Meet Dahlia

Hello. Rain Jordan, founder and president of Hound Sanctuary here.  I'm more an animal person than a people person, which is unfortunate for me, but great for animals I suppose, so I'm ok with it.  Anyway, it's why I've elected to introduce myself by introducing Dahlia, the most recently-arrived Hound Sanctuary podenca.  Beautiful, isn't she?  I knew the moment I saw her sad, confused face (see below) that we had to save her.

These two photos above are how she looked after being left at the Spanish killing station, with permission from her owner to kill her.  She was going to be left there over a holiday weekend, cold, scared, confused, and alone.  I couldn't bear the thought.  I begged some contacts in Spain and we were able to get her out.  Now she is here with us.  And her full coat!  What a difference.  If you'd like to read more about her, check out my guest blog post here: http://adoptingagalgo.blogspot.com/2015/04/guest-blog-podencos-in-america-rescued.html?spref=fb  (I have also pasted the bulk of that guest blog post below if you'd prefer to read it here. Thank you to Margie Easter for its original publication.)

Hound Sanctuary is a sighthound rescue in California (www.houndsanctuary.org).  I, the pres, make my pay-the-bills money as a Realtor.  I also am a visual artist; I auction off my art in our fundraisers to make money to pay for hound rescues, and our other members, volunteers, and supporters donate items to auction off as well.   Want to know more about Hound Sanctuary?  Follow this blog! While you're waiting, you may also visit us at www.houndsanctuary.org
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I knew it the instant I saw the distinct, familiar sadness in her eyes. I knew it the instant she looked up over the wirey tufts of strawberry blond tangled across her muzzle, and through her lashes long as sorrow. I knew it then, as I’ve known it before, as I will know it again and again. This dog has endured enough. And now, after enduring all she had been made to endure, this dog had been left for death, in a cold, wet, chaotic place, bearing her heart and mind in tatters. It is my job to see that this dog endures no further hardship. It is my job to mend this dog’s heart and mind, and then to see that she never is tattered again.

The lovely Dahlia. As beautiful as her name.

This is my job, always. Dahlia is the most recent of the many podencos to come from Spain to Hound Sanctuary in California. She was taken by her hunter-owner to a perrera (something like what we think of as a kill shelter—though not as nice—sometimes called a “killing station”), and the hunter-owner had given the perrera permission to kill her, which meant that she would be put on the fast-track for euthanasia—she didn’t have much time to live. I knew absolutely nothing else about her. After begging a perrera volunteer, to no avail, to let me get her out (it was about to be a holiday and the perrera would be closed, leaving her alone, cold, and at risk for days), I began a panicked reaching out to my social media contacts. There were one or two NOs, but soon enough, three great rescuers in Spain, trusted rescuer-friends of Hound Sanctuary, agreed to help. Soon Dahlia was on her way to foster in a little town near Denia, and soon after that she and two of her foster-siblings were on their way to us in California.

As it turns out, Dahlia is less than 2 years old, and the sweetest podenca we could ever have hoped for. Correction, the sweetest dog we could have hoped for. Good with cats, other dogs, and people. Calm, quiet, affectionate, cuddly, smart—not at all what you might expect if you believe what is often heard about podencos. Let me preface this by saying that the description I am about to give is the STEREOTYPED description of negative traits of the podenco, not necessarily the whole truth: hyperactive or high energy, high prey drive, stubborn, escape artist. The truth about the podenco, however, is much more variable and nuanced.
Physically, podencos are quite agile; most are able to jump at least a 5 foot fence with ease—often from a standstill—whether they know they can or not. (Keep in mind that this is also true of most of your greyhounds and galgos!) Where a majority is more than 50%, it is fair to say that at least the majority of podencos are energetic and will want a good amount of exercise, whether it be a long daily walk, or a jog (on leash, of course), etc. They also will love you to pieces for providing them a spacious fenced yard where they can play and freely do the podenco bounce.

The decent-sized minority who do not seem to demand as much exercise nevertheless should get exercise, since you should not allow your podenco to live a sedentary or bored life, neither of which is healthy.

The Podenco Bounce - going up!

Some podencos will be okay with small animals while others will not be. This is no different than a greyhound or any other hound. We test ours with cats and we foster with cats. We have seen a couple that probably should not live with cats, a couple that are
iffy, and many that have been okay with them. That being said, we recommend never leaving small animals unsupervised with a large dog of ANY breed; this seems like basic common sense. At the very least, ensure that there are escape routes for your smaller animals, just in case. I absolutely believe in "Better Safe than Sorry". I also have cats and podencos. Draw your own conclusions.

