Moxie Mae’s Story

Here is another Your Story from Meryl who spends her time living in both Belgium and the USA. She responded to my appeal for Podencos owners to give a little insight into life living with a Podenco.

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Here is her story …………

      

As far as fitting into our household, Moxie Mae does quite nicely. She gets along just fine with Bear, our Jack Russell and all other dogs she has been introduced to thus far. She is perfectly house trained, is learning not to jump on visitors (which is hard, because she loves to jump!) She behaves fine when she is left alone and has always chewed her designated toys and fortunately not the furniture or shoes. She is mostly curious towards cats, but not aggressive. For her, everything is a potential source of entertainment. Flinging a tiny piece of ‘something’ (could be a twig, old sock or anything really) in the air is something she often does, batting at it with her paws and barking at it and pouncing on it. We have a small walled back yard, but live on the beach where she runs every day endlessly fetching a ball as far as I can possibly throw it and I also tie her to my waist when I go running for a few miles most days of the week. She also loves to go swimming. I think you could live with her in an apartment if you were really dedicated to giving the dog the necessary outside time every day, but it’s not ideal.  She needs lots of exercise and there is a direct correlation to her behaviour with and without the proper amount.  She is also still a puppy though. She absolutely loves to run and she flies! 

In the summers she goes back to the U.S. with us for 3 months. I try to tell people as much as I can about podencos and dogs in general in Spain and the sad situations they face. Moxie is a conversation starter wherever she goes because most people have not seen a podenco and certainly not in the States!

She is smart, a quick learner and so sweet and affectionate. She walks pretty well on a leash, but would rather be running on the leash. She comes when called and has a repertoire of tricks she will readily do for a treat. She loves to snuggle under the covers and when it is time to sleep nothing stands in her way. Running and playing or curled up and sleeping are her two settings. She will eat anything and everything. I cook a lot and she is my sous-chef always patiently watching me chop and dice and thrilled when a chunk of carrot, potato, cucumber or anything else comes flying her way. She even comes running to the sound of the vegetable peeler! 

She is wary of strangers, but gets better everyday and is still less than 1.5 years old. She is learning that when I say it’s o.k., that it really is o.k. She is a very vocal dog! I swear sometimes she has full conversations with me and is only frustrated that I don’t know what she is saying. She moans, groans, yips, and of course, loves to bark. 

She is perfect for me and I am so glad I adopted her. It is ridiculous for people to think that a podenco can’t be a good pet and I truly believe that it usually comes down to the owner and the time they put into the animal. For me, I now have an exercise companion, and snuggle buddy on the couch, and a live-in Joker who makes me laugh out loud every single day. 

Author :

Meryl, from Belgium, on Moxie Mae