Portuguese Podengo Pequeno breed guide

The Portuguese Podengo Pequeno is a very lively and intelligent little dog, a quick learner, but training must be fun and given in short sessions. It relishes any sort of training and excels at almost anything asked.

Portuguese Podengo Pequenos are easily trained as hunters and in performance sports. AKC says they have a rightful reputation for being tough and tireless.

Portuguese Podengo Pequenos live 12 to 15 years. With a small gene pool in the United States, breeders screen stock for eye disorders and joint diseases such as hip dysplasia and patellar luxation. AKC says the majority have few genetic problems.

The Portuguese Podengo Pequeno is a no-frills, wash-and-wear dog in two coat types, smooth and wire. Routine brushing and a comb through the wire coat to remove tangles or an occasional wipe-down with a damp cloth on the smooth coat, keep it in great shape.

Bred for rabbit hunting, the energetic Pequeno needs brisk daily exercise: play in a large fenced yard, a vigorous daily walk, agility or obedience trials or hunting.

Though new to the AKC Hound Group, Portuguese Podengo Pequenos are an ancient breed whose ancestors are thought to have reached Portugal in antiquity with successive waves of Phoenician, Roman and Moorish traders and invaders.

The Portuguese adapted this stock to hunt rabbits in the craggy Iberian countryside and Portuguese Podengo Pequenos have been called probably the world's smallest hunting dog, routing rabbits from hiding places alone or in small packs.