A General Appearance of the Dog

The Portuguese Water Dog is a medium-sized, muscular dog. The coat is usually curly, but may be wavy, somewhat similar in size and coat type to a Standard Poodle.

Portuguese Water Dogs have webbed feet and dark eyes. The tail is thick and carried high, usually curled over his back with a plume on the end. The overall look of a Portuguese Water Dog is of a well balanced, alert dog with a “let’s go do something fun” attitude.

The Portuguese Water Dog’s head seems massive and blocky. However, without his coat, the dog would be rectangular with a fairly heavy bone structure. His muzzle is wide and his chest is deep and wide.

Coat Color

Portuguese Water Dogs come in black, white or brown, white with dark spots, or black or brown with white markings. There are even a few that are silver or gray. But most are solid black.

Coat Type

The Portuguese Water Dog has a profuse thick coat that may be either Curly or Wavy. The coat is non- shedding and is hypo-allergenic. The Curly coat has cylindrical curls while the Wavy coat falls in gentle waves and has a slight sheen.

The coat is professionally clipped in either the Lion Clip or the Retriever Clip. In the Lion Clip, the muzzle, middle of the dog and hindquarters are clipped close to the body, leaving a long mane around the neck and down the chest and front legs and over the head. In the Retriever Clip, the entire coat is scissored or clipped to follow the outline of the dog. In both, the hair at the end of the tail is left long.

Height

Males are from 20 to 22 inches
Females are from 17 to 20 inches

Weight

Males: 42 to 55 lbs
Females 35 to 49 lbs