addition to our family and is no different from a hearing dog. His best friend is a little Shi Tzu boy called Bentley who I adopted from The Little Dog Rescue. They spend hours chasing and playing; it’s such a joy watching them.
Fanta responds very well to training through a series of hand signals and is a star at training class. I have had lots of wonderful advice from The Deaf Dog Network who also have a Facebook page and would urge everyone to join who is thinking of adopting a deaf dog.
You can find out more about Fanta and his siblings on our facebook page entitled Bullas Babes.
Lastly a huge thank you to Ibizan Hound Rescue for trusting me with the care of such a beautiful, special boy and of course the fabulous job they do saving these amazing dogs’.
Interestingly, I’ve known white cats which are deaf, and also a white boxer dog.
Aanifeira association in Portugal have written about one of their disabled dogs.
This photo was of Vidal, a podenco chained up in a disused building. Luckily he was found and rescued. I’ve finally found out what happened to him.
Vidal was chained to a wall, he tried to free his head from the chain around his neck but it got caught in his mouth and he was then left like that as nobody really bothered with him. He then eventually either broke free or he was turned loose. When he began running around the town centre people saw his plight and the town hall was very pro-active in assisting with his capture and getting him a rescue place. He travelled to France where Sandrine, of Appel of Levriers, placed him in a foster home. The family fell in love with him and adopted him. Here’s a photo of him with his friends, and a stuffed rabit which he adores.
We all love happy endings and here’s another one, about this beautiful podenca bitch called Beatriz. Ellie tells her story.
‘Having spotted Beatriz on the Paws On Spain Adopt A Pet rescue site
two months ago, Bea is now in her new forever home down on the farm in
North Devon, UK. Rescued in a terrible state, emaciated and very
scared, Bea has come on in leaps and bounds, thanks to the care she
received from Paws On in Ontinyent, a small, privately run rescue.
This delightul cutie pie is Snoopy, a x podenco puppy, now living happily with the Scott family, between the UK and Spain. Ivor Scott tells the story.
‘Well,, my wife & I had a Border Collie called Jess,she was a special girl, very clever,, each year we came to Spain for 6 months, sadly last year Jess died from cancer aged 13 years,, we were devastated.
When we returned to Spain in November 2011, life was so empty, there was a huge void. We had decided not to get another dog, so we made contact with Pat Coleman, the founder of F-A-M-A animal rescue in Fuengirola, Andalucia. We offered our time to go dog walking.
Another happy ending for a deserving podenco. Bon Voyage Julian.
‘This little fellow is Julian the Podenco. Last October a Canadian lady named Robin Waldman visited two shelters in Spain. One was suggested by GRIN, near Sevilla, called FBM (Fundacion Benjamin Mehnert). Robin volunteered there and soon met a galgo named Iker that she decided would come back home with her in the Spring.
In the meantime she also met a Podenco named Julian who also won her heart. He had been waiting for so long, no one asked for him.
