portuguese water dog

Portuguese Water Dog Other names Cão de Água Português Nicknames Portie, PWD, Water Dog Country of origin Portugal [hide]Traits [show]Classification & standards FCI Group 8 Section 3 #37 standard AKC Working standard ANKC Group 6 (Utility) standard CKC Group 3 - Working dogs standard KC (UK) Working standard NZKC Utility standard UKC Gun Dogs standard

Portuguese Water Dogs (PWD) are a breed of dog similar to poodles. Portuguese Water Dogs once existed all along Portugal's coast, where they were taught to herd fish into fishermen's nets, to retrieve lost tackle or broken nets, and to act as couriers from ship to ship, or ship to shore. Portuguese Water Dogs rode in bobbing fishing trawlers as they worked their way from the warm Atlantic waters of Portugal to the frigid fishing waters off the coast of Iceland where the fleets caught cod to bring home. [1]

In Portugal, the breed is called Cão d'Água (pronounced "Kown-d'Ahgwa"; literally "water dog"). In its native land, the dog is also known as the Portuguese Fishing Dog (Cão Pescador Português). Cão de Água de Pêlo Ondulado is the name given the wavy-haired variety, and Cão de Água de Pêlo Encaracolado is the name for the curly-coated variety. [2]

The Portuguese Water Dog is a fairly rare breed; only 15 entrants for Portuguese Water Dogs were made to England's Crufts competition in 2002, although their personality and non-shedding qualities have made them more popular in recent years. The breed enjoyed increased public awareness in 2009 when it was announced that a Portuguese Water Dog was chosen to be the Obama family dog in the White House.[3] Contents [hide] 1 Description 1.1 Appearance 1.2 Coat types 1.2.1 Improper coat 1.3 Grooming styles 1.3.1 The lion cut 1.3.2 The retriever cut 1.4 Vocalization 1.5 Temperament 2 History 2.1 The PWD in ancient times 2.2 The modern PWD 3 Genetic diseases 3.1 Hip dysplasia 3.2 Cataracts, PRA, and distichiasis 3.3 GM1 Storage Disease 3.4 Juvenile Dilated Cardio-Myopathy 4 The Portuguese Water Dog in Popular Culture 5 References 6 External links //

Description

Appearance

The closest relative of the PWD is widely thought to be the Standard Poodle. Like Poodles and several other water dog breeds, PWDs are highly intelligent, can have curly coats, have webbed toes for swimming, and do not shed. However, Portuguese Water Dogs are more robustly built, with stout legs, and can have a wavy coat instead of tightly curled. Also, fanciers generally do not dock their tails, whereas Poodle tails are customarily docked. Portuguese Water Dog eyes are consistently brown, and their coats can be black, reddish brown, white, or black and white.

Male Portuguese Water Dogs usually grow to be about 20 to 23 inches (51 cm to 58 cm) tall, and they weigh between 40 and 60 pounds (18 kg to 27 kg), while the females usually grow to be about 17 to 21 inches (43 cm to 53 cm) tall, and they weigh between 35 and 50 pounds.

PWDs have a single-layered