The podenco personality is quite lovely. They are sensitive, loyal, intelligent creatures who form strong bonds with their humans and will keep those bonds so long as they are treated with respect and gentleness. Break the trust and the podenco may begin to rely on the independent part of her nature. Most podencos will need clear, consistent force-free training; otherwise, they are just as likely to have you trained before you know what hit you. They learn quickly and evolve. Many can learn to use door handles. We had one that learned to use the refrigerator ice-maker in about a day. 

Podencos may be high-strung or calm in personality, playful or mellow in behavior, ready to cuddle with your cat or conquer it, quick to learn a ‘down-wait’ or to go get some ice for his water bowl, on the hunt for every possible way out of the yard or every possible way to steal your cuddle partner’s spot on the sofa. Dahlia enjoys a morning bounce around the house and yard and some stuffy time. Then, until the Hour of the Walk, she likes to take over a large open crate that we keep in the living room with a memory foam mattress in it. She’ll go in and out of it throughout the day and evening, exiting for cuddles, pets, cookies, to catch some rays, or just to say hi. (Sometimes the other podenco steals it from her, in which case she settles for sitting on the couch with her humans or in one of the other memory foam beds.) She’s gentle with everyone, loving, polite, and simply posh. Podencos in America are wonderful creatures full of light, love, joy, and most importantly, hope.

Dahlia chillin' in her California digs (One of her few un-posh moments)

In Spain, the podenco’s situation is grim. (Worse, even, than the plight of the galgos, perhaps partly because the stereotypes cause them to be regarded even lower than galgos, perhaps partly because galgos resemble greyhounds, whom we already know and love, so who tend to get support more easily from us.) It is estimated that there are at least 60,000, probably many more, dying each year in Spain as a result of being over-bred and used as hunting tools, then disposed of. Commonly, their pre-hunting-dog training includes being hooked to the sides or back of a truck or other motor vehicle and being forced to run along with it; the dogs that can’t keep up often get dragged. Dogs that don’t do a good job during training or during hunts may be hanged, burned, throat-slit, or dumped on the road, sometimes with their legs broken, eyes gouged out, or mouth propped open (to keep them from finding their way home or surviving). The ones that do make the cut are kept in storage, if you will, between hunts. Often they are chained up with only a couple feet of chain, in tiny shacks, sometimes with no light, and fed stale bread if at all because it is thought a hungry dog is a better hunting dog. There are those who say that not all hunters behave in these ways with their dogs, and that may be true; for example, Dahlia’s owner brought her to the perrera to be killed instead of employing one of the above methods. There are also a few hunters who are beginning to consider the better option of turning their dogs over to rescuers when they are done with them. It’s a start, and we applaud that. And there is always room for improvement. We will always welcome the opportunity to discuss improvements with the owners of these sweet creatures.

Hello Gorgeous.

Before I get into FAQs of why we do what we do, let me ask you, dear reader, to ask yourself how you can help save hounds. As a registered charity and 501(c)3 non-profit, Hound Sanctuary is always seeking volunteers and donations. Every little bit helps and is appreciated: cash donations large or small, items donated to be auctioned, tax, legal, vet, and other services, etc. Currently our most pressing needs are 1) qualified foster homes and 2) large donors—and these two needs are very much related. We are very grateful to those who have fostered for us so far and of course we understand that people have lives outside of fostering. Yet still, the podencos need a commitment. They come to us broken and they need stability. So we foster a lot of them ourselves. Therefore, we have decided that we must purchase a larger property so that we have the room to house and foster more dogs at once, ourselves, on the sanctuary property, while they recover from their pasts and prepare for their new lives in their forever homes.

I realize it’s a huge ask, but I am asking for the podencos: Please, anyone out there who knows anyone who cares about and can afford to help under-served, desperately needy animals to start anew, please ask them to donate to this project. We have identified two potential properties so far and we need funding.

To arrange large donations, please contact me directly at 831 661 5626 (office), by email at WelcomeToTheSea@comcast.net, or via the website http://www.houndsanctuary.org.

Thank you for helping us help the hounds.

Rain Jordan, President
Hound Sanctuary