Portuguese Water Dog

The Algarve's fishing dog was trained to herd fish into nets, dive for lost tackle and carry messages from boat to boat, and its webbed toes and steady stroke still show it. The single-layer curly coat barely sheds but never stops growing, so budget for regular clipping; many owners keep a short retriever cut through summer because it dries quickly after a swim. Ask breeders for hip scores, an eye test for progressive retinal atrophy and the DNA test for GM1 storage disease.