Do you get lonely in the pool? Would you like to have your dog join you for a dip? If you do, then you need to get yourself a water dog breed.
Waterdog breeds are those that are built to swim without fear. No, they aren’t sea animals, but regular dogs that thrive on land but don’t mind getting wet.
These dogs were bred for all sorts of water activities. These include fish-hunting, retrieval, and rescue. These dogs can be used strictly for water hunting purposes or kept as house pets and swimming buddies.
Most water dog breeds are usually medium or small-sized, as you would expect. Larger dogs aren’t too keen on hitting the water.
They have distinct features, which is their waterproof fur, and of course, their eagerness to swim.
Many long-haired water dogs have their fur clipped with a bare midriff and hindquarters, which makes swimming very possible by limiting the drag, while still maintaining their long coats around the torso which stops thermal shock as they leap into ice-cold water.
Water dogs are not “new” breeds; they’ve been around for a very long time and olden-day mariners used them to fetch objects that were lost in the water. They also used these dogs to send messages to other nearby boats.
Ancient Romans called them “Lion Dogs”, because of the unique clippings on their fur.
Up until this day, you can still find water dogs aboard cruise ships and fishing vessels, sailing with the rest of the crew.
In Medieval European times, hunters regularly used water dogs to hunt for ducks in the water. After the ducks have been shot with an arrow, the dogs were sent in to go and retrieve them. Besides the ducks, the water dogs would also bring back any arrows that didn’t hit their targets.
Needless to say, as time passed and firearm technology improved, the need for water dogs to retrieve ammunition reduced, except for traditional hunters who are bow and arrow enthusiasts.
Nowadays, most water dog breeds are kept mainly for ornamental or companionship reasons. But hey, that’s still not a bad thing, as long as you can have your buddy swim with you in the pool or a lake, then they are still very useful.
There are many variations of water dogs to choose from. Which would you like? We’ll help you make that decision as we will be listing several water dog breeds below.