Welcome to Podengos da Floresta

Welcome to our WebPages and Podengos da Floresta Kennels, located in southeast New Hampshire. Our hope is that the pictures on these pages will pique your interest in our rare breed of dogs, the wire-hair Portuguese Podengo Pequeno. We find them to be wonderful family dogs and very sturdy in the climate that New Hampshire provides us. They love snow, they love to wade in the pond water, and they love to hunt critters on our walks in the woods. They are great little hounds with enough energy to take on a long hike, but not so much that they can't settle down for a nap in the house.

The Portuguese Podengo Pequeno is a rabbit hunting hound. They use
their eyes, ears, and noses to do their hunting. They may be hunted in a
pack or singly. They are used in the very thick brush, or thicket, as well as
on the rocky mountainsides in Portugal. To watch them jump from boulder
to boulder and into the clefts to look for rabbits is a fantastic experience. They will dig into a rabbit burrow to flush the rabbit out and then give chase. They are often hunted in mixed packs with the Portuguese Podengo Medio. The agility that these little dogs have is absolutely amazing and makes them well suited for Agility competition here in the USA. They are also being run in lure coursing by various PPP owners in America and Finland.

Although this breed is not yet recognized by the American Kennel Club, it has been accepted into their Foundation Stock Service, and the Portuguese Podengo Pequenos of America* club - of which we are charter members - is working very hard toward this goal. On January 1, 2008, the Portuguese Podengo breed became eligible to compete in official AKC companion dog and performance events. In June of that year, our "Racio" became the first Portuguese Podengo of any size to achieve an agility degree in AKC when he earned his NA and NAJ. We were VERY proud of him.

In October 2008, the American Kennel Club decided to "split" the PP breed into two separate breeds - the Portuguese Podengo Pequeno (small) and the Portuguese Podengo (medium and large). This has to do with the rules for breeding the sizes and the manner in which they are bred in Portugal. We continue to work closely with their country of origin.

Presently, they are able to compete in conformation/breed classes in rare breed dog organization shows - American Rare Breed Association & NAKC/Rarities - and the United Kennel Club.

Our website will always be a work-in-progress so be sure to come back and visit us often. We hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as we have enjoyed taking them and sharing with you. We have also recently added some links - and will continue to do so in the future - so you may view some videos.

Penny & Cal Schroeder
Podengos da Floresta Kennels
Strafford, NH
USA

GREAT NEWS !!!

The AKC Board has approved the
Portuguese Podengo Pequeno to be eligible for
the Miscellaneous class as of January 1, 2011 !!!

*For further info concerning the PPPA: http://pppAmerica.org

Welcome t and they love to hunt critters on our walks in the woods. They are great little hounds with enough energy to take on a long hike, but not so much that they can't settle down for nap in the house.