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5K views 36 replies 20 participants last post by  PomPom 
#1 ·
PWDs! As I don't have my poodle yet, and as Cuddleparty requested it, I thought I'd introduce my parents' (and partially my) Portuguese Water Dogs.

The parti boy is Samson, Sam for short. He's our home bred boy and is 11 and a half years old. He's a sweetheart with some aversion to dogs, but we love him immensely. He was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma 4 months ago (nasty cancer), had emergency surgery to remove the tumor and stop internal bleeding and is still going strong. The vet said average 3 to 6 months to live, we're hoping he'll beat the average!

The grey/ black/ brown girl is Ziggy Stardust, or just Ziggy, our 4 year old. She's a working FIEND and always wants a job to do. The fisherman would have kept her for sure - we joke that Sam wouldn't have made the cut. :) My mom says she's the best dog she's ever had and she's just fun, fun, fun. Look out for her in the agility ring, she's pretty good (my mom jokes that it's her handler who holds her back).
 

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#4 ·
Thanks Harley_chik! Yes, both these guys (and our 2 before) have achieved their Courier Water Dog, which is one of the highest levels of the PWD water trialing... It is so awesome to see them work like they would have on the boats, it's been known to bring a tear to the eye of some spectators. My mom is a PWDCA Water Judge now (the first Canadian one), so she's pretty serious about it all!
 
#9 ·
The PWD actually has two coats - the curly and the wavy. The curly is more like a poodle, while the wavy is more like a Havanese perhaps, only less silky. Sam and Zig are both curlies, but Sam has a soft curl while Zig has a more wiry curl. So they really vary. I would say the grooming requirements are similar to a poodle, depending on the coat type (curly often need more, loose wavy need less). They have to be trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks and brushed much more often than that.

I think poodles tend to be less allergenic than PWDs. I know my mom, who has bad dog allergies, is slightly allergic to the PWD (we've had them 20 years, she's willing to live through the allergy) but so far has not been at all allergic to the poodles we've visited on my hunt!
 
#8 ·
I love PWDs! One of my best friends is a water judge too. She wants me to put Vinnie in a lion trim and I think we're going to do it next summer!

She lost one of her PWDs to Hemangiosarcoma also - very sad. Good luck with Sam!!

Little Ziggy looks like a real firecracker!!
 
#10 ·
That's so funny, I bet we know your friend! There's not all that many water judges about. You should definitely put Vinnie (who also seems like a real Ziggy type firecracker) in a lion. Zig's in one and it's so cute, although my dad hates it as in the park people always ask if she had surgery! :heh: My mom is threatening to put my poodle in one next summer. My poodle when i get it of course.
 
#11 ·
Oh and thanks all for the good wishes for Sam! Cancer is sadly a reality amongst so many breeds, and the PWD is no exception. Both our previous dogs died of cancer (one at 14 and one at 10 and a half) so we're familiar with it. So far his quality of life is great with no indication that there's anything wrong, but as soon as he's in pain or not enjoying things, we know what we have to do. My mom wrote a bucket list for him and he's ticked almost everything off, so we'll have to think of more to add to it!
 
#14 ·
I love PWDs. I was going to get one. But I could not find one at the time. So I got another Standard. Sadly she just passed away in June from the same cancer Sam has. The cancer was found to late. I will keep my fingers crossed for Sam. Your dogs are nice looking. Great pictures.
 
#17 ·
Access to the water definitely helps. My parents live about 10 houses from Lake Ontario, so our guys are constantly swimming and retrieving in the summer. Having said that, it is possible to do a lot of training for the PWD exercises on land, so most owners train all year, and some only have very limited access to water!
 
#21 ·
Thanks all! I was with my parents and dogs yesterday, and Sam is doing great! My mom of course panics if he so much as droops his head a little, but we are happy for every day we have with him.

As for Ziggy, that little girl is just too smart... She excels in all sorts of performance sports but up until now we have not taken the time to teach her any tricks. Embarrassing, I know, but when everyone else's dogs are showing off we can get her to lie down and that's about it! Anyway, while I was waiting for my mom to get off the phone yesterday, I decided to teach her shake a paw with the aid of a clicker and some cheerios. She had a pretty solid paw shake down within 15 minutes, not bad! Sam of course got a cheerio every time she did just for being his cute self. :)
 
#22 ·
Wow, look at them! They look like fun. I had never seen one in person until a few weeks ago when someone brought two into the vet. Bella was trying to go all 'tough' dog on them until they rounded the corner and she could see how much they dwarfed her. They were friendly but she was too busy hiding behind me at that point to meet them. I had no idea they were so big!
 
#23 ·
Haha, that's funny. I realize Bella's not a SPoo, but I met two big male SPoos yesterday and was shocked at how big they were! They made my PWDs seem tiny in comparison. :) You maybe saw some overly big ones. A PWD should only be 19 to 22 inches at the shoulder, but some people have been breeding some that are away over standard... Ziggy is 19 inches and I can easily pick her up and carry her around!
 
#27 ·
Sad day

As you were all so concerned and kind about Sam, I just thought I'd let you know he had to be put to sleep this evening. He was doing really well, but suddenly yesterday took a turn for the worse. My mom knew something was up when he didn't greet her at the door when she got home from work. As he was still eating and drinking and didn't seem to be in too much pain, she decided to wait and see if it was a temporary setback. But then this evening they were at the beach and a dog knocked him over. He really struggled to get up so she knew things were getting worse, and she and my dad took him straight to the vet.

The vet confirmed he was internally bleeding and it was time. So while they waited for him to finish up with other patients, my parents sat in the car with Sam (one of his favourite places) and fed him a bar of dark chocolate (one of his favourite things, even though he wasn't allowed it as it's lethal for dogs.) They put a blanket on the vet floor for him, and he was snoring gently as he was put to sleep in my mom's arms, with my dad and Ziggy there as well. As my mom said, she was there to help him into the world (he was the first pup born of our first ever litter) so it was only fitting that she be there to help him out.

He was a great dog. We'll all miss him a lot. Bye buddy. :weep:
 
#28 ·
Yes it is a very sad day. Been there, done that, it is so very hard, but something we all will probably have to do at some time, since all of us on this forum are animal lovers, and probably will never be totally w/o them in our lives. I can tell by your posts and pictures that Sam had a wonderful life and that he brought a lot of joy to your family as well. I know that your family and Ziggy will miss Sam a lot. R.I.P. sweet Sam.
 
#30 ·
I'm so sorry for your loss. It's great that he had his bucket list, and really had a great time before he had to go. Not to mention he was with loved ones as he went.

Losing an animal is never going to be easy, but we should be thankful for all the wonderful and silly moments they brought to our lives. Rest in peace Sam.
 
#33 ·
Thanks for your kind words everyone. It is so sad every time we lose one of our furry family members. This one makes me feel especially sad, as Sam was the last of the dogs I grew up with. Ziggy is the first of the dogs my parents got after I moved out.

Anyway, I'm not sure how Ziggy is taking this loss. Last night she was given a chew at the vet's which I think was more interesting than what was going on with Sam. But this morning she apparently had a freak out when she realized my parents were leaving for work and she was there by herself. She's a social dog (and she loved Sam) - she won't be happy as a single dog for long. Good thing my poodle should be joining the pack in a few months.
 
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