Diversity of type

Ibizan Podenco - by Buzzini

Two recent things brought this subject of diversity to mind. First being my revisiting the report of the first breed match of the original American Ibizan Hound club in 1974, and the second being the recent Ibizan Hound Club of the United States National Specialty. One could observe from the first that there was a range of types within the breed. Much has to do with the geographic origin of the individual dogs, dogs from mainland Spain often being larger, more robust, dogs from Ibiza often being more rustic and plebeian, more compact, dogs from Mallorca being more tall and sinewy. This is a broad generalization as certainly dogs of a range of types come from all locations. The first match shows us many Ibizans bred from dogs first imported by the Seoanes. These Ibizans were less elegant, more similar to the Portuguese Podencos. Yet they are very much Ibizans. There were also taller more leggy dogs even then. I believe history has shown our breed to be naturally diverse. Larger, heavier dogs work the hunt one way, leggy leapers another, littler ones can get in the tight places. The various topography of Spain and the Balearics also assert selection of type. Rough brushy country, rocky hills, or more open fields calls for slightly different anatomy. Then there is the selection made by the breeders. Breeders make choices as to interpretation of the standard. The standard is the blue print of each breed. But the standard has some room for these various interpretations. If all breeders saw things in exactly the same way we would all be getting into the same difficulties. Then we would not have anywhere to go to for corrections. Certainly dogs should fit the standard and that is why the standard must give a true clear vision of the perimeters of the breed.