What factor led to the First Family's choosing the Portugese Water Dog to be the White House's top dog? The reason given by the President and his family is what everyone has known about the PWD for years, which is that it is a dog with virtually no shedding, which makes allergy attacks a distant possibility for PWD owners.

But the earliest claim to fame of this dog breed from Portugal is of course, its ocean-going working background. A closer inspection of the Portie's feet shows that it has webbed feet, enabling it to be an efficient swimmer. At the height of its popularity, Portuguese fishermen kept on board the courageous, loyal and sociable canines as their all-around companions. The dogs took apparent pride in accomplishing assignments like retrieving objects from the water, and passing messages between fishing boats. These dogs were also reported many times as capable of herding fish in to nets under water. Even up to now, it is rare to see a Portie that does not play or swim in water; real PWDs simply adore water!

PWD owners will soon see that this very smart dog also knows how to play favorites; the dog gets attached to a single family member more than to a family as a unit. Nevertheless, they love meeting people and will definitely create a mess or some trouble if unattended. For example, without the proper portuguese water dog training, the dog can get accustomed to filching food off worktops when the owner is not paying attention. Just by observing and through exploration, PWDs are also willing to try out opening cabinet doors by themselves. So the point is that PWDs need to be supervised well, and they will raise a racket if made to live a life spent on couches.

Over half of the PWDs worldwide owe their existence to the same stud-Le