Since Bo is coming home today, I'm posting some pictures of Skippy when he was a puppy. Oh what a cute little terror he was.... These photos are at 3 months old - a bit younger than Bo.
I did some reading to see if Skippy is related to Bo. Here's what I found:
Bo was breed by a kennel in Texas called Amigo.
Bo and Senator Kennedy's new puppy, Cappy, (the Senator's third Portie!) are from the same litter - brothers!
Bo's parents are Ch. Amigo's Phor What Its Worth (Penny) and Ch. Valkyrie's Dr. Watson Is Here (Watson).
And, in searching Bo's pedigree, I found that Skippy and Bo have great-great-grandparents in common. Sort of distant cousins. All US Portuguese water dogs are related somewhere, since they all came from a few dogs brought over from Portugal in the 50's.
And here are a few blogs I came across that seem to have all the news.
The Portuguese Water Dog Blog
The Obama Dog Blog
9 comments:
Skippy was a beautiful pup. They sure are a handful, aren't they? My eight keep me busy most of the day.
Eight! how awesome!
Hi, I am the "Toonmoose" gardener, (and photographer) of The Toonmoose Garden blog. My Irish Terrier, Jasper, and I have a garden in Bucks County, PA, that is just entering it's fourth year. We are thrilled to have a hand in growing some of what we eat, and enjoyed discovering your garden blog this morning. We will certainly come back to watch your gardens progress this season. You may want to check us out at www.thetoonmoosegardenblog.blogspot.com
Hi Kathy. PWD (i.e Portugese Water Dog) world wide. Well just catching the weather this morning on our local BBC East news and before it came on there was a chap talking about Skippy dogs, there are only 500 registered here in the U.K.
Apparently the breed were almost extinct after war in Portugal (need to look in to dates, circumstances etc.) So seems Skippy is in esteemed company.
Glad the Easter bunny visited, I saw him around the corner near a nursery school made me smile and wave at the little ones (someone in a costume wearing a very fetching yellow bow tie). The children had been on an easter egg hunt in the park wearing their decorated hats
lovely to see in fading traditions.
The First Family Puppy is cute!
Marian
"Skippy dogs" - I love it1
I can't vouch for the truth of this, but I read some time ago that the PWDs came over around 1970, and there was one common sire for the early dogs; his name was Leao. At that time, the population was VERY low, like under 100.
Yes, Katherine Braund in The New Complete Portuguese Water Dog has researched this well.
Leao (1931-1942) was the founding sire of the modern breed. There were several other dogs breeding then, but not many. All lines were were "always crossed with descendants of Leao so that all received, to a greater or lesser degree, blood from the dog that served as a model for the race."
Prior to 1950, it appeared there were 100 dogs of the breed registered in Portugal. Many were working dogs.
The American breed originated with the Millers of the kennel Farmion who imported the first PWDs in 1968. Her name was Chenze.
By 1975 it seems like there were about 10-20 Porties in the states, being breed at two kennels, from Chenze and a few other dogs. Some of their names include Taro, Truta, Lumpi and a very famous dog Charlie (a brown curlie). I can find all these names in Skippy's pedigree about 5 generations back. This would be the same with all modern US PWDs.
The AKC reports registering about 1,500 Portuguese water dogs each of the last two years. (By comparison, more than 100,000 Labs).
Kathy, Have you checked the PWD pedigree database. Almost all PWds are on it and you should be able to find Skippy's pedigree going way back with pictures of his ancestors. The link is on my blog.
Thanks Sue. I checked out the database and Skippy is there (C-Lions Twice Burnin'). Fun to see photos of his ancestors. All different colors and coat types. I think Bo owners are not updated yet, but I see his pedigree too (Amigo's New Hope).
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