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Portuguese Water Dog: Characteristics, Exercise, Health
About Portuguese Water Dog
Country of Origin, History of Portuguese Water Dogs
The Portuguese Water Dog comes from the coast of Portuguese where it was developed to aid Portuguese fisherman herd and catch fish, retrieve broken nets, or retrieve anything that fell overboard. They carried messages between ships and guarded the catch and boat when in port. The dogs were so valuable that they were considered part of the crew and were given their share of both the fish and the money earned for the catch. Retired fisherman would often rent out their dogs to bring in some extra money.
The prior history is uncertain, but it is believed that the Portuguese Water Dog, along with the Poodle, are descendents of hardy herding dogs breed in Central Asia as early as 700 BC.
The Portuguese Water Dog excels at water trials, agility, obedience, and is a wonderful therapy dog or assistance dog.
Portuguese Water Dog Tools
Breed Selector Tool - is the Portuguese Water Dog the right breed for you?
Is the Portuguese Water Dog the right breed for you and your family?
Find out by using our Free Dog Breed Selector Tool
Check Your Portuguese Water Dog's Learning Style
Are you aware dogs also have a learning style that can greatly affect their ability to housetrain as well as be trained correctly. Evaluate your Portuguese Water Dog's learning style and personality using our free Learning Style tool so that you are better able to provide him with the proper Portuguese Water Dog training methods.
Is your Portuguese Water Dog dominating over you?
Does your Portuguese Water Dog bark unnecessarily? Does your Portuguese Water Dog come to you when you call? Download a FREE Report on Dog Dominance for you and your Portuguese Water Dog and learn how to control your dog.
Do you make these mistakes with your Portuguese Water Dog?
Are you inadvertently snow-balling bad behavior in your Portuguese Water Dog? Evaluate your Dog Training Style from our Free Tool and learn how best to deal with your dog.
Portuguese Water Dog Calorie Calculator
Do you know how many calories your Portuguese Water Dog needs every day and how many cups of food you should be giving it every day? Click here to use our Portuguese Water Dog Calorie Calculator.
A General Appearance of the Dog
The Portuguese Water Dog is a medium-sized, muscular dog. The coat is usually curly, but may be wavy, somewhat similar in size and coat type to a Standard Poodle.
Portuguese Water Dogs have webbed feet and dark eyes. The tail is thick and carried high, usually curled over his back with a plume on the end. The overall look of a Portuguese Water Dog is of a well balanced, alert dog with a “let’s go do something fun” attitude.
The Portuguese Water Dog’s head seems massive and blocky. However, without his coat, the dog would be rectangular with a fairly heavy bone structure. His muzzle is wide and his chest is deep and wide.
Coat Color
Portuguese Water Dogs come in black, white or brown, white with dark spots, or black or brown with white markings. There are even a few that are silver or gray. But most are solid black.
Coat Type
The Portuguese Water Dog has a profuse thick coat that may be either Curly or Wavy. The coat is non- shedding and is hypo-allergenic. The Curly coat has cylindrical curls while the Wavy coat falls in gentle waves and has a slight sheen.
The coat is professionally clipped in either the Lion Clip or the Retriever Clip. In the Lion Clip, the muzzle, middle of the dog and hindquarters are clipped close to the body, leaving a long mane around the neck and down the chest and front legs and over the head. In the Retriever Clip, the entire coat is scissored or clipped to follow the outline of the dog. In both, the hair at the end of the tail is left long.
Height
Males are from 20 to 22 inches
Females are from 17 to 20 inches
Weight
Males: 42 to 55 lbs
Females 35 to 49 lbs
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Free Course on Portuguese Water Dog Training & Obedience
Stop All Bad Behavior, Excessive Barking and Biting
Portuguese Water Dog Personality Traits
Temperament of the Dog
A highly intelligent animal of spirited disposition, self-willed, and brave, the Portuguese Water Dog is capable of working all day – in or out of water. They are highly resistant to fatigue. He is an excellent diver and swimmer and uses his tail as a rudder.
They are loyal companions, very responsive to commands and they follow those commands with great pleasure. They are highly spirited and love to play games like ball and Frisbee® or do agility. They love to be with their family and are especially happy when they do things with an active, outdoors family.
