Portuguese Water Dog

Portuguese Water Dog

Like all purebred dogs, PWDs are vulnerable to certain genetic defects. Some defects can include: hip dysplasia, cataracts, PRA, distichiasis, GM1 Storage Disease, and Juvenile Dilated Cardio-Myopathy. Careful checking of the breeding of the PWD’s parents can help to reduce the presence of these defects in thedog , and given the limited gene pool of the breed (due to the lack of prevalence of the breed), most of these defects are recessive in the breed.