PORTUGUESE WATER DOG THE MAGNIFICENT WORKER
KRIS COFIELL VIRGINIA MURRAY MARILYN RIMMER
Our standard calls for a dog or bitch to be strong, sub- stantially boned, powerful, robust, solidly built, intelligent and spirited, a working dog. The head is also an essential characteristic: distinctively large, well proportioned and with exceptional breath of top skull. They should also have a broad, firm back. Overall, many of the class dogs lacked the substance and bone I was looking for in the PWD. The bitch classes far excelled with quality of breed type than the males. I was alarmed with the loss of decent eye color of both sexes. The fronts were improved with better lay back of shoulder and better upper arm, but now it’s difficult to find a decent rear. My WD was my BOB winner, an awesome dog and a true stal- lion. He reeked of breed type as was also the WB who was my BOS winner. I was very impressed with the wonderful breed type and quality of the Veteran classes. Although many had a more upright shoulder, their eyes were dark, good movement with decent rears and attitude. I awarded four AOMs to the Veteran class and one to the very handsome Working Dog. My final cuts of the Best of breed class were a beautiful sight to see, I wish I had a ribbon for each. My WD and BOB winner stole my heart as well as the WB and BOS winner. JANIS WATTS 1. What are the two most important traits you look for when judging the Portuguese Water Dog? Are you usually finding them or not? KC: Type. Is the outline/silhouette correct for the breed? Structure/movement. Is the dog properly constructed so that it can do its intended job? I am seeing far more short backed dogs and/or high on leg. The breed standard calls for “Off-square. Slightly longer then tall when measured from the prosternum to the rearmost point of the but- tocks and from withers to ground.” VM: Number one is always the head. I want my hand to have to stretch to cover their top skulls! And their muzzle should be strong and on the squarer side—not long and snipey! I also want good substance and bone. The breed was losing the substance aspect a while back and it was so depressing to judge the weedy, little dogs with no heads and no bone and no substance and tiny. Some were getting so small. And coat, a beautiful, healthy coat. Thankfully over the past few years we have started rebounding to the robust dog that they are supposed to be. MR: This is a working dog and should look like they can spend a full day working in and out of the water.
I have been involved with dogs, cats and horses all of my life, having grown up with Dachshunds in St. Louis. I later owned and showed Old English Sheep- dogs while living in Boston and later in San Diego. My journey with the Por- tuguese Water Dog, and their people, began when my family acquired their first PWD, Weathervane’s Preitu Cereias,
i.e. Cere, sight unseen from a breeder in Pennsylvania in the early spring of 1984. She was a Keel Tonel daughter. Under the prefix of Questar, reg, Cere’s first litter was born in the fall of 1987. Three of the six puppies became champions and that was the start of my passion. I have trained and my dog’s offspring have achieved titles in conformation, agility, rally, obedience, tracking, nose work, H20, search and rescue and the first PWD FEMA CST-HRD. I have been a member of the PWDCA since 1985. I served on the PWCA Board as Corresponding Secretary starting in 1993 for three years and have worked on many other commit- tees for the club. Currently I serve on the PWDCA’s Judge’s Educational Committee, the PWDCA’s Breeders Development Committee and am a PWDCA Judge’s Mentor. I also was the PWDCA’s Area Rep for Southern CA. for close to 20 years. I am a founding member of the SCPWDC and did their club res- cue for 13 years. I have attended all 25 PWDCA National Spe- cialty shows and also attended the First International PWD Conference in Portugal. I was the Breeder Judge for the Top 20, 2015 Michigan Specialty. I have judged PWDs, Dobermans, Siberian Huskies and Samoyeds across the country and I also judged PWD Juniors. I feel that a structurally sound dog should be able to do any type of performance work required of them, including mov- ing around the conformation ring. It was an incredible honor to be voted by the membership of the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America to judge conformation at their 26th National Specialty, September 11-15, 2017.
S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , O CTOBER 2017 • 271
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