The Portuguese Water Dog

Leao, the dog upon whom the breed standard is based.

The Portuguese Water Dog is a robust dog of medium stature with a muscled physique.  They come in two coat types: wavy and curly, which lack an undercoat, so shedding in minimal.  However, their coats are hair, not fur, and thus grow continuously like our head hair grows.  These dogs require regular grooming, often needing to be cut down every 6-8 weeks and requiring brushing several times a week to avoid matting.

While many people like to think of PWDs as "hypoallergenic", no dog truly is, as they, like us, shed dead skin cells that create dander.  About 30% of the general public is allergic to animal dander, but people can also be allergic to animal saliva.  This can be problematic as the PWD is known for frequently licking!  Nevertheless, because shedding is minimal, they seem to drop less dander than other breeds and therefore are often more tolerable for people with allergies.  This feature has made them a popular breed.

Because of their athletic nature and bouts of intense activity, the PWD is best suited to live with an active owner who will exercise the dog daily.  Since these dogs are also highly intelligent, they also need exercise for their mind or they will devise their own games that generally involve destruction ("gutting") of toys and chewing of anything made of wood.  Many are also clever counter-surfers that happily climb on tables and countertops to search for anything they consider consumable and some really really enjoy eating tissues and toilet paper (this behavior seems to have a genetic basis).  The breed has excellent retriever qualities that, when properly channeled, can result in the dog fetching you nearly anything you want, but can also lead to unintentional mouthiness.  They love to work and are easily trained as a result.

For more information on the breed, visit the PWDCA website and read The New Complete Portuguese Water Dog book, by Kathryn Braund and The Portuguese Water Dog by Carla Molinari.

The Portuguese Water Dog Club of America has made available the 2019  "Family" Issue of their club magazine.  You can download that HERE.

Lion Clip

Retriever Clip

The Breed Standard

General Appearance: Known for centuries along Portugal's coast, this seafaring breed was prized by fishermen for a spirited, yet obedient nature, and a robust, medium build that allowed for a full day's work in and out of the water. The Portuguese Water Dog is a swimmer and diver of exceptional ability and stamina, who aided his master at sea by retrieving broken nets, herding schools of fish, and carrying messages between boats and to shore. He is a loyal companion and alert guard. This highly intelligent utilitarian breed is distinguished by two coat types, either curly or wavy; an impressive head of considerable breadth and well proportioned mass; a ruggedly built, well-knit body; and a powerful, thickly based tail, carried gallantly or used purposefully as a rudder. The Portuguese Water Dog provides an indelible impression of strength, spirit, and soundness.

Size, Proportion, Substance:  Size--Height at the withers--Males, 20 to 23 inches. The ideal is 22 inches. Females, 17 to 21 inches. The ideal is 19 inches. Weight--For males, 42 to 60 pounds; for females, 35 to 50 pounds. Proportion--Off square; slightly longer than tall when measured from prosternum to rearmost point of the buttocks, and from withers to ground. Substance--Strong, substantial bone; well developed, neither refined nor coarse, and a solidly built, muscular body.

For the specifics of the standard, please go to the description on the PWDCA website.

The two coat types may be presented in either a retriever clip or a lion clip.  To view these two clips, click on the particular coat clip below.

• Curly, Retriever Clip 
• Curly, Lion Clip
• Wavy, Retriever Clip
• Wavy, Lion Clip

Temperament

The character description for the Portuguese Water Dog has changed several times, but generally speaking, is described as "an animal with a fiery disposition and self-willed, brave and very resistant to fatigue."  This wording was later soften to "spirited disposition" and "independent". The breed has also been described as "absolutely docile and obedient with those who look after it and with whom it works" and "highly intelligent".  Not generally quarrelsome, the dog was bred to guard the fishermen's catch and thus can be independent to the point of preferring to be in charge.  All of these descriptions are generally apt -- most specimens are incredibly clever and learn quickly.  This is both a blessing and a curse!  You will find that your puppy is attentive and welcoming of training sessions, but they bore easily with endless repetition and will start to offer you modifications to the behavior you have been teaching them.  Nevertheless, they enjoy -- and often demand --short sessions of training of multiple behaviors and will find ways to amuse themselves if you do not pay attention to them.  The breed also is a "people" breed -- the dogs crave being with their owners and generally follow their owner wherever he or she goes.  

