A Venezuelan Love Story

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.

The Canine Canary

I met Winston on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Green Park.

It was easy to spot him as he run across the grass with his beautiful athletic silhouette and a stunning Titian-red coat gleaming in the afternoon sun.

Winston is a Podenco Canario, also known as Spanish Warren Dog. It is a rare breed in the UK, and Winston was brought to London all the way from Spain.

He was rather uninterested in me and my camera, unsurprisingly perhaps, preferring a good sniff and run around the park, to talking to complete strangers. What I did not know was that Winston absolutely loves treats and, the moment he saw the box in my hand, he turned from an aloof aristocrat into the friendliest of dogs. He gave me his paw, while looking earnestly at me with his beautiful hazel brown eyes, and quickly wolfed down three treats. His owner told me that Winston is an exceptionally quiet dog and almost never barks unless you ask him to speak, which I think may be pretty much every owner's dream!

The Podenco Canario is a Spanish hunting dog, bred to catch rabbits. Podenco is one of several breeds to come from the Pharaoh Hound, the old Egyptian breed, often featured on hieroglyphs and paintings from ancient Egypt.

See another Spanish dog, Bamba, who is a Pharaoh Hound cross.

Keeping it in the family

I met this lovely family in the busy Grovenor Place, just off Hyde Park Corner roundabout. The owners told me that they had a long standing family tradition to give their dogs names starting with a B, hence Bamba (top) and Bria (bottom).

Bamba is an unusual cross of the rare Pharaoh Hound, also known as an Egyptian hound. That is where she gets her lovely, distinctive ears, which give her a very charming, inquisitive air. Bamba is a new London dog, as she arrived to London only a few days ago from Spain with her owners. She has a beatiful, rich copper colour coat and amazing amber eyes. She has something of the timidity and gentleness of a greyhound about her, until she pricks up her big ears and all of the sudden you can see her Pharaoh Hound ancestors in her. I am sure that once she settles here, Bamba will be very happy.

Bria is a 9-year old serene and placid retriever. She has a beautiful creamy, almost white coat, unusually light colour for a retriever. She belongs to Bamba's owner's Mum, who was kind enough to let me take photo of Bria too. She was rather indifferent to my camera, which was justified. Bria is a dog of habit and it was past her dinner time, so she wanted us to know that it was not fair to keep her waiting any longer! She sprawled on the pavement with all her four paws out, never minding the traffic and noise.

More about Pharaoh Hound: Pharaoh Hound Club of America

More about Labrador Retriever: Labrador Retriever Club in UK