Podengo Pequeno smooth puppies

Great news and Congrats!

Jennifer

Thanks for posting this Fran!

They are gorgeous Jessica. So cute.

It most likely is (sort of) If you are in sections of the country where there are a lot of Portuguese - many of them had dogs sent over or brought over with them from Portugal to use in rabbit hunting. The older hunting pack goes back to the late 1890's. They do not register them and it is unclear if the lines have remained pure or if they have included other hunt pack dogs. I have trying to establish some contacts within the hunt community but at this point - we have to focus on making sure the documented dogs are placed where they are safe and can continue with the breed.

Much as a basenji - they are not for everyone. It appears that the middle size may be the more problematic and I'm not too sure why. I will tell you - after having a barkless dog that it's hard to get used to any barking.

She looks like a nice little dog - and is trained some - happy to provide information should your aunt choose to adopt her.

@dmcarty:

There is info posted at these websites if you are interested in seeing more -

www.podengo-pequeno.com and www.podengo-mediogrande.com

Those sites were really interesting thanks for posting them. I've been following this since you first had us guess what breed you were importing. Nice to follow the progress! 🙂

@dmcarty:

OK this is where lots of people will get realy realy mad at me but I'm going to say it anyway.

While I appreciate desire and any rescue or raid the puppy mill groups desire to save some animals in deplorable conditions - I keep coming back to the phrase, "unintended consequences". Because dogs were purchased at auction or out of a pet store or some place in deplorable conditions - you have increased the 'market' for that breed of dog. They (PM's) don't care about your kind heart, have little guilt about the conditions they were in - they know the dog was sold.

Several years ago many in basenji rescue and BCOA were involved in a horrid situation in Kansas City. Placing a huge number of dogs - now many breeders have not bred in some time because there is no "market' for puppies from reputable breeders - some because they gave up homes that were on their lists to these rescues - some because they've taken in some of these dogs themselves and can't have any more dogs in their house.

While it pains me to say this because I do have a heart - I think there is a point where because of our collective 'heart' we are making the problem worse. If there was not a 'market' for these animals - we would not have puppy mills.

BTW - the only way you can even think about this is if you don't have your fur-baby on your lap. But do think about it a bit.

I understand your stance on the puppy mill but these puppies were actually from the McMinn County Animal Shelter in Athens, TN. The deplorable conditions I described occurred at the shelter and while on transport with the shelter's volunteer to a rescue group. Even though this is a shelter run by a humane society the conditions there we overcrowded, dirty, and no better then a puppy mill. With that said, the volunteers who work there do the best they can with few resources and little or no knowledge about veterinary medicine. They do provide a service when in the month of June over 400 stray and surrendered pets were admitted to the shelter. If you've ever been to a country that lacks a system to deal with stray animals then the importance of such a system is apparent, regardless of the conditions found at the shelter. Who know's where the parents came from but in the south (as in much of the country) we have a large problem with the lack of spay and neutering. I actually paid $0 from the shelter to obtain the pups. Since they were headed for euthanasia the volunteers and animal control officer released them to me so I could provide them with medical care.

More than likely these pups were from someones' dogs out in the country who weren't spayed or neutered and probably was allowed to run free. Who knows maybe the parents were from a backyard breeder or puppy mill but I would never advocate for people to pay a large sum of money for a purebred dog instead of a good ol mutt from the pound just because somewhere along the way a relative of that pound puppy might have been from someplace I don't support.

Everybody has to make their own decision but I have trouble faulting the shelter and its volunteer workers when its the city, county, and federal government and its representatives who should do a better job providing the funding necessary to train competent workers and provide adequate housing conditions. In a rural county such as McMinn in Tennessee these resources are just not available.