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Bluegrace Portuguese Water Dogs
If you are getting one of our pups and you have kids, they may find our kid's page of information helpful.
Be sure to check back often to this page as we update it with useful information.
Firstly, your puppy has been carefully raised and socialised before it came to your home. Your job is to continue this. Raising a pup is just like raising a child. This means they need:
- food and water
- shelter
- love and attention
- boundaries
- mental stimulation
- exercise
- training and behavioural parameters
- grooming
Food and water
Your pup has been raised on a natural diet. This diet must continue if you are to receive the optimum health in your pup. Most simply, these means plenty of raw meaty bones, raw egg, raw fish, raw offal, and raw pulped veggies. Click here for further information.Critically never ever feed your pup a commercial dog diet. This means no dried food, no kibble, no canned food. This pup should never have anything containing grains, or cooked food. It’s ok once in a while to have the left over rice pudding, but that should be it, in terms of cooked foods and grains.
Don’t let anyone try and use scare-mongering tactics to convince you to feed commercial dog food. If you ever get worried call me immediately to discuss further. If you have any trouble with your vet, call me and I will phone them myself to discuss the issues. I will tell you now, that although my phone number has been given to several vets who have tried to bully my puppy people, none have been brave enough to call me. Do NOT let your vet BULLY you into feeding a commercial dog diet. NEVER. NEVER. NEVER. Let me know if you need me to be clearer about this. If you've found a pwd breeder who recommends a commercial diet, don't walk away. Run. Run away as fast as you can.
Please join the following email lists to learn more about raw feeding:
Additionally, ensure that your pup has access to plenty of cool drinking water. I often will leave out 2-3 bowls of water in case one gets knocked over, and I have a bucket which I've tied to one of the fences.
It’s important for you to know that by feeding your dog a commercial dog food, you will significantly increase its chance of getting Hip Dysplasia, IBD, thyroid problems, gum disease, UTI’s, tooth decay, and several other health problems. Our health guarantee is based on you feeding a correct raw diet. Therefore, if you ignore our advice and feed a commercial dog diet, you will be comprising the health of your pup and voiding your health guarantee.
Please let me know at any stage whether your dog has any health problems. And remember, please call me immediately if you have any concerns.
Shelter
Your pup will require adequate bedding and shelter. Whether your pup will be sleeping on your bed, in the laundry, or on the back porch, it requires an area which is interruption free, clean, and dry in all weather. Don’t give the puppy your favourite pillow - it will without a doubt, chew it up, and ruin it. You can get appropriate bedding from a pet store. We’ve found trampoline beds to be best, easy to clean, and cost effective. Please note: I do not recommend that your puppy sleeps on your bed, or that of your kids
Love
like a child, a pup requires love. You are its guardian, and you need to protect and nuture it, particularly over the next few months. Be careful that young children do not give too much love, and that the pup does get a rest from their attention.
Boundaries
A pup, just like a child, needs to know what the boundaries are of their behaviour. It is absolutely normal for the pup to try and stretch those boundaries, and I’ve seen examples of this before where the humans let the dogs push those boundaries. This means if I ever visit you, and the dogs are lying on the furniture, and the humans are sitting on the floor - expect me to have a little discussion with you over boundaries.Another example of ensuring boundaries are clear is on the issue of biting. All puppies will bite. It is completely natural as they attempt to use every one of their senses to learn and explore their environment. However, they have teeth like pins, and it does hurt! If your puppy bites you, you must stand up, walk away, and completely ignore the puppy for the next 5 minutes. Do not talk to the puppy at all at this point.
Remember, if you think some behaviours are cute as a pup like biting and jumping up on people and furniture, imagine whatthat will be like in a fully grown dog between 20-25kg. These behaviours don’t magically disappear as the dog gets older. It’s up to you to outline the parameters now.
Discipline
don’t hit your dog. That’s our starting point. When the puppies are naughty, I growl at them using the "WHIRRRR" sound. If they are getting themselves into a scrap, I’ll pick them up and gain their attention. Never ever let your pup growl over food. Growling over food is completely unacceptable. It is not allowed by the pup while it has been living with us here, and must not be allowed by you. If you ever have problems with this, pleasecall me immediately to discuss.
