Portuguese Water Dog breed guide

The Portuguese Water Dog is demanding of attention and human contact and greets friends and family with unbridled enthusiasm. It often thinks independently and a Portuguese Water Dog may sometimes challenge its owner's will, so it needs a positive training approach.

Very intelligent, it responds well to obedience training.

Portuguese Water Dogs live 11 to 13 years. Responsible breeders test their stock for health disorders and share information with other dedicated breeders to work together for breed health.

The dense, thick coat, which ranges from tight and curly to loose and wavy, needs regular and extensive grooming. It may be kept in the retriever clip, with the entire coat clipped to one inch and the tail tip at full length or in the more check-me-out lion clip, with the hindquarters and muzzle clipped to the skin.

An athletic, active breed, the Portuguese Water Dog needs vigorous exercise every day through long walks and play. It exercises mind and body in obedience, tracking and agility.

The Portuguese Water Dog once lived all along Portugal's coast, where it herded fish into nets, retrieved lost tackle and carried messages between ships and shore. Fishermen counted on the strong, muscular dogs to be hardworking and seaworthy.

They rode trawlers from the warm Atlantic waters of Portugal to the freezing waters off Iceland and although technology eventually laid them off, Portuguese Water Dogs are still used for water rescue.