Introducing the Portuguese Water Dog by:Richard Cussons

What factor ensured the First Family's picking the Portuguese Water Dog to be the official furry sentinel of the White House

? The stated reason is the well-known fact that the dog has near-zero shedding, making it less likely for the dog to kick off allergies. So practical motives were really at work here, and not just because the dog was an irresistibly cute ball of fur.

Although a good number of other dogs have the so called "hypo-allergenic" trait too, this feature nevertheless enabled the dog to re-invent itself and reduce any chances of it being mistaken for a Poodle. In fact, behind the endearing shaggy looks is a saga to hear about species survival. At some point in the 1930s, the dog even reached the brink of extinction!

At present, Bo in the White House might be too preoccupied to think about his breed's history. Breed fans may be interested to know of claims that around the 700 B.C., the Russian steppes were already home to the PWD's predecessors. The theory goes that some were domesticated and brought along by the Berbers, whose movements along the North African coast probably resulted to the presence of PWDs in Portugal a thousand years or so later. Still more people are of the persuasion that the Visigoths, in their cross-continent adventure of 400 AD, took the dogs with them as far as the Iberian Peninsula. But after so many centuries of behind a faithful companion and assistant, it's amazing that the breed found itself threatened. Either way, by the 1930s the breed's numbers were few enough to make observers say that the breed was finished.

While they were indeed (and still continue to be) huggable pets, looks were not enough to ward off the threat of walking the tragic way of the dodo and passenger pigeon. The root of the problem was the change in fishing technology. PWDs may indeed be the fishermen's all-around assistant, but new equipment was making them more and more redundant. Precisely at the low point of the 1930s, Vasco Bensuade, a wealthy Portuguese shipping mogul and dog fancier, started buying remaining PWDs from local fishermen. His eventual plan was a structured breeding program which would restore the breed's healthy numbers. And as we can see, Bensuade did succeed in bringing the portuguese water dog right from its almost-unknown role among the fishermen of Portugal, to the world's spotlight.

About the author

Richard Cussons likes the portuguese water dog breed. Discover effective portuguese water dog puppy training tips at portuguesewaterdogsavvy.com.

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