When Kathleen Walker steps into the obedience ring with her dogs, she feels like time stops.
“It’s just me and my dog,” she says. “I don’t care about the audience. I hear the judge for the commands, but that’s all. Time stops, and it’s just me and my dog enjoying our time.”
For “Spike,” her 5-year-old Portuguese Podengo Pequeno, the feeling appears to be mutual. As he prances through the heel pattern, Spike gazes adoringly at Walker, wagging his tail like the pendulum of a metronome.
Spike (CH Happy Hobbits House Party CD BN TKN) is heading to Orlando, Florida, on December 13 and 14 as the only Pequeno to compete in the 12th AKC Obedience Classic, sponsored by Eukanuba and held in conjunction with the 2025 AKC National Championship, presented by Royal Canin.
Walker, of Bushnell, Florida, is an accomplished dog trainer and AKC obedience judge. While she’s competed in every AKC Obedience Classic since 2014, Spike is new to the game. Equal parts charm and mischief, the scruffy little hound is one of only three Pequenos to earn a Companion Dog title.
While Walker will compete at the highest levels with her other dogs at the event, she’s running Spike in Novice for a chance to showcase her unique breed and celebrate their bond through the sport she loves most.
Finding Her Pint-Sized Partner
In addition to competition obedience, Walker does therapy work with her Border Collies at hospitals, behavioral health centers, and hospice care facilities. The Border Collies are too large to sit on a bed with a patient and too short to be pet on the ground, so she trained her dogs to jump up on a chair to interact with patients.
“I always said my next therapy dog would either be super tall, like an Irish Wolfhound, or something little. But I hadn’t decided what ‘little,'” Walker says.
Walker was in a hotel elevator for a dog show when the doors opened to reveal the “most adorable, little fluffy puppy,” she says. The breeder told her it was a wirehaired Portuguese Podengo Pequeno.
Walker imagined how pediatric patients would enjoy seeing that sandy, scruffy face, and began researching the breed to determine if it was a good fit for therapy work. Five years later, in 2020, she brought home Spike, a son of that first Pequeno she met at the dog show.
Life With Spike, the Little Rascal
The Portuguese Podengo Pequeno is a lively, intelligent hound bred to hunt rabbits in their native Portugal. Among the smallest in the Hound Group, the Pequeno stands between 8 and 12 inches tall and weighs up to 13 pounds. Their buff-colored coat comes in two varieties (smooth and rough, like Spike).
“Most people think Spike is a terrier mix,” Walker says. “When I tell them his breed — and that he is a hound, not a terrier — they can’t believe it.”
Spike’s a bit of a clown, Walker says — sweet with children, very bright, and a little mischievous. He loves to lie upside down on his back (a quirky trait of the breed, she says), but will have intense, 10-minute bursts of energy before crashing for a nap.
“He needs a ton of exercise,” Walker says. “Thank God he’s little, because sometimes the zoomies in the house are just unbelievable!”
Spike’s rabbit-hunting instincts are often on full display, with Walker’s very tolerant 8-year-old Border Collie standing in as quarry. “He gets down and stalks, where his front is down, his butt’s up a little bit, just waiting,” she says. He watches for his “rabbit” — the Border Collie — to jump out, then he rushes to bite her hocks. “She just runs, and he’s attached to her, and she does nothing to him.”
The Accidental Obedience Dog
When Walker first got Spike, she never imagined that he’d compete in obedience.
“It was totally unexpected,” Walker says. She promised Spike’s breeder she’d finish his AKC Championship, but beyond that, therapy work was her only focus.
Walker has nearly five decades of experience in dog training — as a competitor, a judge, an instructor, and in rescue work — so naturally, every dog in her care receives foundational obedience training. Spike learned the basics for therapy work and passed the certification test to begin visits.
Then, during the benched portion of the National Dog Show, a spectator bent down to pet Spike, and her purse swung forward and hit him in the face. The sturdy little dog handled it well at the moment, but he developed an understandable skepticism of bags, lanyards, or anything dangling from a person.
Walker took a step back to help him overcome this apprehension, and shifted her focus to tightening up some of his obedience skills — just for fun.
“I always played around with teaching him heeling and that, because that’s just what I end up doing,” Walker says. “And he enjoys it! He actually prances when he heels, with his head up.”
Spike earned his Beginner Novice title, and Walker continued to advance his training. When she introduced off-lead heelwork, Spike didn’t seem to notice a difference. “I’ll let him do some spins and touches and things like that as we’re heeling, and he just stays engaged. He really enjoys it,” Walker says.
A Slow Game of Precision
In a world that craves instant gratification, Walker appreciates that obedience takes time. It can take years before a team is ready to trial, as they learn the precise moves and build a strong, solid relationship. “I love the technical part of it,” she says, “and then watching the dogs’ brains working while they’re in the ring. That’s the fun part of the judging, too.”
Walker loves a tournament, and Spike, with his experience in conformation, is unfazed by the commotion of large events. Walker is excited to showcase her rare breed on a broad stage. But more than anything, she looks forward to that special, almost magical moment of being in the ring with her cheerful little dog.
“I can do really well, or I can come in last place — This is my time for just me and this dog,” Walker says. “And at that moment, I don’t have to worry about anything else in the world.”
The AKC National Championship, presented by Royal Canin, has crowned its 2025 Best in Show! Learn more about conformation and follow your favorite breeds at dog shows throughout the year.