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Portuguese Water Dog

Water and Your Portuguese Water Dog

The Portuguese Water Dog is a wonderful dog for any active person who wants to put a lot of time and effort into their dog. If you are the type of person who enjoys outdoor activities like walking, running, and water sports, the Portuguese Water Dog is an excellent fit for your lifestyle. He is a very active dog and he loves the water, hence his appropriate name. And while the Portuguese Water Dog does not need to live in a home on or extremely close to a body of water, he will be a much happier dog if he has access to water on a regular basis. [...]

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Land and Your Portuguese Water Dog

Though the Portuguese Water Dog originated as a fishing dog, he does not need to be in the water constantly. This will come as quite a relief to those potential owners who really want a Portuguese Water Dog but who do not own a home on a body of water. While the Portuguese Water Dog does love water and will play and work quite happily in it, he does not need it to survive. However, it should be noted here that some access to water should be provided, even if the access is a yearly vacation or summertime trips to the beach. [...]

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The Companionship of a Portuguese Water Dog

The Portuguese Water Dog is unlike many other breeds because he was not a companion dog to begin with; instead, the Portuguese Water Dog was a working dog. But he differs from other working dog breeds in that his job was not on a farm or ranch, or even in the city. The Portuguese Water Dog's job was a on a fishing boat. The Portuguese Water Dog was primarily a retriever; he would be sent into the water to retrieve fishing gear, to haul nets, and even to get fish. But the advent of complicated fishing technologies ruined the career of the Portuguese Water Dog, and he was eventually replaced by winches and hydraulic pulley systems. [...]

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The Hypoallergenic Portuguese Water Dog

Dog lovers agree that everyone, everywhere, should have a dog. Dogs make great companions, work associates, and friends. But it is a sad truth that many people are allergic to dogs. And while there is not too much that many people can do to effectively control their allergies enough to have a dog in the house all the time, there is a solution that can severely undermine the dog hair allergy: the Portuguese Water Dog. Most people who have dog allergies are allergic to the dog's hair. And with most dog breeds, especially ones with long hair, the coat sheds, particularly in warm weather. This leaves a layer of hair all over the house, and no amount of vacuuming can ever be enough to pick it all up. The Portuguese Water Dog, even though he has medium length hair, is considered hypoallergenic because he doesn't shed like other dogs of his coat-type. [...]

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Portuguese Water Dogs as Working Dogs

There are a lot of jobs for dogs. While these jobs have dwindled over the last hundred years with the invention of automated technologies, the need for dog workers and the desire of people to utilize dogs for work purposes has held on. Thus is the story of the Portuguese Water Dog. This breed was originally a fisherman's dog, and after the invention of mechanical technologies that could do the same jobs but without needing food, sleep, or human attention, the Portuguese Water Dog found himself ousted from the fishing world. But there are still jobs for the Portuguese Water Dog, and many of them make a big difference in the lives of humans every day. [...]

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Portuguese Water Dogs as Fishermen

There are several theories about how the Portuguese Water Dog came to be, but despite all the theoretical reasoning, the Portuguese Water Dog was definitely a large part of the Portuguese sea faring trade for generations. The dog was a working dog, and a hard working one at that. He was used for all types of dangerous water-related jobs on fishing boats, and was only replaced by mechanical technologies in the last 150 years. Whether it was the Visigoths who brought the descendants of today's Portuguese Water Dog to the shores of Portugal in BC 400, or the Moors who brought them in the 8th century AD, from the time they were introduced to Portugal, the Portuguese Water Dog - also known as the Portuguese Fishing Dog or the Lion Dog - took over the hearts and minds of the men in the fishing industry. [...]

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Swimming with Your Portuguese Water Dog

Your Portuguese Water Dog needs exercise. This is one of the most important things about him that you as a new owner need to know. Why is it so important? Because the dog will not be happy, healthy, or obedient if he is not treated properly, and part of treating your Portuguese Water Dog properly is exercising him. The needs of a Portuguese Water Dog are fairly simple, though there are a few things that should be noted. One is, of course, his need for exercise. The dog is incredibly active and like most active, working dogs, he needs an outlet for all of his energy. Also, the Portuguese Water Dog, as one can tell from the breed's name, needs to have some access to water. While it is not essential that you live on a lake or the ocean, the dog does love the water and will be a much happier dog when he has at least a little exposure to it. For this particular breed, the best way to accomplish these two needs is swimming with your dog. [...]

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The Coat of the Portuguese Water Dog

The Portuguese Water Dog's coat is very thick. It grows evenly over the dog's entire body, with the exception of the groin area and the area where the front legs join the body: here the coat is slightly thinner. The hairs themselves are thick as well. The Portuguese Water Dog only has one coat, unlike other breeds which have an undercoat also. The coat can be either curly or wavy, and both types are acceptable for the American Kennel Club (AKC) breed standard. The curly haired coat of the Portuguese Water Dog closely resembles the coat of the Standard Poodle, and indeed the Standard Poodle is a close relative of the Portuguese Water Dog. However, the Portuguese Water Dog's coat is not as curly as that of the Standard Poodle. The hairs are tightly curled, forming cylindrical shapes. The hair is not shiny in the curly coated dogs. For wavy coated Portuguese Water Dogs, the hair is not as tightly curled, forming more of a wave pattern in the hair. The coat is usually quite shiny for this type of hair. [...]

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Intelligence and the Portuguese Water Dog

There are many aspects of a dog's personality that make up the dog's temperament. Of course, the temperament varies with each individual dog, but in general there are temperaments that are characteristic of each breed. And as this is true, there are personality aspects that are common to the breed that make up the temperament. For the Portuguese Water Dog, the common traits a new owner should be aware of are intelligence, the need for exercise, and the need for human companionship. No matter your individual dog's temperament, these three traits combine in the Portuguese Water Dog to create either a wonderful pet, or a canine terror. [...]

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Portuguese Water Dog: Weird facts/Did You Know?

The Portuguese Water Dog almost faced total obliteration as a breed. Once his job as a fisherman was lost to the emerging technologies in the fishing industry, the dog was not needed any longer. He was no longer bred, and he almost completely died out. In fact, at one point of time in the 1970s, there were only 25 Portuguese Water Dogs in existence anywhere in the world. Resurgence of the breed was thanks to a Portuguese shipping mogul named Dr. Vasco Bensuade who took on the repopulation of the breed. He had seen the benefits of the breed as working dogs and he took a great interest in them. [...]

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