1996 Logo- Portuguese Podengo Club of America (which, of course, to me was only the Medio)I never lost my interest in the Podengos. At that time, I only knew of one Podengo- the Medio. I pronounced it 'mee-dee-oh,' still do and always will. I have heard Portuguese judges pronounce it this way, as well. Some people pronounce it completely wrong ('med-ee-oh') but since this is Portuguese, not Spanish, words and letters are pronounced differently than they are in Spain or Mexico, for that matter. One other thing about me- as a creative type, I have always had a love of writing (obviously) and language and am deft in picking up dialects, accents or wordage wherever I go. I have had many international friends who can attest to that!
I knew the Medio came in 2 hair coats but was only interested in the wirehaired. The smooths looked like a badly bred red ACD rescue dog to me!
In the mid 90's I was still perusing the developing internet world a few times a year (usually for hours at a time, until I was exhausted) for information on Podengos. I thought about them often, collecting their photos and gathering any online information I could find. It seemed like a pipe dream. It really didn't feel like it would ever happen. At the dog shows, Wirehaired Ibizan Hound owners would taunt me, 'you should just get a Wire Ibizan! They're already AKC!' but at the time I really did feel it would be settling for something less. At least it was less than what I (thought I) wanted.
Finally, in 1997, a breeder of American Staffordshire Terriers in Portugal sent me the email and regular mail addresses of their country's kennel club.
I emailed to the kennel club in Portugal and got a list (in Portuguese, naturally) of breeders.
But the reality was, with no money for 'real' dogs at that time and getting more involved in ACD Rescue obligations, my priorities and scant financials were firmly rooted in my humane and rescue work (and rent!).
I was also very unclear on how to import an animal and with no encouraging social support system for Podengos, I decided to wait and see if these dogs would ever have a place in my life. I was in my early 30's and felt the future was wide open.
