Pachón Navarro Split Nose: What the Genetics Actually Say

Written by Daon  |  Last updated: August 21, 2026  |  This article is based on published veterinary literature and breed club health-screening data.

Photo by 99bea, via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

The split nose doesn't get the attention it deserves outside a handful of rare breeds, and Pachón Navarro owners in particular tend to hear the myth long before they hear the anatomy. According to Craig Koshyk, who spent years photographing and interviewing Pachón breeders in Navarre for his work on Continental pointing breeds, the people who actually raise these dogs describe the double nose the same way every time: a cosmetic trait, not a scenting advantage. That is not how the internet describes it.

What makes this breed worth a careful read isn't the nose trivia. It's that the Pachón Navarro sits at the intersection of three things U.S. owners rarely see together: a trait that vets classify as an orofacial cleft, a population small enough to still be listed as vulnerable by its national kennel club, and a recovery effort that started in 1979 with three veterinary students and a clipboard. Below is what the record actually supports, what it doesn't, and what any of it means if you're standing in front of a litter.

🚨 Real Talk: What Every Pachón Navarro Owner Needs to Know About the Split Nose

• Treating the nose as a selling point instead of a screening question: Breeders in Spain report that pairing two deeply split-nosed dogs raises the odds of puppies born with a full cleft palate. If a seller is marketing the cleft as the premium feature, they're advertising the exact thing that needs a breeding plan behind it — ask what the palate outcomes have looked like across their last several litters.
• Assuming a newborn who "eats a little slowly" is just a small puppy: Milk coming back through the nostrils, persistent nasal discharge, coughing during nursing, or failure to gain are the signs vets associate with a cleft that extends past the nose into the palate. In a breed with a documented cleft palate susceptibility, that is a same-day call, not a wait-and-see.
• Believing rarity equals health: The Real Sociedad Canina de España still lists the Pachón Navarro among its vulnerable Spanish breeds for the 2026–2027 period. Small closed populations concentrate whatever is already in the gene pool, which is an argument for more health documentation from a breeder, not less.

1. Why the Pachón Navarro Carries a Split Nose at All

The Pachón Navarro is a Spanish hunting breed from Navarre, in the north of the country, and one of five Basque breeds of dog. It's considered among the oldest pointing types of the Iberian Peninsula, with iconographic evidence going back to the Middle Ages. Through the 1800s the same dog went by half a dozen regional names — Pachón, Pachón de Vitoria, Pachón español, Perdiguero común, Perdiguero navarro — until Spain's first dog shows in the 1890s consolidated them under one label.

Anatomically, the double nose is a cleavage in the structure of the nose itself. It runs on a spectrum, from a groove only slightly deeper than the shallow line every dog has between the nostrils, all the way to a fully divided nose that nineteenth-century writers compared to the barrels of a side-by-side shotgun. Vets file this under orofacial clefting, the same broad category as cleft lip and cleft palate.

Two lines of published work are worth knowing here. First, a 2025 analysis of canine gene constraint in Genome Research identified a splice-acceptor variant in the gene PDGFRA associated with bifid nose in Turkey's Çatalburun, a gene that mouse models tie to medial nasal process development and palate formation. The authors note plainly that no Pachón Navarro samples were available for that study, so the genetic mechanism in this breed has not been confirmed — but they also note that the mutant haplotype clustered with Setter and Spaniel haplotypes, pointing toward an Iberian or Western European origin for the trait. Second, and more directly relevant to owners: because Pachón Navarro dogs are susceptible to cleft palate, they have been used as a congenital cleft palate model in surgical research, documented by Paradas-Lara and colleagues in the Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery in 2014. That susceptibility isn't folklore. It's in the literature.

The trait also isn't unique to this breed. William Arkwright, in his 1902 The Pointer and His Predecessors, described double-nosed gundogs in Portugal and France and knew of a family of double-nosed Irish Red Setters. What is unique is the standard: a fair number of breed standards mention a split or double nose, and when they do, it's listed as a serious or disqualifying fault. The Pachón Navarro standard is effectively the only one that permits it.

