Ibizan Hound (Podenco Ibicenco): Dog Breed Information & Characteristics

The Podenco Ibicenco (also called Ibizan Hound) is a traditional hunting dog and comes from Spain. It is highly intelligent, socially acceptable, calm, and gentle in the home. With its independent nature and its pronounced passion for hunting, it is not an easy dog.

Origin and history

The Ibizan Hound comes from the Balearic Islands, but can also be found on the Spanish mainland, especially in Catalonia. In Spanish, several regionally distributed, greyhound-like hunting dog breeds are referred to as Podenco. It is believed that this very primitive dog breed spread to the Balearic Islands with the Phoenicians or the Romans. In its home country, it is a traditional rabbit hunter but is also used for hunting larger game. Because of its keen sense of smell and keen hearing, it can also hunt at night. This breed came to Europe at the beginning of the 20th century and is still a rare occurrence in German-speaking countries. In recent years, Podencos have often come to Europe from Spain through animal welfare organizations.

Appearance

The external appearance of the Podenco Ibicenco is reminiscent of a greyhound at first glance. The Podenco is an elegantly built, slender dog with a narrow head and large, very flexible erect ears. Its eyes are slanted, small, and amber in color. The tail is set low, and long and is carried hanging down when at rest.

The coat of the Podenco Ibicenco can be smooth, rough, or long-haired. The coat color is mostly white with red, but can also be solid white or solid red.

Nature

The Podenco Ibicenco is a dog with a friendly personality and natural social behavior. It is suspicious and reserved towards strangers, but never aggressive. Therefore, it is not suitable as a guard or protection dog.

In the family area, the Podenco Ibicenco is loving, affectionate, cuddly, and calm. It’s completely different when you go for a walk: That shows the temperament of a thoroughbred hunter. It has enormous jumping power and can easily overcome higher obstacles (fences). Due to its pronounced passion for hunting, the joy of running, and its independent nature, keeping a Podenco Ibicenco is correspondingly demanding. In our latitudes, Podencos are often adopted from animal shelters as supposed mixed breed dogs and overwhelm the new dog owners with their hunting instinct and their urge for independence.

With a little skill and dog sense, the intelligent Podenco Ibicenco can be trained quite well. However, it never subordinates itself completely and will not execute any meaningless commands. It is also always difficult to run free with this breed of dog. Still, it needs plenty of exercise and exercise to keep it balanced and calm around the house. Greyhound racing or coursing, but also dog sport activities such as agility or tracking work, can be an alternative to challenge and move the Podenco Ibicenco.

A Podenco Ibicenco is not suited to city life or lazy people. It needs an owner with some dog sense, who can spend a lot of time, patience, and empathy for the training and occupation of the dog and who understands its independent nature.