The Fisher Dog

The hot July afternoon didn’t stop the improvised marquee in Jardim do Pescador, Olhão, from buzzing with excitement.

Organised by the local council, in collaboration with the Clube Português de Canicultura, and the Associação para a Protecção do Cão de Água Português, the event was designed to promote a breed that is intimately linked to the history of Olhão and the Algarve in general.

One of the high points of the event - which included demonstrations in and out of water and interactive exercises with the public – was the 22nd Water Dog Canine Monographic Exhibition, the largest of its kind in the country.

This year the event was changed from Estoril, where it normally takes place in August, for the Algarve. It included 38 participants - like Pedro Álvares Cabral, a bouncy 18-month old puppy.

“Docile, confident, sweet-natured, a little stubborn and hard-working” are the adjectives with which Carla Peralta – water dog breeder for the last seven years and one of country’s leading animal behaviour experts – describes this breed.

Carla Peralta, 35, is also one of the driving forces behind the Olhão event. She works at the «Canil das Águas Algarvias» at Quinta de Marim, in the middle of the Natural Park of Ria Formosa.

It’s a place that can be visited by the public – and which, throughout the year, develops educational activities for schools. Here, too, people can work voluntarily – an excellent opportunity for anyone who wants to really get to know the Portuguese Water Dog.

Peralta has no doubts when she confirms that this breed belongs to those known as ‘working dogs’ and she has the animals to show this: some of her dogs are properly trained to help people. This is the case of “Sol”, schooled for many years in search and rescue operations.

Historically, the Portuguese Water Dog’s origins are obscure. Their ancestors are thought to have existed during the Roman Civilization - as there are Latin references from that time to a “canis piscator” or “canis leo” used for fishing in the west of the Iberian Peninsula.

Indeed, not so long ago – before the advent of modern fishing technologies – these dogs had an active role on board traditional Algarvian fishing boats.

“Normally, each crew was accompanied by two dogs – and if any fish wriggled out of the nets, the dogs would dive into the water to catch them”, João Peres, Olhão councillor for Sport and Culture recalls.

These days, curiously, a lot of the owners of these dogs, particularly those attending the competition, are foreigners – mainly English-speaking foreigners, like Keith Brown.

“We still have this one’s grandfather” Brown told us as he patted his dog Henry. In the Brown household – which has owned water dogs for more than a decade - a water dog isn’t simply an animal to show in competitions and dog shows, it’s a member of the family, and treated with love and affection.

The difficult task of awarding prizes for the best examples of the breed, in various categories, fell to judge Pedro Albergaria.

Among the more important aspects to be taken into consideration are the dog’s characteristics with relation to its breed, its qualities and defects, etc. Again, there are different classes: masculine, feminine, junior, intermediate and veteran.

Well-trained and disciplined, these dogs showed themselves to be receptive to the affection shown by children in the public, who delighted in the animals’ curly hair, which hangs over their eyes, almost hiding them completely.

Also known as the “fisher dog”, this canine is physically very well-adapted to the water, with inter-digital membranes between the toes of its feet and the ability to hold its breath underwater (dive).

Water dogs have many times shown how useful they can be recovering nets or items lost overboard when fishermen are exchanging messages between boats, or using their equipment at night.

But there are other characteristics, too. This is a breed with a different form of communication than other dogs. They only bark when they need to. There are those who say these animals learn quicker than any other breed of dog.

In former times, these animals were so highly prized among fishing communities that they had the right to a salary, and a handler in charge of them.

These days, the Portuguese Water Dog has hit the headlines of the world’s press and, who knows, they may save national exports…at least in prestigious circles!