Nafar eper txakurra — the Basque name for the Pachón Navarro — photographed at an 1890 exhibition, evidence the breed was already on the official show bench in the late nineteenth century.
Anonymous (1890), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

One useful comparison sits right next door. The Burgos Pointer, or Perdiguero de Burgos, is generally thought to descend from crosses involving the Sabueso Español and possibly the Pachón, and the two are sometimes grouped together as Iberian pointing dogs. Yet the Burgos Pointer standard doesn't describe a split nose, and no reports of split-nosed individuals in that breed turned up in the sources reviewed here. Two breeds said to share ancestry, and the trait persisted in only one of them — which suggests it was maintained by deliberate selection in a specific population rather than carried by the whole lineage.

The Burgos Pointer (Perdiguero de Burgos) — thought to trace back to crosses involving the Sabueso Español and the Pachón Navarro, but without the split nose. It appears on the same RSCE vulnerable-breeds list.
Photo by Camaxtli kennel, via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

2. What a Split Nose Looks Like, From Mildest to Most Serious

Shallow groove (mildest end)

What you'll notice: A vertical furrow between the nostrils that's noticeably deeper than the faint line found on any dog, with the nose leather still continuous. Many dogs in this range would not be called "double-nosed" by a casual observer.

Vet approach: Generally documented as a cosmetic finding at the wellness exam. Vets often recommend a look at the hard palate anyway, since the visible outside doesn't always predict the inside.

Distinct cleft (the classic look)

What you'll notice: Nostrils clearly divided by a furrow, producing the double-barrel appearance described in the old gundog literature. Breeders report these dogs breathe, nurse, run, and hunt like any other dog.

Vet approach: Oral exam to confirm the cleft stops at the nose. Puppies in this range are typically watched for nursing efficiency and weight gain over the first couple of weeks.

Pronounced cleft with feeding signs

What you'll notice: A deep division plus something functional — milk or water returning through the nostrils, chronic nasal discharge, coughing or gagging while eating, slower weight gain than littermates, or repeated respiratory infections.

Vet approach: This is where a vet looks for a cleft involving the palate rather than the nose alone. Assisted feeding and aspiration-pneumonia monitoring are commonly discussed, and referral to a board-certified surgeon may come up.

Complete cleft palate

What you'll notice: An opening through the roof of the mouth. Affected newborns cannot generate the seal needed to nurse effectively, and the outcome in this range is often severe. Spanish breeders interviewed about the trait describe losing a portion of each affected litter this way.

Vet approach: Immediate veterinary involvement. Surgical repair of cleft palate in dogs is a recognized procedure performed by board-certified surgeons, and the Pachón Navarro's own susceptibility is why the breed has appeared in published cleft palate surgical research.

It's worth holding both halves of this at once. The 2025 Genome Research team reported no health concerns in the dogs carrying the variant they studied, and most split-nosed Pachones live and work without any palate involvement at all. The concern isn't the nose on the dog in front of you — it's what happens when the trait is doubled up on purpose across a breeding line.

(Heads up: this four-part spectrum is a descriptive framework for what owners and breeders actually observe — not an official veterinary grading scale. There is no standardized clinical grading system for canine bifid nose, and only your vet can determine where a given dog falls or whether the palate is involved.)

3. What the Record Shows: From the 1890s to the 2026 Vulnerable List

What ended the Pachón Navarro's working career wasn't a war. It was a virus. Myxomatosis swept through Spain in the 1950s and all but eliminated the wild rabbit, one of the breed's main quarries. Hunters moved to specialist bird dogs — Pointers and Setters — and demand for the Pachón collapsed. By the early 1970s the population had fallen so low that most people believed the breed was gone. Worth noting: no record of a formal extinction declaration by any institution turned up in the sources reviewed. "Believed to be extinct" is the phrasing the literature consistently uses.

In 1978, alarmed by the state of Spain's native breeds, the Central Canine Society of Madrid created a special Commission for Spanish Breeds under José Manuel Sanz Timón. In 1979 the Commission handed three young veterinary students — Luis M. Arribas, Luis A. Centenera, and Carlos Contera — the job of locating and cataloging whatever Pachones remained in Navarre, Rioja, Álava, and parts of Portugal. It was supposed to produce a short written report and a census. Contera later described how that went:

"It was great fun for a young student, but it was a lot of work. People in other countries had undertaken similar surveys for horse breeds but there was never much interest in searching for hunting dogs… We put in an enormous amount of work without any outside help. We were criticized by many and ignored by others but my father, uncles and cousins all worked on the project. It took us a long time — our hair is now grey — but we've succeeded. The young hunters today don't even realize that the breed was once considered to be almost extinct!"

