Curly/Wavy Hair: Maintenance and Appearance of the PWD
The Portuguese Water Dog has an easily identifiable snout when typically groomed. It’s body is covered with a thick layer of hair.
This breed’s hair can be long and curly, or short and fuzzy.
The portuguese water dog can present a solid coating, white, black or brown, or spotted – in a combination of white and black or white and brown. The white and black’s coating have a slight blue tonality to the coating.
In the long haired variety, the hair is curled, glossy and soft, which creates a trump in the head. The ears can have longer hair in this variety.
In the short and fuzzy variety, the hair presents a lustreless coating with small curls, usually thick and or dense.
When left to grow naturally, the hair grows equally throughout the dog’s body. However, it’s the grooming that gives this breed it’s typical appearance. Contrary to what may be initially thought, this grooming has a more functional standard than aesthetic.
The clipping is located in the back quarter of the body, keeping the hair’s natural length on the frontal area. The exception is done on it’s fringe and snout, which are trimmed. The tail is left with a tuft in the extremity.
This kind of grooming was created by fishermen. The purpose of this cut is to release the dog’s paws so they can swim without the coating’s extra weight, while keeping the vital organs warm. That’s the main reason why only the back quarter is clipped.
The fringe is trimmed to allow the dog to see without interferences, and the snout is also stripped of hair so he can grab a fish or any other object easily. The tail’s tuft is kept natural so the tail can float.
