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The Perro de Agua Espanol or the Spanish Water Dog (SWD) as it is know in North America is a versatile working breed.  Their versatility is perfect for people like me where the dog's top job is to be a family companion during the week and then go after birds on the weekends. The Spanish Water Dog is intelligent, devoted and spirited. Self-assured, eager and willing with a desire to please. Clever and capable of learning a great deal. A loving and loyal family dog. With enough mental and physical exercise and owners who convincingly display a natural, firm, confident and consistent leadership over the dog will find it to be well-mannered and docile. They do well with other pets if properly introduced. Can be reserved with strangers. Should be well-socialized as a puppy and does best with children who know how to be little pack leaders. The Spanish Water Dog is a not a quiet dog, making them good watch dogs. Hardworking retrieving on the hunt or in the herding ring, this breed lives for a job to do. An excellent swimmer, he has considerable stamina and drive, and a very good nose. If they sense their owners are meek or passive they can become stubborn, mischievous, suspicious, and/or even over protective, thinking they need to start making up their own rules as they will not feel their owners are strong minded enough to keep the pack stable and safe. They may refuse commands from family members who have not established leadership over them. Requires an owner who understands proper human to canine communication. 

A man by the name of Antonio Garcia Perez from Ubrique, Spain is credited for establishing the Spanish Water Dog we know today. It is said the breed is closely related to Irish Water Spaniel, French Barbet, Portuguese Water Dog, Italian Laggato, and the French Poodle.

Depending on the geographical location in the Iberian Peninsula the dogs were utilized for different types of work. In the coastal regions of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Seas they were used as assistants to the fisherman; herding fish into fishermen's nets, retrieving lost tackle or broken nets, and acted as couriers from ship to ship, or ship to shore. In the marsh and river regions associated with the European Flyway they were used as dual-purpose hunting dogs, working both land and water. And in other regions of Spain they were utilized as herding dogs.

More recently, Spanish Water Dogs are being utilized by the Spanish Police as drug and explosive detection dogs. Due to their keen sense of smell and athletic ability they are also being used in Search and Rescue.