Ibizan Hound | Dog Breed Information & Facts – Pictures

The Ibizan Hound is a medium sized dog, tall, with short or hard hair and erect ears. It is available in white, brown or plain “lion”, or in any combination of them.

This is a very ancient breed that helped people hunting several millennia ago. The name is one of the most unusual among all breeds, but dogs, despite their unusual name, are very graceful.

Dog-sheet-Ibizan-Hound

Ibizan Hound photos

[foogallery id=”44195″]

Physical characteristics

Ibizan Hound has a lean, lean physique with well-developed muscles. The representatives of the breed cannot be called rough and massive. They are graceful, but strong, hardy dogs.

The height of an adult male is 66 – 72 cm, with a weight of 19 – 25 kg. Females are smaller with 50-67 cm and 17-20 kg.

Dog-characteristics-Ibizan-Hound

Distinctive features

  • Head: The head is narrow, quite long. The length of the muzzle corresponds to the length of the skull.
  • Jaws: The jaws are relatively small. Scissor bite, strong.
  • Ears: The ears are erect and mobile. The shape resembles a rhombus.
  • Eyes: The eyes are oval. Yellow or amber color.
  • Body: The chest is narrow but deep. The back is straight, strong, slightly sloping from the hips to the tail. The belly is turned up.
  • Limbs: The front and hind legs of the dog are quite long and thin, but muscular and very strong. The dog easily overcomes long distances.
  • Coat: The coat of the dog is short but coarse. Long-haired representatives of the breed are extremely rare, but this is acceptable. The coat color is white, red or a combination of both shades.

Character and behavior

The Ibizan Hound is an energetic, cheerful dog that needs plenty of exercise. Insufficient activity will negatively affect the health of the animal and its character.

The dog is full of energy, which he strongly demonstrates on the street and at home. Representatives of this breed will delight others with their funny behavior. They really like to be the center of attention.

He is an affectionate pet, a loyal friend and a companion. If the owner is busy, the Ibizan Hound will never bother him, getting underfoot.

With the children

Dogs get along well with children, but they are best not left alone with babies. An overly mobile dog can accidentally push a child.

With other animals

They get along well with other dogs, but cats or rodents can be problematic as they are seen as prey.

Health

The owner of the Ibizan Hound ​​should familiarize himself with the list of diseases to which the pet is predisposed:

  • Allergy – often occurs to care products, but can also be to food.
  • Cataract is an eye disease characterized by deterioration of vision, without proper treatment, blindness can occur.
  • Deafness – more often congenital.
  • Retinal dysplasia is a congenital disease in which the retina does not develop properly and has folds.
  • Epilepsy – accompanied by convulsions, involuntary urination. It is not treatable, but seizures can be controlled with drugs.
  • It is worth adding to the above list that Podenko Ibizenko often injure paws. They also have an increased sensitivity to anesthesia. If surgery is to be done, it is important to correctly calculate the dose of anesthesia.

Ibizan Hound has problems with thermoregulation. They react very badly to sudden changes in temperature, they cannot stand heat and extreme cold.

Life expectancy

The average life expectancy of the Ibizan Hound is 12-14 years.

Care

Caring for an Ibizan Hound is not difficult:

  • It is enough to comb the hairs with a hard brush twice a week.
  • Every six months the dog is trimmed.
  • Bathe the dog once every three months or whenever he gets dirty.
  • Ears are cleaned once a week with a special lotion, eyes should be cleaned daily with a strong decoction of chamomile.
  • The claws are trimmed once a month, if necessary.

Exercise

The Ibizan Hound is a high energy dog, which needs at least 2 hours of vigorous exercise each day to be a truly happy and well-balanced dog. It is not suitable for city life, but is an ideal choice for people who live in the countryside and who know the breed or this type of high energy dogs.

Fun facts

  • Ibizan Hound is distinguished by extremely developed hearing, sense of smell and sight.
  • Unlike most greyhounds, the Ibizan is able to hunt day and night.
  • Ibizan has a “soft grip”, with proper training, it brings the hunter live game.
  • This dog is very jumpy, it makes a jump right from the spot. Able to jump over a one and a half meter fence. It is also believed that these dogs can climb trees.
  • Ibiza hounds can hunt in a large pack (13-15 individuals). In the process, the animals interact harmoniously: one dog discovers prey, all the others surround it and wait for the right moment to attack.
  • The owner, completing the pack of Ibizan Hounds, selects only one female, they work harmoniously and do not quarrel among themselves, unlike males. In the pack of working Ibizan Hounds, the presence of only one dog was allowed, no more.
  • Ibizan Hound, after long-term participation in herd hunting, can go on strike, completely refusing to work. The fact is that after such stress, such a dog needs a long rest.
  • This greyhound is capable of speeds over 60 km / h.
  • Ibizan Hounds are depicted on Roman coins.
  • In ancient times, Ibizan Hound was called a vegetarian dog. All due to the fact that vegetable soups and goat’s milk were the basis of his diet at that time.

History of the breed

The birthplace of the Ibizan Hound is Spain, to be precise, the Balearic Islands.

There are two versions of the origin of this dog. Both are plausible, but which one is one hundred percent true, it has not been possible to establish until now.

According to the first version, the Ibizan Hound belongs to the most ancient dogs. The first representatives of this breed appeared during the time of Ancient Egypt.

This is confirmed by the ancient drawings discovered by archaeologists during excavations with images of dogs with large ears and a graceful physique, exactly reminiscent of modern ibizans.

These drawings date back to 3000 BC.

According to the second version, Ibizan Hound appeared relatively recently as an independent breed. Many geneticists believe that it was bred by selection.

In the process of breeding work, several breeds of greyhounds were used. Ibizan is similar to ancient Egyptian dogs only externally, but not by blood.

Until the twentieth century, the largest population of Ibiza greyhounds was observed in the breed’s homeland, Spain. Slightly lower in European countries. Ibizan Hounds appeared in America in the twentieth century.

Initially, these dogs were recognized by the International Kennel Union under the name “Pharaoh’s dog” (1963).

But a little later, another breed is registered under the same name. To avoid confusion, the first pharaoh dogs were renamed to Ivis greyhounds.

In the fall of 1989, the breed standard was set.

In ancient times, the Ibizan Hound was used as a small game hunter. Most of them were kept in packs, several individuals on the farm.

In the pack, these greyhounds were able to conduct a guard service. They could cope with a predator, for example, a wolf.