Belfalas Podengos

We have spent most of our lives in the company of dogs.  Over the years we have shared our homes with a range of breeds from Affenpinschers to Alaskan Malamutes, including Border Terriers, Cairn Terriers, and Pomeranians.

We started showing in the mid 1980s with a pair of Rottweilers from John Coleridge (Astreiger) and registered the Belfalas affix at the same time.  Over the years we have owned 4 Rotties.

We showed an Alaskan Malamute bitch from Janetta Parkyns (Seacourt) for a while, until it became obvious that the show ring wasn't her happy place.

A young family and increasing work commitments took us away from the show scene for a number of years.

When we lost our Border Terriers we looked around for a breed that was small, smooth coated (no more hand stripping please!), robust and which hadn't been messed about with to suit the vanity of human beings. Above all, we wanted personality and a reliable temperament.  After extensive research, we decided that the Portuguese Podengo was the dog for us.

Our first two Podengos, a pair of litter brothers, joined us in 2018 from Betty Judge.  At this time we really hadn't considered showing again, so the boys weren't purchased with this in mind.  They have an easy life as Family Pets, with a little bit of part time guard duty thrown in.

We had always wanted a bitch, so when Betty told us she had a high quality bitch puppy available we jumped at the chance, and in the summer of 2021 Lily joined the pack. Lily's potential was obvious so, not wanting to waste the opportunity, we were back in the show ring.

We intend to breed from Lily, when we can find the best possible match for her, with the intention of keeping at least one puppy from the litter.  We are also looking at acquiring a bitch from one of the excellent European breeders in order to refresh the bloodlines in the UK.