If you lived in Portugal in the 16th century (and we know of a few former teachers whom we suspect probably did), you referred to a dog that hunted in a pack as a “podengo,” or more properly, Podengo de Mostra. With time, the name was abbreviated to just “podendo,” which still distinguished it from another pack dog, but one that was a sprinting sighthound (today we call them Galgos).

It’s interesting that many of us in the U.S. think of dogs that hunt in packs as being Foxhounds, Beagles, or Bassets, but Portuguese Americans living in California, New England, and down the East Coast had always had hunting Podengos. While “podengo” typically meant a pack hound, the aforementioned breeds – Foxhound, Beagle or Basset – were not called Podengos in Portugal, but by their English names. That said, a full pack of Podengos was imported into the United States in the late 1800s, but because they were never recorded, we know virtually nothing beyond that fact.

You know what we love about this breed ( besides it being intelligent, loyal, fearless, hardy, and lively?) It’s that almost all Portuguese Podengos in Portugal are used to hunt, including some of the show dogs. To resurrect a 70’s term borrowed from Isaac Hayes, “right on.” One of the first times it was used in a pop venue was in the song, “Shaft.” Hear it at the 3:18 mark below).