Tuesday 10 September 2013

I have never seen one of those before

Whilst walking Ozzy in the forest this afternoon, we came across this dog:
I went up to the owner and showed off my knowledge of dogs and complemented her on her nice looking Basenji. 
"C'est un lévrier Podemco", she replied.
"Ah bon! Beau chien!" was my embarrassed reply.
A Podemco hound is also known as an Ibizan Hound.  This is what they look like:



 
This breed originates in the island of Eivissa, Catalan for Ibiza and has been traditionally used in the Catalan-speaking areas of Spain and France to hunt rabbits and other small game. The Ibizan Hound is a fast dog that can hunt on all types of terrain, working by scent, sound and sight. Hunters run these dogs in mostly female packs, with perhaps a male or two, as the female is considered the better hunter!
The breed is considered by most experts one of the most ancient dog breeds. It is believed it  evolved from the tesem, the ancient Egyptian hunting dog. Representations of this dog on the walls of ancient tombs show a striking similarity to the modern Ibizan Hound. These dogs would have been brought to the island of Eivissa by the Phoenicians, who founded settlements there as early as the 8th century BC.


4 comments:

Whispering Walls said...

Do they dance like Ibizans?

ADDY said...

Funnily enough, I met one in our local park about two weeks ago - the couple had adopted it as a stray in Spain and paid for it to be quarantined over here in the UK. It looked exactly like your picture - mainly tan but with white socks and white patches on its face. It had a very silky coat.

Eurodog said...

WW, do you mean "dance" or "drink"?

Eurodog said...

ADDY hello,
A lot of dogs are adopted from Spain. Mainly greyhounds but I have never seen an Ibizan Hound here in Belgium.