Pachón Navarro

The Pachón Navarro is a hunting dog breed that comes from Navarre, an autonomous community in northern Spain. It is one of five Basque breeds of dog, the others being the Basque Shepherd Dog, the Erbi Txakur, the Villano de Las Encartaciones and the Villanuco de Las Encartaciones.

History

This breed is thought to be one of the oldest pointer dogs on the Iberian Peninsula. Medieval artwork provides evidence of its existence. During the 1800s, hunting became a popular pastime among the middle class, and the Pachón spread across much of Spain under names like Pachón, Pachón de Vitoria, Pachón español, Perdiguero común, and Perdiguero navarro. Dogs of this type appeared in Spain’s earliest dog shows in the 1890s.

The Real Sociedad Canina recognized the Pachón when it was founded in 1911, but by the 1970s the breed was thought to be extinct. Recovery efforts began with a census of surviving dogs in 1979. In 1983, the breed was featured on a set of Spanish postage stamps alongside three other Spanish breeds.

A breed society, the Asociación Nacional Pro Recuperación del Pachón Navarro, was founded in Laserna, Álava, in 2001, followed by the Círculo de Cazadores y Criadores de Pachón Navarro in Pamplona in 2002. The government of Navarre published a breed standard in 2006, and in 2010 the Pachón was added to the Spanish government’s list of recognized dog breeds. It is not recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale.

In 2009, the total breed population was estimated to be between 700 and 1,000 dogs. In 2026 it was among the sixteen Spanish breeds considered by the Real Sociedad Canina de España to be vulnerable.

Characteristics

The Pachón is usually short-haired. Its coat varies widely and can be one, two, or three colors. The most common color patterns are black-and-white, chestnut-and-white, liver-and-white, and orange-and-white, all with patches and specks of color on a white background. A few dogs have an unusual split or bifid nose, a trait also seen in the Turkish Tarsus çatalburun and occasionally in South American dogs.