When a breed is as ancient as the Portuguese Water Dog, it becomes hard to accurately detail its history. To complicate matters, PWDs were raised in a very small region in the southern most area of Portugal – the Algarve (hence the original name of Algarve Water Dogs). Highly prized, the dogs were rarely seen outside of this region, as owners were loathed to give them up, and by tradition, they were never sold. This tends to make their history somewhat murky as they became so accepted into their masters’ society that there would be no need to keep any records of them, their breeding, their history, their beginnings, etc.

What we do know is that the PWD has been bred in the Algarve region for at least some 700 years, and most likely between 2300 - 2500 years, and maybe even as much as 3500 years.

We also know that the PWD is descended from the legendary herding and terrier dogs of the Asian Steppes. The Steppes are vast, grassy, treeless tracts, with scattered mountains, valleys, lakes and rivers occasionally relieving the spartan landscape. There is a certain austere beauty to the area, but it is the ruggedness of all its life forms that is truly striking.

The herding dogs that the people of the area raised were interbred within each ancestral clan. Isolated from the rest of the world, many of these dogs developed into definite types, such as the ancestors of the Portuguese Water Dogs.

While we are fairly sure where the dogs came from, what we don’t know is how they came to Portugal.

• PWD History Main Page
• What Can be Agreed Upon
• How the PWD Came to Portugal

• PWD as a Traditional Fishing Dog
• How PWD was Saved from Extinction
• The Modern PWD