Four sweet faces - four sweet and loving characters
It breaks your heart to see so many Bodegueros and Podencos left behind in the shelters, while so many other dogs are adopted. One of the reasons may be that these breeds are little known – not just in Holland but in the UK, the rest of mainland Europe and indeed throughout most of the world. In this post I’ll concentrate on the Bodegueros and will write about Podencos another time.
Leon-hoping for his golden basket
There may be various reasons for the lack of adopters for Bodegueros. The main ones are almost certainly ignorance of the breed and its characteristics and the confusion with the Jack Russell terrier, which it seems has a bad reputation in Belgium though not I think generally in England. However, the Bodeguero is a completely different and original breed – strong, healthy, sweet, very intelligent and loyal.
Lore - one of the lucky ones
This sturdy little dog has a nice and compact muscular body, fairly long, elegant legs, and a nice smooth coat. They have beautiful little faces! Real teddy bear faces – and yes, they do smile! The breed is known by various names. The Rat Nero (rattevanger), the Perillo Ratero (rat dog) and the Bodeguero Andaluz. They got the name Bodeguero from the wineries and wine cellars (bodegas) where they are used to keep wine barrels free from rats and other vermin.
Mikvel the Clown - look at that smile
The Bodeguero first became known towards the end of the 18th century with the arrival of the English wine merchants in the province of Cadiz, Spain. The British brought with them a breed of particularly smooth-haired fox terriers. These were crossed with the already existing local dogs that were used as rat catchers in the bodegas.
Kwien-just wants to play
These hybrids quickly became popular and made excellent ratters. At that time they were bred to be white in colour, so that they could be seen in the dark vaults of the then unlit wineries. In 1993, the Club Nacional del Perro Andaluz Ratonero Bodeguero, was formed and in 2000 the breed was recognised as a native Spanish breed by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture. It is not yet recognised internationally by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale.
Zozima - thrown over the gate of the Refugio with her siblings
These dogs adapt well to full-time indoor or apartment living but have lots of energy so they both enjoy and need a great deal of daily exercise. They love to spend time outdoors, playing games such as fetch and tug-of-war, and having plenty of room to roam, run, and play.
Madina-my turn next?
They thrive on strong dependable relationships with humans. This in particular makes them easy dogs to train and make excellent pets being bright, clever, obedient, loyal, loving and affectionate with adults and children alike. Like all shelter dogs they may take a little time to adapt to a new home. But once they have settled in (and being so intelligent and eager to please this may not take too long) you’ll have a delicious, crazy, sweet, funny and loving friend for life.
Figaro - nearly a year and still waiting
I want to acknowledge and thank Ineke for posting the original article by Judith, in Spain on the Dutch Blog on March 3rd and also Karin van den Akker who drew her attention to Judith’s article. I would also like to acknowledge and thank Judith. I did try to translate her article using Google Translate but in the end it was easier to write my own version, drawing facts from Judith’s article and from various other sources including Wikipedia and All About the Breed
Beloved Bombardonneke
Karin added a postscript saying that she is completely won over by these lovely dogs, as I am. I have met so many of these darlings at El Refugio, among them our beloved Bombardonneke, Mikvel the clown, and so many others. They are funny, sweet, loving and clever and all deserve golden baskets. I hope there are many adopters out there who will give these wonderful dogs a chance. They will reward you with fun and laughter, loyalty and love.
