What the heck is a “Portuguese Water Hound”?
President-Elect Obama might be a brilliant man on foreign policy, running election, and bringing together divergent parties. Those are all reasons why I voted for him, and I really hope he is a success as president. ( To all the conservatives who read this blog, relax, this is still primarily a dog blog. I promise I will not brow-beat anyone for having different political believes from me on this blog).
Obama’s latest task has been to find a dog for the White House. Trick is it has to be a rescue. And it has to be low shed, because his daughter Malia, is allergic. (That doesn’t mean she won’t have allergies to the dog, however.)
On This Week, the president-elect said they had narrowed it down two breeds: a Labradoodle or a “Portuguese water hound.” I know he’s a busy man. I also know that he has previously said “Goldendoodle” for the breed his daughters want.
Perhaps he doesn’t know the difference between a golden and Lab, which is about 20 dog IQ points (if there were such a thing) and about 5 times the shedding. I can forgive this mistake. It happens all the time.
However, I can’t really forgive the Portuguese water hound. There is no such breed, of course. But there is a Portuguese water dog, which was onced used to haul nets, just as the St. John’s and Tweed water dogs did in their respective countries. It can be taught to retrieve shot game, but its relative, the Spanish water dog, is much better at gundog work. Senator Ted Kennedy has a brace of the Portguese water dogs, which might explain Obama’s affinity for the breed.
I don’t know whether Obama had dogs as a child or not. Vice President-elect Biden is much more of a dog person. His family raised German shepherds, and after winning the election, he purchased a GSD (although some animal rights and animal welfare activists have attacked this purchase). He and his wife have decided to get a second dog, which may be rescued golden retriever. (If Obama got a golden retriever that breed would proably eclipse the Labrador in popularity, something Iwould not like.)
I know President-Elect Obama is a busy man, and he’s got a lot on his plate right now. But someone surely should’ve briefed him better on dog breeds.
I suspect that many PWD breeders are praying he chooses the labradoodle! I did think a Golden-poodle cross seemed like an odd choice for a household with allergy issues. For me, Goldens are one of the most likely dogs to trigger an allergic reaction, and it’s a big one. I live with an Aussie and used to have both the Aussie and a Malinois without much problem, but put me in a room with a Golden for an hour and I’m toast.
I have no dog allergies, but goldens can set someone’s allergies off in about ten seconds, and crossing the poodle and the golden doesn’t always do the trick. However, in my experience the temperament of that mix tends to be a better blend. I think it may be the golden’s water spaniel ancestry that brings it out. Also, not all goldendoodles look like goldens with a poodle coat. Some look like goldens. I’ve even seen one with the coat length patterns of an Irish water spaniel, but no “rat tail.”
Goldens have a ton of oil in their fur. That’s why they have that peculiar smell. Labs have this oil, but they don’t have it running through a thick undercoat and copious outercoat. Labs just have a thick undercoat.
I hope he doesn’t choose a goldendoodle. I am all for Labradoodle. A swing in goldendoodle popularity could destroy genetic diversity forever in golden retrievers.
Los perros portugueses son muy dóciles
Yes, they are, but if Obama chooses one, their popularity will go through the roof.
The stock in the US is not exactly geneticall diverse:
http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-is-on-edge-of-canine-mistake.html
If these dogs get puppy-milled and backyard bred out of gene pool like this, it will be bad for the Portuguese Water Dog. And if Obama chooses one, it will be bad for the water dogs, not good for them.
He’s better off choosing Labradoodle, because Labs are pretty diverse genetically. I wouldn’t like him to choose a goldendoodle, simply because that will truncate golden retriever genetic diversity.