Portuguese Water Dog Breeders UK: Advertise Your Kennel Free

Advertise your Portuguese Water Dog puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed Portuguese Water Dogs? With a long list of recommended health tests in this breed, a clear profile lets you show buyers your results up front. List your kennel on caninebreeder.co.uk with a free basic profile showing your kennel name, website, social media, location and categories. You can then advertise Portuguese Water Dog puppies for sale, promote your Portuguese Water Dog stud dog and set out the hip, elbow, eye and DNA results behind each litter. Add your listing today and reach buyers across the UK.

No breeders are listed here yet, so the first profiles get the page to themselves.

Free basic profile: your breeder or company name, website, social media, location, breeds and industries.
Litters and stud dogs advertised in their own sections, never mixed with puppies for sale.
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Featured placement at the top of this page, labelled as sponsored.

Create your free breeder profile Advertise a litter Advertise a stud dog

Is it free to advertise here?

Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the Portuguese Water Dog

The Portuguese Water Dog, or Cão de Água Português, comes from the coast of Portugal, and the FCI standard names the Algarve as its original home. It worked with fishermen: the RKC describes it driving shoals of fish into nets, retrieving lost nets and carrying messages between boats. As fishing modernised, its numbers fell sharply in the 1950s and 1960s, and the UK breed club notes that the Guinness Book of Records named it the rarest pedigree breed in the 1960s. It was later revived as a family companion. The Royal Kennel Club (RKC) places it in the Working group; the FCI classes it with the water dogs.

Size and build

The standard describes a robust, almost square dog with powerful shoulders and webbed toes, the membrane reaching to the tips. Dogs stand 50 to 57 cm at the withers and weigh 19 to 25 kg; bitches stand 43 to 52 cm and weigh 16 to 22 kg. Individual dogs can fall outside these ranges.

Coat and grooming

The coat is profuse, with no undercoat, and comes in two types: fairly long and loosely waved, or shorter with compact curls. Standard colours are black, white, shades of brown, and black or brown with white. The RKC lists it as a non-shedding, medium-coated breed that needs grooming every day. Owners choose between the traditional lion clip, with the muzzle and hindquarters clipped short, and the retriever trim, an even length all over. The breed club says the retriever trim needs clipping or scissoring every six to eight weeks and advises rinsing the coat after swimming.

Exercise and temperament

The standard describes a highly intelligent, energetic dog that swims and dives well: good-natured and independent, yet very obedient to its owner. The RKC's guide gives up to an hour of exercise a day, but the breed club advises at least two hours of vigorous activity and warns that under-exercised dogs may develop separation anxiety. It describes the breed as loyal and eager to please but strong-minded and excitable, so early training in self-control matters.

Is it right for you?

The RKC suggests a large house with a small or medium garden, in town or country, and gives a lifespan of over 10 years. It suits active families who enjoy water, training or dog sports and can keep up with coat care.

Portuguese Water Dog health tests

The RKC lists two Good Practice priorities for the Portuguese Water Dog: prioritising genetic diversity and a DNA test for progressive retinal atrophy (prcd-PRA). Its Best Practice list adds hip and elbow scoring and DNA tests for GM1 gangliosidosis, a storage disease that damages the nervous system, and early onset PRA (EOPRA). The RKC sells a breed-specific DNA package covering GM1 and prcd-PRA.

The Portuguese Water Dog Club of Great Britain asks for more for both parents: DNA tests for juvenile dilated cardiomyopathy (JDCM), microphthalmia syndrome (MOS-PWD), chondrodystrophy (CDDY) and chondrodysplasia (CDPA), and a clear eye examination before mating. Its test list, dated December 2023, quotes a five-year breed median hip score of 11 (as at December 2022) and a breed average CoI of 5.0% (July 2023); the RKC calculators show the current average. The club also names Addison's disease and paroxysmal dyskinesia as conditions found in the breed for which there is no DNA test.

Hip and elbow X-rays can be taken from one year of age. The breed is in Breed Watch Category 1 and is not on the BVA's January 2026 list of breeds with known inherited eye disease. Health testing lowers risk; it cannot guarantee a healthy puppy.

Health tests and schemes for the Portuguese Water Dog:

Prioritising genetic diversity (RKC Good Practice)
DNA test for progressive retinal atrophy, prcd-PRA (RKC Good Practice)
BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme (RKC Best Practice)
BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia Scheme (RKC Best Practice)
DNA test for gangliosidosis, GM1 (RKC Best Practice)
DNA test for early onset progressive retinal atrophy, EOPRA (RKC Best Practice)
Breed club list: DNA tests for JDCM, MOS-PWD, CDDY and CDPA, plus a BVA/RKC/ISDS Eye Scheme examination (or equivalent) before mating
Breed Watch: Category 1

Choosing a Portuguese Water Dog breeder

A good Portuguese Water Dog breeder will show you certificates for both parents covering the RKC's Good and Best Practice tests: hip scores, elbow grades and DNA results for prcd-PRA, EOPRA and GM1. A breeder who follows the breed club's guidance will also have tested for conditions such as JDCM and microphthalmia, and had the parents' eyes examined before mating. Ask for the litter's inbreeding coefficient and how it compares with the breed average. The breed club's advice to buyers stresses seeing the puppies with their mother, written guidance on socialisation, and a breeder who stays in touch and will take the dog back if it ever needs a new home. Expect questions about your time for exercise, training and daily grooming. Licensed breeders in England may not sell a puppy under eight weeks old and must show puppies with their mother. Anyone in England who breeds three or more litters in 12 months and sells any of the puppies, or runs a business breeding and advertising dogs for sale, needs a council licence and must show the licence number in adverts.

Questions to ask a Portuguese Water Dog breeder:

Can I see the hip scores and elbow grades for both parents?
Which DNA tests have the parents had, including prcd-PRA, EOPRA, GM1 and JDCM?
When were the parents' eyes last examined, and can I see the certificates?
What is the inbreeding coefficient of this litter?
Will you take the dog back or help rehome it if my circumstances change?

Portuguese Water Dog questions

Does the Portuguese Water Dog shed?

The RKC lists it as a non-shedding breed. The coat has no undercoat, but it needs grooming every day and regular trimming. If you have allergies, spend time with adult dogs of the breed before you commit.

What is the difference between a lion clip and a retriever trim?

In the lion clip, the traditional trim described in the breed standard, the muzzle and the body from the last rib back are clipped short, along with most of the tail, while the forequarters keep a full coat. The retriever trim leaves an even length all over; the breed club says it needs clipping or scissoring every six to eight weeks, which a groomer or a trained owner can do.

How much exercise does a Portuguese Water Dog need?

The RKC's guide says up to an hour a day, but the UK breed club advises at least two hours of vigorous activity. It was bred to swim and dive for fishermen, so swimming and retrieving games suit it well, alongside training.

Which health tests should a Portuguese Water Dog's parents have?

The RKC recommends hip and elbow scoring and DNA tests for prcd-PRA, EOPRA and GM1, together with checking the inbreeding coefficient. The Portuguese Water Dog Club of Great Britain also asks for DNA tests for JDCM, microphthalmia syndrome, CDDY and CDPA, and an eye examination before mating.

Portuguese Water Dog breeders