Meet Chola and Cochi. The two lovely ladies came to London all the way from the Venezuelan island of Coche. I spotted them running around happily in Regent's Park this weekend.
Their owner was holidaying on Coche when she found them as puppies abandoned in a salt mine. Their brothers and sisters were already dead but Chola and Chochi, though very weak, were still alive and she immediately decided to take them with her.
She could not take them to the UK straight away, so she left the girls with a local woman, who was also a dedicated dog lover. Having herself rescued and owned several dogs, she looked after Cochi and Chola for six months until they were ready to go to UK.
The island of Coche has no indigenous dog population, but the dogs have been brought in by Portuguese colonisers. Chola and Cochi bear an uncanny resemblance to a Podenco, a Spanish Hound, (especially Cochi, with her stunning copper coloured coat) so they may be direct descendants of the Portuguese dogs.
Chola, which means 'the darker one' in the Cochi island dialect, is more daring and immediately came along to say 'hello'. Cochi, on the other hand, decided to keep her distance, pricking her lovely big ears only when I took a treat box out of my bag. The clever little lady worked it out in a second and I soon had her eating out of my hand. The owner tells me that, although both dogs are now settled and happy, they still have a thing for food, having been short of it in the past.
She also told me that Cochi and Chola still show their wild dog instincts and Venezuelan roots by dancing around and jumping, skilfully avoiding collision, when they play with each other, which reminds her of Capoeira - a South American dance/martial art.
It was a great pleasure to meet Cochi and Chola. They were such a lovely pair and their story is that of wonderful and heartening love of animals that truly knew no boundaries.
See Winston, a Podenco Canario, I met in London.
