breed profile

The

Portuguese

Water Dog

Jayne Johns

Jayne Johns has bred Portuguese Water Dogs for 19 years under the ‘Gemson’Affix and lives

in Cambridgeshire. Jayne is a member of The Portuguese Water Dog Club of Great Britain and

an Associate Member of the PWD Club of America.

“Vasco

Bensuade,

a wealthy

shipping tycoon

made it his aim

to keep his

favourite breed

alive and

introduced a

breeding

The Portuguese Water Dog , also known in

its country of origin as the Cao De Agua

(Dog of the Water) is an ancient breed with

some interesting theories of Ancestry.

Some say they were the herding dogs of

the Berbers and as their decedents the

Moors, arrived in Portugal in the eighth

century AD they brought with them their

dogs.

Another theory is that some of the dogs left

the Asian steppes with the Goths and

arrived in Iberia where they were seen to

be dogs of intelligence and strength of

character and so were bred exclusively and

trained to work with the Fishermen along

the Algarve. Certainly in recent history the

dogs were to be found all along the fishing

coast in Portugal where they were a very

important part of the crew and were taught

to retrieve lost tackle, broken nets and

acted as couriers from boat to boat and

boat to shore. Retired Portuguese

fishermen are said to have rented out their

dogs in order to bring in extra income.

There is a popular theory that some of this

breed were in service with theSpanish

Armada and were used to carry messages

between ships and when a number of the

fleet were floundering off the Irish coast,

some of the dogs swam to shore and to

safety, and bred with the local dogs to

produce the Irish Water Spaniel.

20 K9 MAGAZINE

programme in

Portugal

”

Due to the mechanisation of the fishing

industry, by the 1930s the role of the PWD

was virtually obsolete and Portuguese

fisher folk stopped breeding the dogs. In

the early 1970’s the breed was recognised

as being the rarest breed in the world.

V asco Bensuade , a wealthy shipping

tycoon made it his aim to keep his favourite breed alive and introduced a breeding

programme in Portugal. Luckily in the

1970s some very dedicated people took on

the task of ensuring the future of these dogs by acquiring some of the best stock

they could find and setting up breeding

programmes around the world.

It was around this time that the Americans

took an interest in the breed, and in 1972,

the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America

was formed.

The Portuguese Water dog is a true

working dog, is very active and loves to

swim. He is intelligent, robust and eager to please but also can be very demanding and

self willed. He needs to have careful

training at an early age to make a well

behaved family member. These dogs are full of life so make an ideal pet for active

families. He is not keen to sit at home by

the fire and snooze all day, and if left alone

for long periods of time he will find his own entertainment and become disruptive.

The dogs are not known to be aggressive

by nature and are happy to get along with other dogs and children, but they are very

lively and sometimes a little too boisterous

for young children and toddlers. Portuguese

Water Dogs are full of energy and high spirited, but if exercised sufficiently these

highly intelligent dogs can be suited to

living in apartments or flats.

To keep the dog stimulated you must switch

between training and play, and remember

that consistency is the key with this breed.

Do not be fooled into thinking that you can fit in a spot of training when it suits you.