by Patricia McConnell

N.B. If you can't handle the information in this book, you probably shouldn't get a Water Dog (or any dog, perhaps). I'm serious...

by Jean Donaldson

by Karen Pryor

http://www.clickertraining.com

Click for Joy!

by Melissa Alexander

http://www.clickersolutions.com

That depends... PWD's are good with children provided that you understand "the rules." They are not at all inclined to take direction from children anymore than children in the same household take direction from one another. They definitely exhibit "you're not the mother!" behavior, and are perfectly willing to give children the "brush off." It is therefore unrealistic to expect them to be obedient to children, especially to those under the age of 10 years.

It is unreasonable and unfair for you to believe that a child is capable of providing meaningful discipline to a PWD, and it will likely lead to problems. NEVER allow a child to physically discipline your dog! It is up to the adults in the household to supervise the interaction of children and pets, and to administer discipline in a firm, fair and consistent manner. Physical discipline should never take the form of abuse, but instead should be administered in a manner that makes sense to the dog.

Are PWD's destructive?

Absolutely! Water Dogs are quite apt to alleviate boredom by eating the TV remote, chewing up the cabinets, and ingesting all manner of dangerous items left within their reach, sometimes resulting in costly and painful intestinal obstructions. It's best to crate or otherwise safely confine a young PWD (and even some older ones!) until they are well into adulthood when it is not possible to monitor their activity closely.

Some Water Dogs will destroy items in order to obtain attention. Should this become an issue in your household, you need to ask yourself (not the dog!) what you're doing wrong, i.e. what is it that you're not providing in terms of training, adequate exercise and supervision. Water Dogs should not have the "run of the house" until they are mentally mature enough to handle it, i.e. until they are well out of the puppy stage.

Are PWD's hypoallergenic?

PWD's can be hypoallergenic, but this depends on the individual as well as the type of coat that the dog has. Some Water Dogs do in fact have a double coat (a fault in the breed) which may not express itself until the dog is over 6 months of age. These dogs are less apt to be hypoallergenic, and will likely have a great deal of coat which comes out during brushing. If the parents are double-coated, the liklihood of the offspring being double-coated as well is high.

The best way to determine whether you are able to tolerate a PWD is to expose yourself or family member to a reasonable number of dogs (preferably in a home without other animals known to cause allergic reactions) and see what happens over the next few hours.

On the other hand...it is not wise to want a PWD simply based on his hypoallergenic nature, since there is much more to the PWD than that. You must be prepared to live with the breed itself, and what that entails in terms of the needs of your particular lifestyle vs. the needs of this breed, which are not to be taken lightly.

What is the best method for training a Water Dog?

Keep it positive!! Water Dogs do not respond favorably to negative training methods. They typically resent being pushed and pulled around by their trainers and then spend their time trying to figure out how to "get around it." Water Dogs are much more apt to respond in a way that suits both of you if positive training methods are used. I am a strong believer in Clicker Training (another word for Operant Conditioning), with Water Dogs of any age, but puppies love to learn this way. If puppies begin their training using this method, most of the adolescent behaviors that frustrate novice PWD owners never become an issue.