Portuguese Water Dog

The Portuguese Water Dog was bred to work alongside fishermen along the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula. In its native Portugal, it is known as "Cao de Agua"�, meaning "water dog"�. It is a strong, muscular, active dog with a lot of natural exuberance and stamina, and it is unfailingly happy to splash into the water wherever some can be found. This breed is sometimes mistaken for a poodle because of the similar trim, however the Portuguese Water Dog is very different structurally. This dog is sturdy and never refined of bone. Its black nose is broad. Its legs are stout and its build muscular. It is extremely strong; this breed was developed to swim literally all day long. Its thick, single coat may be made of tight curls or of looser waves. The coat may be brown, black, brown with some white, or black with some white. All white is seen very rarely. The parti-color (also called an "Irish coat"�) is becoming more popular in the United States, but is discouraged amongst breeders in Portugal.The Portuguese Water Dog has the webbed feet found in many water dogs, to help propel it forward as it swims. It has a deep chest. Its ears are set high and back and are heart-shaped and floppy. The tail is never docked but left long. The dewclaws are occasionally removed. This dog stands from 20 to 23 inches high at the shoulder. It is widely accepted that the Portuguese Water Dog was developed centuries ago to assist fishermen in their daily work. But many canine historians believe it may have developed much earlier, from a dog that is first mentioned in 700 BC as one that lived with nomadic people on the Central Asian steppes, near the Chinese-Russian border. These people used a large curly dog to herd livestock; this dog was capable of working rough terrain and of working in water. Descriptions of it are very like the modern Portuguese Water Dog. Isolated for centuries in that region, the dog developed distinct characteristics. It is very possible that when the Berbers invaded the region, they captured some of the dogs. When their descendants, the Moors, invaded the Iberian Peninsula a few centuries later, they took the dogs into southern Portugal. A second theory holds that the dogs that lived on the Central Asian steppes weren't captured by the Berbers at all, but rather fell into the hands of another tribe, the Goths. The Goths then took the dogs to Germany, where they developed into the poodle. Cousins of the Goths, the Visigoths, invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the 4th century AD, and may have taken the dogs there also, where they developed into the Portuguese Water Dog. Yet a third theory might be the most reasonable: that the dogs of the steppes were brought west by the early Celts, who spread from southern Germany into the Iberian Peninsula, and then northward into what is now Brittany in France, and the British Isles. This last theory would explain why the Poodle, the Portuguese Water Dog, and dogs like the Irish Water Dog and the Kerry Blue Terrier have traits in common. But regardless of how it came to be in Portugal, it is certain that many hundreds of years ago, a dog of the same type was working on the fishing boats from the southern Portuguese coast to the coasts of Iceland. These dogs worked on the boats all day long, retrieving lost tackle and nets from the water, carrying messages between boat and shore, or between boat and boat, and standing guard over supplies at night. They were so common that one could easily be rented by a non-fisherman to use for short ocean jaunts. But in the early 19th century technology began to change the world in big ways, and the services of the Portuguese Water Dog were not valued as they once had been. Consequently the numbers of the breed steadily dropped until around 1930 it had become quite rare. A few dedicated fanciers of the breed saw that it survived. It was fully recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1983. The Portuguese Water Dog is an energetic dog that needs daily vigorous exercise. It can live in an apartment successfully, but only with adequate attention to its exercise needs. It is not given to excessive barking, but will warn the owner of a stranger's approach. The coat of the Portuguese Water Dog sheds very little and this breed is often a good breed for persons who have allergies to dogs. The coat must be washed and clipped every six to eight weeks to keep the dog looking good and the coat and skin healthy. Individuals of this breed can exhibit hip dysplasia or progressive retinal atrophy (PRA). Both of these can be often avoided by careful and selective breeding. The Portuguese Water Dog has been vulnerable in the past to a genetic nervous system disorder called GM1 Storage Disease. Breeders have been careful to eliminate carrier dogs from their programs, and now the disease is nearly gone in the breed, but pups are still routinely tested. Tests were recently developed for another genetic disease in the breed, juvenile dilated cardiomyopathy, that look very promising in eventually eliminating the disorder. The Portuguese Water Dog makes a good, if energetic, family pet and gets along with other household pets. It may be a big large and exuberant for small children. It needs an active owner, and an owner who is experienced with dogs. Without strong leadership and early training, this breed commonly becomes a "problem dog"�. The owner is wise to keep in mind that this breed is highly intelligent and needs mental stimulation as well as physical, so that it doesn't become bored and develop destructive habits. The Portuguese Water Dog is happiest with a job to do. Much of its energy can be expended in daily training exercises, jogging with the owner, long hikes, or retrieving objects in water. This breed is capable of successful competition in dog sports like obedience, agility, and water trials.

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