We have three dogs on the farm: Matilda (shown in the pictures below) a Portuguese Water Dog, Tomas a Spanish Water Dog, and Matilda's daughter, Chiquita, from her recent litter. They are all fabulous dogs and we can heartily recommend the breed as pets or working dogs. We recently had a litter of 14 puppies which is quite an experience! Happily they all survived and have all gone to loving homes. We've put something about their characters below. We have also set of a Google Group Forum, mainly for the owners of our puppies but if you are interested in the breed then you might like to read the postings. You will find it here: https://groups.google.com/group/chater-valley-farm-portuguese-water-dogs Information on the breed: The Portuguese Water Dog is a magnificent dog and quite rare, especially in the UK. They are medium-sized dogs (about 19-21 inches high), robust, and possess a waterproof coat and webbed feet which, as their name suggests, gives them the ability to swim all day. Originating from the Portuguese region of the Algarve, where they were taught to herd the fish into fishermen's nets, to retrieve lost equipment from the seabed add to take messages from one boat to another, or from boat to shore. They also worked as guard dogs, protecting sailors' fishing trawlers and their homes. Its Portuguese name is Cão de Água, meaning "water dog".
Our three dogs live with us on our small farm. They enjoy the run of the place but have their own dog house. They are very territorial and bark ever time someone draws up to the farmhouse, but visitors soon get to know that they are all mouth and what they really want is a good stroke. After the first few minutes of excitement at someone arriving, they then settle down again just as quickly. Portuguese Water Dogs were reintroduced to the UK in the late 1980s after first being introduced in the Fifites. Matilda is a smashing dog and is on the smaller size of her pedigree breed. We didn’t buy Matilda to breed, but the dogs are so rare in the UK that we thought we had a duty to let her have at least one  litter. We searched for a breeding partner and eventually came across Alex who is an American champion and was imported into the UK. Alex is a little larger than Matilda, and all the pups looked a good size for their age by the time they joined their new families.Here’s a little more information about Portuguese Water Dogs to help you decide if it’s the dog for you. The dogs are famous for their coats, which can be curly or wavy, and is black, white, or brown, or combinations of black or brown with white. It may be kept in what is called the “lion clip” (the coat on the hindquarters and muzzle are clipped close to the skin), or the retriever cut (the entire coat is clipped to one inch in length and follows the outline of the dog). The wavy coat is long, ranging from a slight wave to corkscrew effect. The curly coat appears shorter, and ranges from corkscrew to tight cylindrical curls. Either way, the coat needs a little grooming two or three times a week to prevent matting and to remove dead hair. Porties really are super dogs. They are very loyal, strong, brave, protective, fun loving and very intelligent, so respond well to obedience training. Although no longer primarily a fishing dog, in recent years the breed has been successfully trained in various fields, including agility, assistance and therapy dogs, heel-work to music, drug detection, search and rescue, and water trials. They are very energetic and enjoy being kept busy with plenty of exercise. Mental stimulation (agility, search & rescue, advanced
Companionship is very important to a Portie - they have been bred for centuries to live closely with their families, so they like being with their owners, and don’t like being left alone for long. A natural retriever, the Portie will pick up everything in its path, especially on your return when it tries to please you with gifts. They can and will chew most things. Not everyone is meant to be a Portie owner, and not just because of the high cost of purchasing one. Before buying one, please check out the breed and its characteristics and make sure it is the right dog for you. Both you and the dog will be much happier if you are a good fit for each other. Porties are generally good with children, other dogs and other animals, especially if they have grown up with them. Youngsters (up to two years old) can tend to romp and jump with great vigour and things can go flying, so it’s worth bearing that in mind around very young children or the elderly. They have been linked to the Poodle, Pulis, the Water Spaniel, Newfoundland, Barbet, Kerry Blue Terrier, and the retriever, and in part they are similar to all of these. Size wise the males are about 20-23 inches high at the withers and weigh 42 to 60 lbs; the females are a little smaller at 17 to 21 inches and 35 to 50 lb. Many British Portuguese Water Dogs live well over 12 years, and 15 and 16 years is not uncommon. Matilda is a third generation pedigree registered with The Kennel Club (www.thekennelclub.org.uk/); we have reproduced her certificate below. You may also see her mentioned on the Champ Dogs website (www.champdogs.co.uk) although as we said earlier all of her puppies have now been sold and living happily with their new families.
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