Why the breed exists
The Portuguese Water Dog worked for fishermen along the Atlantic coast, in the water as much as on the deck: driving fish toward nets, carrying lines between boats and to shore, and retrieving tackle lost overboard. Everything about it is marine equipment — a waterproof curly or wavy coat, webbed feet, a powerful tail used as a rudder, and the lung capacity for repeated dives. When the fishing fleets mechanised, the job disappeared, and the breed very nearly went with it.
What happened next is the reason this breed is on the site. By 1970 fewer than 20 were known worldwide; Guinness in 1981 listed it as the rarest breed on earth, with 85 globally and 66 in the United States. It was rebuilt from two Portuguese bloodlines, Algarbiorum and Alvalade. Rather than deny how narrow that foundation was, the breed's own people funded research into it: the Portuguese Water Dog Foundation, formed in 1997, passed $1.25 million in health-research funding in 2024, and by its own record the breed has had a genetic test for GM1 gangliosidosis since 1999 and a public gene test for prcd-PRA since 2004. A breed that was honest about its own gene pool ended up among the early adopters of canine genetic testing. The breed is well populated today, so this is history rather than a reason to buy one.
The official written standard belongs to the breed's parent club.Read the official Portuguese Water Dog standard →
Choosing a Portuguese Water Dog on purpose
Every breed has its own list of required health screenings, kept by its parent club and published through OFA. A preservation breeder working in this breed tests to that list and shows you the results — including the ones that didn't go their way.
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