r/portuguesewaterdogs

Hi everyone,

I have a 7 months old male PWD that has been on kibbles 100% so far (Blue Buffalo and ProPlan). I am thinking about switching him to fresh food such as PetFresh. Wonder what brands work well for your PWD and what are your experiences?

I am hearing a lot of portie owners recommend ProPlan. But I am also hearing that fresh food is way better for our porties than kibbles. Thus considering the switch. Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this!

https://preview.redd.it/4h7ap3zc98fh1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a787fe4ac6cb12db9b73532a26362bda69d35cc

This is Blue!

Hi! My dog just turned 7 months and she has calmed down (she is crate trained, calm when she is home alone, she loves to play, and she doesn’t bark or whine) but she gets very reactive when she sees other dogs and little children. I was told that this is normal, but I’m wondering if I should put her in some type of class to address this. I am based in NYC and there are so many dogs around, I hate seeing her be the loudest one when the other dogs are paying her no mind. Any tips or class recs?

Hi everyone!
My fiancé and I are beginning our search for a Portuguese Water Dog puppy, and we’re hoping to find a reputable breeder in Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina (we’re also open to nearby states if they’re exceptional).
We’re specifically looking for:
Male
Chocolate or chocolate with white markings/parti
Health-tested parents (OFA hips, eyes, genetic testing, etc.)
Breeder who prioritizes temperament, health, and lifelong support
We’ve found a few breeders online, but we’d really love recommendations from people who have firsthand experience. If you’ve purchased a PWD from a breeder you would recommend (or one you’d avoid), I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience.
We’re happy to join a waitlist if it means getting a healthy, well-bred puppy.
Thank you so much! We’d love to see photos of your PWDs too! 🐶🤎

My boy is turning 15weeks tomorrow and weighed 25 pounds at 13 weeks. I haven’t weighted him yet, but I think he is closer to 30 pounds now. Naturally he gets chunky then has a growth spurts like every week lmao

Every time we go on walks people stop by to say hello and every time I tell them his age they gasps and tell me he is about to be a big dog and that his paws are huge. Tbf his paws are huge. His mom is on the smaller end, and I didn’t get to meet the stud but I saw his show pics and he is absolutely beautiful and looks tall but knowing my breeder she has measurement requirements as she breeds healthy pups that are breed standard sizing. Anyways, I think I got a bigger one lmao at our puppy classes I noticed our dog is about half an inch to an inch taller than his littermates.

Was your pup this size? And how big did he end up getting? Or is this normal for the breed? He eats about 2 cups of food a day. And vet said he looks healthy so I don’t think is fat lol has anyone else gotten a larger PWD by accident? We love large dogs so is no problem.

We started to track his height just for funsies. When he sits he is about 23 inches tall from head to paws.

Update: he currently weighs 28 pounds

Our dog is 21 months old, neutered, and is staying at my fiancé and I’s house with my mom. All other trips we’ve taken he’s either been at my parents house or my fiancé’s parents house.

My mom said she has only given him some bananas and yogurt outside of his normal food and we do that all the time. He had diarrhea in the kennel yesterday and today he did it in the living room. He has NEVER pooped in the house before, not even as a little puppy. He’s had diarrhea in the kennel before, but not like this.

Is stress diarrhea a thing?? Should I have her take him to their house? I was thinking that keeping him there would be better but now idk… I feel like he’s stressed because we’re not their whereas when he goes somewhere else it’s like he’s taking his own little vacation too. Am I crazy? I’m not sure what I should have her do.

UPDATE: My mom took him back to her house and he’s perfectly normal again. After I posted this, he threw up once, wouldn’t eat, his stools were getting a bit better but not normal. She took him back yesterday and he’s playing, eating, drinking, and stools are back to normal. So we learned our lesson - never leaving him at home without us again. If we leave, he’s leaving😅

My wife and I are planning to adopt our first dog together next year. She really wants a Portie.

We both work full time. She works from home 8hrs/day and I work on site 10hrs/day. We’re both very active as she takes walks throughout the day and works out. I’m a long distance runner who’s been wanting a companion to run with (since my wife refuses😂) around our neighborhood and greenways.

Overall, hoping for a dog that can keep up on a mile+ run or hike, relax and be more docile when in the house, doesn’t shed (or light shedding) and is good with kids and other dogs. We would prefer to adopt and I’m additionally considering a Doberman maybe a year after we adopt the Portie as the Portie is more-so my wife’s dream dog.

I think a Portie would fit fine but I was curious if anyone would disagree and/or recommend other dogs. Thanks in advance!

The good news is I think I finally decided on what kind of dog to get...

I was lonely 1 day and was really missing my dog. I'm getting divorced soon and my sweet Zoey pup and Loki my cool cat are staying with the dreaded Exes house

I'm sure they will turn on me soon as well 🥳 jk

So I started looking into what kind of dog I should get

Anyway, stay with me, this is not a sad story, haha

Unless you like sad story's, then stay anyway

Because at the end you will realize this isn't a sad story and when you do you will be sad since its not. Does that even make sense?

Sorry, its 4 AM, I haven't slept and I just drank some coffee

During my research, among other things I found out that these dogs need ALOT of exercise, attention and LOVE. And if I give them that, they will return an amazing amount of LOVE back to me and my family. I read several articles that say these are extremely smart, loving cuddly dogs (which is exactly what me and my kids prefer. We like Velcro dogs.)

I also saw that generally, these are medium size dogs that don't shed much but they do require regular combing. No problem there. We also just moved to SC and live right next to some water which I hear these dogs thrive in.

Anyways, Seriously it sounded like the perfect dog for us

Unfortunately for some reason during my research I didn't notice how much these dogs cost...

As a retired military member, I have plenty of time available to spend training, grooming and taking care of this dog since I am unemployed. I'm also in decent shape and can give the dog plenty of exercise. My kids will help as well and we have had dogs and cats in the past.

Does anyone have any contacts or know someone who has a shelter for these?

Or maybe a breeder that has some kind of waiting list incase someone that backs out of a sale after they have already paid for the pup (like if they need someone to take a dog short notice. Or a rescue shelter that maybe houses rescue PWD's that gives them away for a small fee, like a no kill shelter

Just trying to think outside the box of how I might be able to get 1 of these dogs without depleting my kids college fund :)

Anyways, before I give up this dream of owning 1 of these beauties I figured I would at least put this out here and see if you smart people had any ideas

Sorry for the flair? I don't post much here but it literally gave me this warning when I tried to post this the 1st time... WTH does that mean

• Your post must contain post flair

Anyway, If you stayed this long thanks for listening

Have a great day