How to Identify a Portuguese Water Dog
- 1). Look at the general appearance of the dog. The Portuguese water dog is a rugged breed, built for a day's work at sea. Males are 20 to 23 inches at the withers and females are 17 to 21 inches at the shoulders. Males weigh 42 to 60 pounds and females weigh 35 to 50 pounds. A Portuguese water dog should have a rectangular shape-when measured from the prosternum to the buttocks, it is slightly longer than it is tall.
- 2). Check that the head is quite large, but well proportioned. The medium eyes should be set quite a distance apart, giving this breed its steady, penetrating expression. They should be dark and the rims fully pigmented. Look for heart-shaped ears with thin leather. They should be longish, with the tips hanging below the lower jaw. This breed's muzzle is wider at the base than at the nose. The broad nose should be fully pigmented-black noses on black dogs, white noses on black and white dogs and brown noses on dogs with brown coats.
- 3). Make sure the short neck is rounded and is held high. It is well-muscled and does not have a dewlap. The shoulders should be quite angular and well-muscled. The feet should be round and somewhat flat, and webbed. The center pad should be thicker than the rest of the padding. The powerful rear should be balanced with the front and should be properly angulated. The rear feet should be the same as the front feet. The tail should be thick at the base and tapered at the end. It can be used as a rudder. Its length should not go past the hock.
- 4). Look at the coat. There are two types of coats-curly and wavy. Either way, it should be a thick, single coat. The curly coat is compact and the curls are cylindrical. The wavy coat has gentle waves, but not curls. The coats are usually clipped in a lion clip or a retriever clip. The color of the coat is black, white or brown. There can be various tones of brown. There may also be a mixture of black and white coats. No matter the color of the coat, the skin should have a bluish tint to it.
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