Mention of our breeds can show up in the most unexpected places, though given the Portuguese Water Dog‘s affiliation with water, perhaps an article from 2003 that appeared in the magazine, “Boating,” isn’t that unusual.

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Writer, Randy Steele, remembers a previous article, “Cruising Canines,” but he poses a bigger question: “Is there one breed that can truly claim the official title of “Sea Dog.” His conclusion, which Newfoundland and Schipperke owners may challenge,” is yes, and that breed is the Portuguese Water Dog.

Steele cites breed history going back centuries to the Cão d’Água, a dog that Portuguese sailors realized had an affinity not just for the sea, but for the boats that navigated it. Steel also refers to the first written description of the Portuguese Water Dog appearing in 1297 which concerns a monk’s report of a dying sailor who’d been brought out of the sea by a dog which had a “black coat of rough hair, cut to the first rib and with a tuft on the tip of his tail.”

It’s hard to disagree if one limits the debate to boating. The Barbet, Newfoundland, Irish Water Spaniel, Poodle, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, and a few other breeds are famously known for their relationship to water,  but PWDs have a long history with fisherman and their boats. Half the ships of the Spanish Armada had Portuguese Water Dogs on board to carry messages from ship to ship, and later, fishermen relied on their dogs perform different functions, from helping with fishing lines and herding fish into nets, to acting as courier by swimming with messages from boat to boat, or boat to shore. If the fog rolled in, Porties sat in the bow listening and barking at other dogs as a sort of primitive radar system.  These dogs were considered part of a ship’s crew and got a share of both the money and fish earned for the catch, and after a fisherman retired, he often rented out his dogs for extra cash.

Back in 2003, the Mystic Seaport Museum held an exhibition called, “Sea Tails,” which recounted stories of four legged bravery at sea; visitors to the exhibit could watch demonstrations put on by dogs, and some of the dogs that made appearances included Portuguese Water Dogs.

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