Generally, the Portuguese Podengo is described as a friendly, intelligent, and very observant animal. As the largest of the three sizes, the Grande is usually 22 to 27 inches (55 to 70 cm) tall and 44 to 66 pounds (20 to 30 kg) in weight. The Medio stands at 15 to 22 inches (39 to 56 cm) tall and weighs around 35 to 44 pounds (16 to 20 kg). The Pequeno dogs are typically 8 to 12 inches (20 to 31 centimeters) in height and weigh around 9 to 13 pounds (4 to 6 kilograms). The coat color is usually fawn, yellow or black with white markings. While the Smooth coats are hard and consist of longer hairs than on most hounds, the Wirehaired coats are shaggy and coarse with medium-long hairs. Under its size categories, the Portuguese Podengo is subcategorized into two types of coats: Smooth and Wirehaired.
The dog breed is split into three distinct size categories: small (Podengo Portugueso Pequeno), medium (Podengo Portugueso Medio), and large (Podengo Portugueso Grande). The Medio is smaller than it used to be, due to human intervention in breeding over the years. Also, the Grande is the rarest of the three categories. The Grande variant is believed to have been bred out of the Pequeno and Medio, and it is particularly useful for hunting bigger game, such as deer and wild boar. Mainly used as a hunting dog, especially for small game, the Podengo uses the senses of sight and scent most other hounds use one or the other. It was around as early as the 13th century, when Portuguese explorers used Pequeno dogs for seeking out rats in their ships. The ancestry of the Portuguese Podengo is often attributed to the wolves or tan-colored sighthounds of the Iberian Peninsula.
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