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The Portuguese Podengo is the most popular hunting dog in Portugal, and the rabbit is the predominant game species in Portugal, so it is understandable that the Portuguese believe that nature and history have produced in the Portuguese Podengo the finest rabbit hunter in the world, or at the very least, the finest rabbit hunter for dense woods and a mix of wet and arid climates. Virtually every element of the conformation of the Portuguese Podengo comes from its rabbit hunting function (or boar hunting in the case of the Grande), and it is essential that it continue to be used to hunt if it is to stay healthy and true to type.
The Portuguese Podengo is a natural hunter, requiring no special training other than a gradual exposure to the sound of the gun. It hunts with a great deal of autonomy, often finding, flushing, catching, killing and retrieving the game without any involvement of the hunter. For a slide show of Podengos hunting, see our sister club, PCUSA, at www.podengosusa.com/hunting/
The Portuguese Podengo hunting style relies as much on cleverness as on pure speed, and in a pack situation, there will be a lead dog or bitch (the "quitador") that directs the team work of the others, and which reserves to itself the honor of retrieving the kill. The Portuguese Podengo's hunting style engages its sharp vision, keen hearing and acute sense of smell. In hunting in dense woods, the senses of smell and hearing will dominate over the sense of sight. The typical hunt is not made up of short bursts of speed across open ground, but rather a long, zigzagging hunt through the brush that requires a combination of speed, endurance, agility, persistence and great tracking ability.
The Portuguese have developed a field trial protocol to test for the unique hunting style of the Portuguese Podengo, which we would like to replicate in the U.S. The main qualities that are evaluated are: the sense of smell; agility and resistance to fatigue; perseverance in pursuing the hunt so that the quarry can be found by track or scent; the ability to overcome difficulty in pursuing in dense underbrush and acute turns of the prey; the power and certainty of remaining on track even though the track is curving and difficult; the energy to pursue the quarry without showing fear of any obstacle; and the use of excited yelping (the Maticar) when pursuing the quarry and also when it is hidden. The lead dog is evaluated on: its constant alertness; how quickly it arrives to the place where the pack gives the alert; its domination of the pack; its decisiveness and speed in snatching the prey; and its ability to retrieve the kill to hand without damaging the carcass.
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