Exercise
Your pup needs mental and physical exercise. By far, the easiest way we have learned how to exercise the Portuguese water dog is to teach it to retrieve. They have a natural retrieving instinct. Don’t over-exercise your pup, and don’t exercise your pup between 8am and 6 pm from mid Spring to mid Autumn (fall). Over exertion of pups in the hotter months can kill them, or lead to serious damage (and significant health bills). Use your common sense. Eg: if you wouldn’t be running out in the sun, don’t let your dog.Do not over-exercise your pup, or over-stimulate it! The pup needs 16-18 hours of sleep a day. It does not need to be out on anything but a quick walk once a day (if that). I know you're friends are dying to meet the new pup, but please remember, over-stimulation can cause the pup to get sick. It will start to behave like an over-stimulated child, and there's nothing funny about that. So be conservative with your pup, and remember that "more" is not often best for anyone.
Don’t take pups for long walks or runs until they are at least 18 months old. Again use your common sense. And if in doubt, call me.
Encourage your dog to go swimming. This does not mean throwing them in the deep end of the pool and seeing if they can swim. Slowly introduce them. Some of the pups are already showing a natural inclination. Once you are confident in their retrieving and swimming abilities, you can even start throwing a tennis ball into water for them. Remember don’t throw it too far as they are usually smart enough to know their limits, and you will lose the object you have thrown in (can you tell I speak from experience here!).
Fencing
you will need to have fencing for your dog. This is to keep puppy in, and unwelcome visitors (both animal and human) out. Never ever encourage your pup to climb fences. Make sure that little holes on fence lines are fixed before puppy can discover them, and venture out into the big wide world without you. (Again, I speak from experience!)
Fleas
Sometimes fleas can be a problem. It is not a sign of uncleanliness. Fleas are predators that can be waiting on a bush, and as your dog passes, they use this opportunity to leap on board. We do not recommend the use of any poisons to treat fleas. Products like "Frontline" are banned in many countries. If you use any of these, you risk the health, and the life of your pet.
Grooming
As you would know, the Portuguese Water Dog has a coat that continues to grow. This means that it doesn’t naturally shed. You will need to groom the dog for 5-10 mins twice a week. Don’t spend lots of money on different sorts of grooming brushes. All you should need are a comb (stainless steel is best), a slicker brush, and an oval shaped brush. The easiest way to get your dog supplies is online through Pet Network in Australia who are usually cheaper than the local pet store.
Traditionally, the Portuguese Fishermen would shave down their dogs once a year at the beginning of summer. If you choose to do this, then you will save yourself a heap of grooming, and the coat will have good warmth by winter.
You will need to shave your pup completely at 12 months as they will go through a coat change then, and will usually matt considerably.
Whether you choose to keep your pup in a lion trim, or a working trim (an inch long all over) is up to you. Those pups who will be making show ring appearances, will be required to be clipped into the lion trim before hitting the ring. This is a spectacular trim, with the additional benefit of being easier to maintain as there is less coat.
Rule of thumb for grooming: Don't wait until you feel a knot in the coat before you groom. Like housework, the dog should be brushed before it looks like it needs it.
Be sure to groom the pup regularly as a pup. If you wait until the pup is 6-7 mo old before you start brushing it, I guarantee you that it will behave as if you are trying to kill it, or cut its throat at the very least. Additionally, it will behave like this every time you try to groom it for the rest of its life. It will wriggle, it will not sit still, and it will be out of control. And I have no "fix-it" for this type of behaviour. So don't let that happen to you. Start grooming them now and get them well and truly used to the routine before they need it. Afterall, we're aiming for success all round, so set yourselves up to win here!
At any stage, if you ever need help with learning how to groom, please contact me , and I will offer you assistance on this.
Some of you may choose to take your dog to a grooming parlour. My only advice don’t let them make the dog look like a poodle! We now have one of our close friends in Melbourne who offers a grooming service. Lynne specialises in the Portuguese Water Dog, and is the only groomer who is a specialist as such in Australia. Please click here to see her page.
House Training
House training is a very important process for both you and the pup. A puppy does not pee inside intentionally. All the pups have a natural inclination to pee outside in the bushes in private usually. It is critical that you look at this as a learning opportunity for you both. On average, while the pup is awake, you should take it outside every hour on the hour, to pee. We use the word "busi" (pronouced "busy" - and short for "do your business") to encourage the pups to pee. Afterall, you don't want to be waiting outside in winter for the dog to pee. You want the pup to know that when they are placed outside the expectation is that they pee relatively quickly.So, have some old towels or wipers to clean up any accident. Expect the pup to need to do their business after playing about, after eating, and after sleeping.