— Dr. Carlos Contera, interviewed by Craig Koshyk (2011)

When	What happened	Source
1890s	Shown at Spain's earliest dog shows; scattered regional names consolidated as "Pachón Navarro"	Guía de campo de las razas autóctonas españolas (2009)
1911	Among the breeds recognized by the Real Sociedad Canina at its founding	Guía de campo (2009)
1950s	Myxomatosis wipes out the rabbit population; hunters abandon the breed	Koshyk, Pointing Dog Blog (2011)
Early 1970s	Population collapses; breed widely believed extinct	Koshyk (2011) / Guía de campo (2009)
1979	Three veterinary students begin the census of surviving dogs	Koshyk (2011) / Guía de campo (2009)
1983	One of four Spanish breeds featured on a national postage stamp issue	Boletín Oficial del Estado, May 18, 1983
2001–2002	Breed recovery association founded in Laserna (Álava); breeders' circle founded in Pamplona	Guía de campo (2009)
2006	Government of Navarre publishes the breed standard	Orden Foral 270/2006
2010	Added to the Spanish government's list of recognized breeds (still not FCI-recognized)	Orden ARM/573/2010
2026–2027	Listed among 21 vulnerable Spanish breeds by the RSCE (the Perdiguero de Burgos appears on the same list)	RSCE, Razas Españolas Consideradas Vulnerables

The 2009 field guide put the total population somewhere between 700 and 1,000 dogs. Standing height runs roughly 19 to 23.5 inches, with males averaging about 21.5 inches and females about 20.5; weight runs roughly 44 to 66 lbs. The coat is usually short, and the most common patterns are white with black, chestnut, liver, or orange patches and ticking.

※ Unverified hypothesis: you'll frequently read online that the Pachón Navarro is the ancestor of every split-nosed dog, with the trait carried to South America by Spanish colonists and to Turkey along trade routes. The South American branch of that story traces to a 2007 BBC interview with explorer John Blashford-Snell and is presented there as speculation. For the Çatalburun, the 2025 Genome Research team described a shared Iberian or Western European origin as a possibility — noting that both regions fell under Umayyad rule in the eighth century — while stating outright that whether the two breeds' phenotypes share a common origin is unknown. Split noses also appear in historical accounts of Portuguese, French, and Irish Red Setter gundogs, so the trait was never exclusive to three breeds.

4. If You're Looking at a Pachón Navarro in the U.S.

Straight answer first: this breed is not recognized by the AKC and does not appear in the AKC Foundation Stock Service, which listed 88 breeds as of its June 2026 revision. It's also not FCI-recognized. Any dog offered in the U.S. under this name is arriving outside every registry most American owners are used to checking, so verification falls entirely on you.

• Confirm the pedigree at the source. The RSCE maintains a Pachón Navarro standard (No. 409, not accepted by the FCI), and the breed's Spanish associations keep records. A white-and-ticked pointing dog with a slightly deep nasal groove describes a lot of dogs; documentation is what separates a Pachón Navarro from a look-alike.
• Ask about palate outcomes, not nose photos. How many puppies across recent litters were born with a cleft extending into the palate? What happened to them? A breeder working honestly with this trait will have an answer ready.
• Get the oral exam on day one. Book a full wellness visit as soon as the dog lands, and ask your vet specifically to examine the hard and soft palate rather than just noting the nose. Bring up the breed's documented cleft palate susceptibility so it's in the chart.
• Skip the "easy import" pitch. Costs for international transport, quarantine, and veterinary clearance vary widely by clinic, region, and case, and anyone quoting you a tidy all-in number should be asked to itemize it. A dog managed as vulnerable in its own country does not move easily.
• Plan for a working gundog. Koshyk described these dogs as tireless, steady-paced workers that dig into heavy cover. That's a daily-exercise commitment, and it's the part new owners underestimate far more often than the nose.