Some generally annoying habits of the breed are:  a hard mouth that can, if the dog is not trained properly, become nippy and highly destructive of furniture, rough play  that involves pawing and jumping on people and other dogs, a tendency to lick visitors incessantly, and barking at anyone who might approach your property (house, car, boat, yard).  Some PWDs are obsessed with paper and will destroy toilet paper rolls (often eating the paper) and/or eat tissues (used or fresh).  Out in the yard, these dogs like to dig, chew on bushes and trees often stripping the bark off, tear around with the zoomies and create racetracks, and eat grass and any vegetables you might have planted.  Because the dog is a working animal with an active personality, it can often be described as "too much" for some people. 

If you are not prepared to deal with and train these dogs intensely until they are mature (~3 yrs of age), this may not be the breed for you!!  On the other hand, if you have done your homework, understand the breed's characteristics, and commit to a sound training program, you will be blessed with a fabulous dog that will thoroughly enrich your life.

Behavioral attibutes from: Braund & Miller, The Complete Portuguese Water Dog, Howell Book House, Inc.

Health

Generally speaking, this breed is relatively healthy and many live well into their teens.  Nevertheless, there are a few diseases that are found in the breed and for which good breeders will test when tests are available.  The statistics for many of these diseases is available on the OFA website under breed specific statistics ((https://www.ofa.org/diseases/breed-statistics#detail)).  These diseases include:

1. Hip Dysplasia, where the hip joint is improperly formed such that the head of the femur does not fit snugly into the acetabulum of the sacral bone.  Hip dysplasia is a complex issue that has both genetic and environmental components and can be excerbated by overfeeding puppies and adolescents and letting them run on slippery surfaces when very young.  Approximately 13% of PWDs will be diagnosed with some level of hip dysplasia. 
2. Elbow Dysplasia is caused by growth disturbances in the elbow joint that lead to a mismatch of growth between the foreleg bones (radius and ulna) between the elbow and wrist.  This growth mismatch may be due to defects in cartilage growth, trauma, genetics, exercise, and diet during puppyhood.  Approximately 1.8% of PWDs will be diagnosed with elbow dysplasia.  
3. Progressive Retinal Atrophy is a genetic disease in which the cells of the retina degenerate over time and cause blindness.  Currently we have two forms, a late onset prcd form and an early onset form; both of these forms have a genetic test that can be conducted on breeding dogs.  Approximately 14.2% of PWDs are carriers for prcd-PRA; no statistics are yet available for EOPRA.    
4. Storage Disease (GM1 gangliosidosis), a recessive genetic disease that causes a toxic build up of substances in nerve cells because of a lack of an enzyme.  Dogs affected by this disease show progressive neurological deterioration and generally die before their first year.  Approximately 0.4% of PWDs are carriers for GM-1. 
5. Juvenile Dilated Cardiomyopathy (JDCM), a fatal recessive genetic disease, causing death as early as 5 weeks of age or any other time during the first year of life.  Approximately 2.5% of PWDs are carriers for JDCM.  
6. Follicular Dysplasia is a genetic disease in which the hair follicles are dysplasic and the hair falls out, particularly on the torso.  It is sometimes seen in curly to curly matings.
7. Addison's Disease which is the result of a deficiency of adrenocortical hormones.  If caught and treated, dogs with this disease can live normal lives, although they may not be able to handle stress very well.  It is thought that Addison's disease is heritable as a recessive allele with a frequency of 0.49 and a breed occurrence rate of 1.5%.  However, estimates of dogs affected in the population range from 24% to 12.8%.  (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1481556/) 
8. Cushing's Disease, the opposite of Addison's, is where the adrenal glands overproduce cortiosteroid hormones.  It can lead to elevated blood sugar (eventually diabetes) and blood pressure, extreme hunger and thirst, thinning of skin and coat, loss of muscle mass, irritability and restlessness, as well as having secondary impacts on the thyroid gland, that can result in hypothyroidism.
9. Hypothyroidism is the result of the thyroid failing to produce sufficient thyroxine to properly fuel metabolism.  There are two ways the thyroid can malfunction:  via an immune system disorder known as autoimmune thyroiditis, where the body attacks the tissues of the thyroid gland, the gland responds by oversecretion, and eventually the gland becomes depleted or via the body simply producing less thyroid hormone over time, and eventually not enough for normal biological processes.  General symptoms include weight gain, lack of energy, dull coats, excessive shedding, flaky skin, ear infections, and behavioral changes such as incessant whining, nervousness, fear in the presence of strangers, hyperventilating, disorientation, and failure to be attentive. These changes can progress to sudden unprovoked aggressiveness in unfamiliar situations with other animals, people and especially with children.  Hypothyroidism can be treated by administering synthetic thyroxine daily.  Approximately 3.9% of PWDs are affected by thyroid issues.  
10. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) occurs when the lining of the dog's intestinal tract hosts an unusually high number of inflammatory cells and these cells inhibit the normal absorption and passage of food.  Chronic vomiting and diarrhea with blood or mucus are common symptoms, along with lethargy, weight loss, and depression.  Any number of variables may contribute to the development of IBD including genetics, food allergies, parasites, bacteria or an abnormal immune system.   Genetics is thought to play a role, but mode of inheritance is unknown.  Reported incidence of IBD by owners is 1.9% (2014 PWDCA Health Survey).
11. Renal Dysplasia is a condition where the kidney glomeruli fail to develop properly and remain in an embryonic condition.  Renal failure can result, often with loss of protein in the urine.  Vomiting, weight loss, anorexia, lethargy and muscle weakness are typical signs, along with selective appetite, poor hair coat, and dilute urine with little color or odor. Secondary urinary tract infections may occur.  Often mislabeled "juvenile RD", it can affect puppies early on or slowly affect adults, depending on how much of the kidney is underdeveloped.  Affected puppies may leak urine, which owners sometimes misinterpret as a house-training problem. A chemical odor may be detected in the breath due to metabolic wastes not being properly excreted by the kidneys.  It is a dominant disease, which means that carriers can be affected and develop renal failure; however, it has low penentrance such that only 5% of carriers are affected.
12. Puppy Eye Syndrome (PES), is a set of disorders displayed very early in life that generally combine microphthalmia and delayed growth.  The puppies with this syndrome do not thrive compared to normal puppies and often die at a young age.  Mode of inheritance is currently unknown.  Females seem to be more affected than males within a litter.
13. Cataracts are any opacity within a lens. The opacity can be very small (incipient cataract) and not interfere with vision, can involve more of the lens (immature cataract) resulting in blurred vision or can impact the entire lens causing blindness (mature cataracts). Mature cataracts can morph into hypermature cataracts which cause the lens to shrivel and the lens capsule to wrinkle.  Cataracts can have a genetic basis and an age-related basis.  OFA CAER exams help to identify these two forms and should be performed on all breeding dogs prior to breeding, as well as on pet dogs several times throughout their lifetime.
14. Cancers, generally hemangiosarcoma, lymphodema, lymphosarcoma, osteosarcoma, mast cells tumors, mammary tumors, etc.   Reported incidence of cancers in PWDs from owners is 6.2% (2014 PWDCA Health Survey).

​Two pearls of wisdom when living with a PWD:  OUT OF SIGHT - IN TROUBLE!  and "When teaching right and wrong to a PWD, be CONSISTENT, PERSISTENT, AND INSISTENT!"
- Verne Foster