The Portuguese Water Dog is extremely intelligent and will take liberties if you are not consistent in your obedience training. Because of their alertness and breeding for it, they make good watch dogs.
The Portuguese Water Dog puppies are known to be notorious chewers.
These dogs love physical as well as mental exercises. Swimming, jogging and playing all help in its physical exercise.
Dominant behavior and barking both vary with dogs.
Better suited to an indoor or outdoor lifestyle?
The Portuguese Water Dog is a hardy breed and enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle; however, they also enjoy spending time with their families.
Are they suited to homes with kids?
Portuguese Water Dogs are excellent with children and, like most working dogs, usually get along with other dogs without problems. They especially enjoy playing with children.
Portuguese Water Dog Activity Level
How Active is the Breed?
Portuguese Water Dogs are a very active breed with great stamina. They require daily physical and mental exercise. Portuguese Water Dogs love a brisk, daily walk, but would rather have a daily jog. They are great at retrieving and love play time, either in the yard or in the water. These dogs love both physical and mental exercises. Swimming, jogging and playing all help in its physical exercise.
How Much Exercise Does the Dog Need at every stage of its Life?
Portuguese Water Dogs are able to work all day. They have a great deal of stamina. Daily jogs or brisk walks are necessary. They should have a large, well-fenced, yard with room to run and play. Once inside they are calm and obedient.
Grooming
The Portuguese Water Dog needs regular brushing or combing. It also needs a professional groomer to clip it every 6-8 weeks. The wavy-coated variety is usually closely clipped at the hind quarters and on the nose in a Lion Clip. The curly-coated variety generally gets a Retriever Clip, an even cut of about 1” of hair all over, except for the tail that is close clipped with a plume left at the end.
Free Portuguese Water Dog Training Secrets
Free Course on Portuguese Water Dog Training & Obedience
Stop All Bad Behavior, Excessive Barking and Biting
Health and Care
Genetic Problems
Some lines are prone to hip dysplasia and PRA. Verify that parents were tested for GM-1 Storage Disease prior to breeding. It is a fatal nerve disease that appears when a puppy is six months old if both parents were carriers of the recessive gene.
Litter Size: Usually 4 to 8 pups
Life Span: 10 to 14 years
National Breed Clubs
National Breed Clubs
British-Portuguese Water Dog Club of Great Britain-
www.portuguesewaterdogs.org.uk
US – Portuguese Water Dog Club of America,
Inc. - www.pwdca.org
Other Recognition: CKC, FCI, AKC, UKC, KCGB, CKC, NKC, NZKC, PWDCAI, APRI, ACR
Group: AKC Working Group, KCGB Working Dog Group.
AKC Popularity Ranking: 50
Also Known As: Portuguese Fishing Dog, Cao de agua or Cao de agua Portugues
Train Your Portuguese Water Dog To Listen To You
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Sign up for our Free Portuguese Water Dog Mini Course to have a housebroken, obedient dog that happily comes to you every time you call.
You'll learn new commands to obedience-train your dog as well as how to housebreak your dog in 6 days or less.
You'll also learn how to eliminate bad habits like barking, nipping or biting, jumping, or pulling on the leash.Here's just s small fraction of what else you'll learn in the course:
How to lead and think like a pack dog - the new psychology.
3 dangerous mistakes that most PWD owners make when they are trying to potty train their dogs.
The 2 main reasons why your dog barks excessively and how to control its excessive barking.
How to obedience train your Portuguese Water Dog to permanently end behavioral problems like Jumping, Aggression, Pulling on Leash.
A surprisingly easy way to teach your dog cool new tricks.
How to improve your dog's lifespan and keep it from getting overly heavy with a healthy and nutritious diet.
Getting Pro help fast - how to get access to our expert trainers when you need them most.
One hidden psychological trigger that all Portuguese Water Dogs have... that practically allows you to "analyze" and "control" your dog's every action.
Priority access to the free online seminars conducted by our training experts.
Whereas other dog training related web sites and books offer generic information for dogs in general, ours is the ONLY web site that offers PWD information specifically, from a renowned panel of experts - because as you probably know, PWDs have their own special training requirements that other dogs don't have.
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