Long term, care looks like care for any medium-sized, deep-bodied sporting dog: keep weight in a lean range your vet confirms at each visit, stay current on dental exams — especially relevant for a breed with midline-closure variation — and build the annual visit around joint condition and respiratory function rather than the cosmetic trait. Vets often recommend baseline records early in life for uncommon breeds, precisely because there's no large population dataset to compare against later.

The mechanics of how a split nose connects to cleft palate, and what an owner should watch for week by week, are covered in more depth in the Çatalburun installment.

FAQ: Pachón Navarro Split Nose

Does a split nose make a dog smell better?
No — and that's the consensus among the people who breed them. Breeders describe the double nose as a cosmetic feature with no scenting advantage over a normal nose. One plausible origin story for the myth is that a single split-nosed dog somewhere happened to be an outstanding hunter, and the nose got the credit.

Was the Pachón Navarro really extinct?
By the early 1970s most people believed it was, but no formal extinction declaration by any institution appears in the available record. The 1979 census located surviving dogs, and recovery efforts built from there. The breed remains on the RSCE's vulnerable list for 2026–2027, with the population estimated at 700 to 1,000 dogs as of 2009.

Do all Pachón Navarros have a double nose?
No. Only some individuals show it, and not all breeders select for it — partly because using deeply split-nosed dogs in a line raises the risk of puppies born with a complete cleft palate. The breed's standard is notable for being effectively the only one that doesn't treat a split nose as a fault.

Bottom Line: Verify the Palate, Not the Photo

There's no dramatic villain in this breed's history. A virus took the rabbits, hunters picked different dogs, and the Pachón Navarro was quietly forgotten. What brought it back wasn't a grand gesture either — it was three students who were told to write a short report and instead spent decades driving between villages, counting dogs and writing names down.

The nose never gave these dogs a gift. What it gave them was a genuine clinical consideration that shows up in surgical research literature, and a standard willing to tolerate it. So if you ever find yourself looking at one, look past the nose and ask about the palate. The dogs that are here are here because somebody bothered to keep records — that's still the most useful thing an owner can do.

This article is informational and reflects published sources available at the time of writing; individual dogs vary, and any concern about your dog's nose, palate, or breathing should be evaluated by your vet.

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Daon Animal is edited by a research-based writer, not a veterinarian. Population figures, breed status, and historical dates in this article are drawn from the government and kennel club documents cited below. Breeder-reported observations are labeled as such and should not be read as statistics.

Related Reads — The Split Nose Series

• Catalburun Split-Nose Dog: What That "Two-Nosed" Look Really Is — and What 2025 Genetics Found
• Double-Nosed Andean Tiger Hound: What Fawcett's 1913 Note and the 2005 Bolivia Sighting Actually Prove

Sources

• Buckley RM, et al. "Analysis of canine gene constraint identifies new variants for orofacial clefts and stature." Genome Research. 2025;35(5):1080. PubMed Central
• Paradas-Lara I, Casado-Gómez I, Martín C, et al. "Maxillary growth in a congenital cleft palate canine model for surgical research." J Craniomaxillofac Surg. 2014;42(1):13-21. PubMed
• "Nose, bifid, PDGFRA-related in Canis lupus familiaris." Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA). OMIA
• Real Sociedad Canina de España. "Razas Españolas Consideradas Vulnerables (1 de mayo de 2026 al 30 de abril de 2027)." RSCE (PDF)
• Koshyk C. "Breed of the Week: The Pachón Navarro." Pointing Dog Blog. 2011 — includes the Carlos Contera interview and breeder accounts of the split nose. Pointing Dog Blog
• Fernández Rodríguez M, et al. (eds.). Guía de campo de las razas autóctonas españolas. Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino; 2009:559-561.
• Gobierno de Navarra. "Orden Foral 270/2006 — estándar racial y funcional de la raza canina Pachón Navarro." Boletín Oficial de Navarra 115. Boletín Oficial de Navarra
• American Kennel Club. "FSS and Miscellaneous Breeds Broken Out By Group" (revised June 10, 2026). AKC
• BBC News. "Double-nosed dog not to be sniffed at." 2007. BBC News

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This article is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice. Please read our Medical Disclaimer and Editorial Policy for more information.