Never ever rub their noses in it, and never think that they are doing it on purpose to upset you!
Because your pup is fed a raw natural diet, its stools should be hard, without much odour if any, and are good for your garden. Tip: If your pup does dig a hole, fill up the hole with the stools. That will discourage the pup next time.
Jumping Up
The pwd can be a terrific jumper. Definitely do not encourage this as a pup. Let their bodies develop naturally. They are too young for agility right now. And don't encourage them to jump off the couch, or to jump up on counters. Call me if you have any questions.You will find, however, that the dogs as they grow older like to find a perch outside to sleep on and observe their surroundings. This is completely natural behaviour. We have provided an old outside table for our dogs to lie on top of. In summer we put the table in the shade, and in winter we move it out into the sun. The dogs appreciate this greatly. We have also built a small hillock for them to look out from. And if they ever get off it, we look forward to growing grass on it one day!
Kids and pups
Kids and pups can make a terrific combination. However, both the kids and the pup need rules and supervision. Never ever leave a dog, no matter how well you trust it, with a child. Most of the problems I have ever seen with kids and dogs is caused by the children’s inappropriate handling of the pup. All the pups have had access to children handling them prior to leaving my home. Remember socialise the pup well with a variety of people in different situations.
Puppy proofing
Without a doubt, your little pup is going to try and chew things that he/she shouldn’t. This will include shoes, plants, and furniture. This means that just like you would with a child, you need to set this pup up to win so that it doesn’t get itself into mischief. This means putting away shoes, putting pot plants up and away, and ensuring that your puppy is supervised. If they have to be left somewhere while you are out, put them in an area with clean fresh water, a couple of raw meaty bones, and where they can’t get themselves into trouble.Rule of Thumb: If your pup chews something it shouldn't have, get a rolled up newspaper and smack yourself over the head repeating three times, "I will not leave my shoes (or whatever) out for the puppy to chew." And then ring me and tell me so that I can remind you!
Toys
ok, don’t be guilted into buying the best and grooviest toy for your puppy. There’s just no point. They will enjoy lots of things that don’t cost a thing. And it’s good to change over their toys every day or so, as they will tire of it quickly. Things that make good toys are empty cardboard boxes, lengths of garden hose, balls of different sizes, empty plastic bottles (minus the cap), and of course, your new pair of shoes that you bought yesterday (so make sure you put these away!)One of my bitches enjoys picking up buckets and running around with them. Unfortunately this sometimes means that she runs around with them on her head. She seems to have a wonderful time though! This bitch has also been known to run around with my mobile phone, and the esky (half filled with water!).
Training
This breed is smart. So smart that they need to have extra mental stimulation. This means that training at a young age is important. We recommend positive training methods only. There is a fabulous type of training that is finally taking off in Australia called "clicker training". There are trainers in every major city who now offer this sort of training. I strongly advise that you seek out a trainer asap.Good training schools recommend you start training immediately. Backward training schools recommend you start at age 6 months. By that stage all of the bad habits are well and truly learned. If you wait until 6 months, you potentially can ruin the pup.
For the life of your dog, if you ever need help with training issues, call me immediately.
For a complete list of books we recommend, please click here.
We always train our dogs to the word "bed". When we say "bed" we mean for the dog to go and lie on its bed and leave us alone. If their bed isn’t in the room, we expect the dog to find somewhere on the floor to lie down and be quiet. Actually, we also teach this to visiting dogs too. We highly recommend that you teach your pup the command "bed" as one of the very first things they learn.
Worming
There is a significant amount of mis-information about worms. Increasingly there is evidence that there is a link between worming solutions and and some autoimmune disease. In other words, the more you worm your dogs, the more you increase their risk of developing an autoimmune disease. The theory is that the presence of worms stimulate and invigorates the body's natural immune response. When you remove the stimulus, the body loses its natural ability in immunity. For more information on this, please click here, We believe the better approach is prevention and good health. For more information regarding vaccinations and worming, please click here.
