Diet for a Portuguese Water Dog?

Feed him raw.

I feel raw and love it. MANY breeders (even two of the Porti breeders I know) have been feeding raw for over 10 years and would not have it any other way.

I have 2 PWDs, a curly and a wavy. They are spirited, intelligent dogs that need both physical exercise and mental stimulation. They learn very quickly, but can be independent thinkers so you have to switch up your training to keep them from deciding that something else would be more fun. They do okay in warm weather, but prefer not be to in a hot environment. It does get quite hot where I live and they can be outside with shade and water, but I try to keep them in when I can. They are quite tolerant of the cold, but snow will ball up on their hair and need to be removed either by hand or with water. They are not what I would call a "one person" dog in that they love their family and those that they have been raised with or have spent a lot of time with, but they will typically choose one family member as their true love. If you are that person, expect to be followed everywhere-including the bathroom. They can become destructive and difficult if they are not allowed to be a part of the family. For this reason, while they may do fine in the yard while you are working, they will not be okay with staying out there when you are home. They want to be with their people. They are extremely loyal, good watchdogs (though no typically aggressive enough to be a protection dog) and a bit shy of strangers. They do not really shed like other dogs (though they will lose some hair) but they do require haircuts-which can be expensive if you don't learn to do it yourself. I feel a high quality, grain free dog food and add salmon oil. My dogs have done well with that. They love other dogs and children and can be raised to be good with other non-canine pets.

Here is a site that will show you which dog foods are the best and the worst. I suggest that you get any one of the dog foods that are top rated.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

Most of grocery store dog food formulas, like IAMS, Pedigree, Science Diet, Purina,and etc contain "meat and bone meal" which has been known to contain dead dogs and cats that were euthanized in animal shelters. Their bodies are picked up and bought by the truck load by "rendering plants" , that also pick up road kill, dead live stock, and etc. They are shredded, and boiled. They skim off the fat on the top of the "soup" and collected it and sell it to pet food companies as "animal fat", the rest of the animals' remains are crushed up, dried and sold to dog and cat food companies as meat and bone meal.

You can read more about it here.

http://earthislandprojects.org/eijournal/fall97/fe...

Here is an article where the owner of a rendering plant talks about it. He says that cremating the dead shelter animals would cause pollution, and that rendering them is good.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_12_...

Here is further information on what you shouldn't see in the ingredients list in your dog's food.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badin...

Top rated dog foods like Canidae contain good healthy ingredients.

Hello

Consult with Vetinary doctor

Raw food +++

If you don't want to do raw then these would be wonderful foods:

Orijen

Innova-EVO

Wellness Core