Portuguese Water Dog or Cao De Agua - the water retrieving dog of Portugal

Portuguese Water Dog was a very good friend to the fisherman in Portugal. It can retrieve lost items and catch in the water, it also deliver messages between boats. A very good working dog, obedient and alert dog which was from the region of Algarve, Portugal. It was believed to be a familiar sight at the fishing port of the Iberian Peninsula and Algarve but in the later part this breed fell to about 50 in 1960s.

A good swimmer, it has a long wavy curly hair coat, in the later years another version of the breed has a rather shorter and thicker wavy curly hair coat. This energetic breed also make a good show dog in a ring. For the show purposes, the coat at the hindquarters are clipped from the last rib, two third of the tail coat is also clipped. When it is not clipped, it looks a little like a Poodles without clipped but the hair coat is not as curly as Poodle.

type :working dog

country of origin : Portugal

since : 1500s

height : 41 - 56cm (16 - 22in)

weight : 16 - 25kg (35 - 55lb)

coat : thick wavy curly hair coat, black or black with little dark brown

temperament : alert, obedient and loyal, good water retriever dog and good guard dog

characteristics : not social to stranger

feeding : large appetite

exercise : plenty, enjoy swimming

grooming : daily brush

**Other dog breeds that look alike to Portuguese Water Dog : Barbet of France, Irish Water Spiniel of Ireland and Germany Standard Poodle without clipped.

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