Vaccinations
There is currently a lot of debate about this issue. Your pup was vaccinated at 7-8 weeks. She/he will need to be vaccinated again at 12 weeks, using the C3 vaccination. We do not recommend vaccinating for kennel cough. If you’d like to discuss this issue, please call me. Treating kennel cough is relatively easy, and there are many variations of this disease that the vaccine does not cover. Quite frankly, we believe the benefits of vaccination are very, very small, and there is an increasing amount of evidence that the vaccines cause a plethora of health issues themselves. I'd encourage you to learn more about the risks associated with vaccinations. In fact, I do not recommend vaccinating your pet. However, this is a personal decision you need to make for yourself and I'd encourage you to research the issue. If your vet attempts to BULLY you into dosing your puppy with maximum vaccinations, immediately give them my phone number and leave the surgery. We will help you find a new vet. Note: we have a list of vets in Melbourne that you MUST avoid. Poorly educated vets are of no value to your puppy or the greater dog community.Because of the trouble arising from the over-vaccinations that have occurred in the dog population, I recommend you call me to discuss the vaccinations of your dogs later on down the track, so that you can be fully aware of all risks.
It is understood that at last the Australian Veterinary Association is realising that yearly vaccinations are at best unnecessary, and at worst, plain dangerous to our dogs. Our understanding is that there is currently under discussion moves to make vaccinations 2-3 years apart. This will still be a conservative period, and it is more than likely that pets will not even really need the vaccinations this often. In fact, evidence shows us now that vaccinations last for the life of the dog, so by goodness, why would you want to impair your pup's immune system by giving them further vaccinations. Yes, that's right: vaccines have the capacity to cause immediate and long term health problems to your dog.
The best prevention for any diseases that can be vaccinated against is to ensure a healthy immune system - which is best created and supported by a raw diet.
Additionally, do not bring your dog up in a sterile environment. Your pup has been raised so far with NO bleach, and NO anti-bacterial soaps.
Do not fall into the trap of being "too clean" - despite what your mother may tell you!
Breeding your Pup
Unless specifically agreed by us, your pup is not to be bred from. As you would appreciate, we have gone to great trouble to breed from the absolute best to provide you with a top quality puppy. We then choose very carefully which pups will then go into the show ring as a starting point to choose suitable ones to breed the next generation.Most simply if you are not showing your pup under our guidance, then the pup is not destined for our future breeding program. Instead, your pup should have the life of Riley as a fabulous companion to you, and should be desexed before it is 7 months old. In most cases, we will spay/neuter your pwd before it comes to you. The benefits of this is that you don't have to worry about remember to get your pup desexed, nor do you have to worry about the risks associated with surgery. We bear all those costs and risks when we get the surgery done early on. So far, we have completed early desexing on over 100 pups and have not had any problems. We have found, however, that a pup's recovery time at 8 weeks, is much easier than the recovery of a pup at 12 weeks. The other benefit is that council registration of your pup is significantly cheaper when it is spayed/neutered, therefore saving you a significant amount of money.
Remember, the difference between a dog for the breeding program and one that is not, can often be very small. The dogs are of no lesser quality, and cost the same to raise but there are usually slight differences that make one more suitable than another. Quite frankly, I would rather you have a fabulous show quality neutered pet, than an accident waiting to happen.
If you really, really want to learn how to breed, then we'll talk this through with you. We have a long and extensive learning program which will involve the need for you to show your dog. When you express an interest in a pup initially, you need to tell us then, not after you have received your pup. That being said, we have several people in our learning program who started with a companion pwd, and have now got their second pwd and have joined the show scene.
However, please note, of all the dogs that compete in the show scene, most of them do not make the breeding program - we are after the best of the best, not just any dog. This is why our pups are of such high quality. Hope that makes sense.
Troubleshooting
There are some fantastic books out there which we recommend you read. Take it from me, we've probably read all the good ones, so can shortcut your reading program. We have written a book on the Bluegrace Portuguese Water Dog which you can order on line by clicking here.In addition, these books are the ones I recommend:
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Essential Reading! This will fundamentally change the way you look at dogs |
This is Jan's latest book. Be sure to get your hands on it! |
Get this book too! Humans need to learn how to treat dogs they way they need to be treated, and stop treating them like furry humans. |
Jan Fennell's books are excellent, and essential reading.
On a final note:
If you ever have problems with your Portuguese Water Dog, at any stage during its life, please call us to discuss. If for some reason, you cannot keep your pup, we insist that it must be returned to us for re-homing. This means, that you cannot place your dog with another family or friend, or sell it on without our written consent at a minimum. If required, we will also put in the necessary effort to re-train the pup and re-socialise it, if the need be.
However, we know that as you have been carefully chosen to take one of these pups, that you have the necessary skills and care to look after one of these precious pups. But, we will always be there if circumstances change.